Four Ways A Second Pregnancy Is Different Than The First
Planning on having a second baby? Here’s what you should expect to happen…
14 October 2018
Lara
Expanding your family is a wonderful decision you can make with your partner, but is it inevitable that things will change – physically and emotionally.
Having a baby is an experience many mothers recount as the best experience and decision they’ve ever had to make – being the caretaker of a little one is so rewarding.
And now you may be thinking about expanding your family and attempting to get pregnant.
While the idea may be exciting, your household and family dynamic may no longer be the same – you need to start thinking about accommodating your other little one and providing them with the same care like the first time around.
Those external changes are definite, but your second pregnancy will also feel much more different than your first – in terms of emotional and physical differences.
Here’s what you will experience the second time around.
1. A more visible pregnancy belly
During your first pregnancy, it might have taken a while for your belly to bulge out and show pregnancy appearances – you might have even started to question when you’ll start to look like a pregnancy woman.
This is thanks to your stomach’s muscles that helped hide the pregnancy bulge – this is completely normal…your body was just taking time to adjust to the baby growing inside of you.
However, with your second pregnancy, those muscles don’t have the elasticity that they once had – which means you’ll probably start showing a lot sooner than the first time.
So expect a bigger and sooner grand entrance into pregnancy this time.
2. A more flexible due date
An exact due date given by doctors isn’t always accurate – and you’ve probably learned this during your first pregnancy…you thought that the exact month and day is when you’ll be giving birth to your little one.
But with your second pregnancy you’ve soon realized that it’s not as accurate as it seems – instead it’s more of a flexible range of that month.
So this time around, expect yourself to stop fussing and anxiously waiting for your due date to turn the corner; you’ll be much more relaxed and prepared for it.
3. Less pregnancy fatigue
During your first pregnancy, the extent of the whole experience has taken its toll on your body – causing you to be extremely tired all the time.
You probably spent your days napping away and heading into deep sleep….but don’t expect the same thing this time around.
With another baby in the house, there will be no such thing as a pregnancy nap – your first child will demand attention and care.
So your body will make up for this through your active lifestyle and you probably won’t even notice the tiredness as much as the first pregnancy.
Now in terms of emotional change…
4. A difference in reaction
The first pregnancy will forever have its importance value and it might have come to a shock to you and your family – the news might be as exciting for those around you as it is for you.
However, the second pregnancy won’t entice the same reaction as the first – and that’s not a bad thing, it just means that you’re more prepared this time and you have your mental process in line with the announcement.
And the announcement about your pregnancy will feel less enthusiastic by your loved ones the second time around too.
Don’t worry though because once the baby arrives, everyone will be over the moon.
