5 Differences between Your First and Second Pregnancies

Mothers who have been through pregnancy more than once always tend to compare their experience of their first pregnancy with the ones after that. Preparing for your second pregnancy brings numerous concerns in the mother’s mind; one of the biggest one is that will you have to go through all the scary memories of your first pregnancy once again?

Many mothers describe their first pregnancy experience to be a difficult yet a magical experience of their lives. The feeling of giving birth to your first baby automatically makes it special for you. While going through all the pregnancy symptoms, pains etc., the thought that your baby will soon be in your arms keeps you going and excited throughout the time of your first pregnancy.

Although the signs, symptoms and experiences differ from woman to woman, there are some major differences between the experiences of first pregnancy and second pregnancy.

Lesser Worry

The first and the biggest difference between first pregnancy and second pregnancy is that you will not worry as much in your second pregnancy as you did in the first one. During your first pregnancy a woman tends to get nervous and worried about almost everything, such as “whether you should walk or not?”, “What to eat? Raw eggs or cheese? Will it harm my baby?”

Since you’ve been through all that in your first experience, it helps you a lot in staying calm and relaxed during your second pregnancy. The second time you are already familiar with all steps of pregnancy so nothing comes as a surprise.

Further, one of the biggest worries a mother has during her first pregnancy is how well will she be able to take care and full responsibility of a sensitive tiny angel. During your second pregnancy, since you are already well experienced taking care of an infant, you tend to stay more relaxed this time!

Belly Visibility

During your first pregnancy most people around you don’t even get to know you’re pregnant until your gorgeous bump starts showing during the second trimester of pregnancy (between weeks 15 onwards). However, during second pregnancy, the belly tends to appear prominent a few weeks earlier (Between weeks 12-15).

This is because the woman’s uterus does not go back to its normal size after the birth of her first baby. Therefore, when you get pregnant again, it stretches much quicker and faster than it did in her first pregnancy.

Moreover, during your second pregnancy, you would be able to feel baby’s movement much earlier than in your first pregnancy. Since you are already familiar with baby flutters from your first time, you will feel and sense flutters much earlier this time!

Diet Control

During their first pregnancy, women tend to be more cautious and try to make sure they follow a proper healthy pregnancy diet. Avoiding foods not to eat during pregnancy is strictly followed by most modern day women during their first pregnancy.

On the other hand, most women are seen to not as stressed and strict about following a healthy pregnancy diet during their second pregnancies. The successful first time pregnancy gives them the confidence and they tend to not overthink before preparing their everyday meals for themselves and their families.

However, this then has it’s pros and cons. Being less stressed and strict during pregnancy is definitely good for your pregnancy but at the same time, being too carefree and not following proper diet may not be the best for a healthy pregnancy and eventually not too healthy for your second baby (to be).

Weight gain

This one may not be true for all pregnant mothers neither does it have a medical reasoning behind it, but pregnant women are observed to gain less baby weight in their second pregnancy as opposed to what they gained in their first one.

One possible reason could be when going through your second pregnancy, you already have an infant/toddler to run after and take care of, and we all know as much motherhood can be challenging, running after a naughty toddler (to feed, clean etc.) has at least one benefit, that is to help you keep fit and active!

Easier Labour

Another huge difference between the first pregnancy and second pregnancy is the ‘ease of labour’. You will feel a lot of differences in labour and delivery during your second baby’s birth.

First of all, labour the second time tends to be much shorter than your first one. During your second labour, your cervix is not as rigid as before and it has become a lot more flexible. Therefore, the second time, it will not take as long to dilate the cervix.

During your labour for your second pregnancy, more Braxton Hicks contractions are observed which helps dilate your cervix faster than the first time, before you even reach the hospital.

Producing those contractions, you have already done half of the work at home! Therefore you do not need to stay as long in the hospital as you did with the labour experience for your first pregnancy. Further, you do not require pushing as hard in the labour for your second pregnancy as you did in your first one. This is because, this time, your vaginal tissues yield more pressure and you should expect your baby to be in your arms sooner this time!

Helpful Tips(s)

Despite this being your second pregnancy, you must still remain careful as every pregnancy is different.

Consulting your doctor and discussing about your second baby’s plan is very necessary in order to get the idea whether you are ready for it or not. Go for proper health check up before initiating this plan.

Search for the good health practitioner as well as good hospital for your second pregnancy if you could not focus on it last time.

Remember to get a proper health insurance or cover if you are not fully or not at all given health cover by government.

Look for some trustworthy care taker in case you might need them casually for taking care of your first baby during this period.

Think about all the mistakes you did last time and try to not to repeat them during your second pregnancy.