Discovering you are pregnant again could be exciting. That doesn’t mean you might experience everything similar to your first pregnancy. No matter how many times you become pregnant, every pregnancy is different from one another. The second pregnancy is different from the first as you might have different symptoms than your first.
Even though you have given birth already, your second pregnancy could bring in many surprises in comparison to your first. Be it your pregnancy symptoms or the labor time you might go through, the truth is that you might not feel the same things this time.
There are a few ways by which the second pregnancy physiologically differs from the first one. If you are wondering, if the second pregnancy is more difficult than the first, here we are to answer.
11 Ways Second Pregnancy Is Different From The First
Once you discover you are pregnant again, you might feel like you’re a pregnancy pro! What you might not know is each pregnancy has different symptoms and hence your second pregnancy is completely different from the first. A big difference between your first and second pregnancy is your knowledge. While in the first pregnancy, everything was a mystery, in your second pregnancy you can anticipate a few things prior.
Women generally feel more confident about their second delivery as they already have prior experience. On the other hand, if you had a bad experience in your first delivery, it could make you nervous. Though it is normal to have mixed feelings, it could also worry many moms about going through the same experience all over again.
Related Reading: Top 11 Precautions To Take In The First Trimester Of Pregnancy
Calculate Due Date With Conception Date
While there’s no way of knowing exactly how you’ll feel the second time, here are a few things that will give you an insight into how a second pregnancy is different from the first.
1. You’ll feel pregnant sooner
With your first pregnancy, you probably might be waiting to experience the feeling of being pregnant without knowing that you are already going through them. But now that you are a pro, you will be able to identify most of the early pregnancy symptoms much earlier. These symptoms could either be identical or different from that of your first pregnancy. It could include symptoms such as morning sickness, indigestion, constipation, food cravings, etc.
2. You’ll look pregnant sooner
Since your uterus and abdominal muscles have already stretched once during your first pregnancy, they are looser this time. This means your belly will be visible more quickly than that in your first pregnancy. Since your uterus is more like a balloon, it is easy to blow it up. However, the good news is that you will soon be able to fit into those old maternity clothes.
Related Reading: 12 Permanent Body Changes After Pregnancy That Women Experience
3. You might be more tired
If you haven’t realized it, you probably are already doing the mommy things by meeting your older ones’ demands. From providing them food at the right time to cleaning up the mess created by them, you are running out of time. You probably were lucky enough to take those small naps in between your work during the first pregnancy. However, we cannot expect the same for the second time.
Be prepared to experience fatigue sooner this time. And when it does, seek help as much as possible. Try to maintain a healthy diet along with prenatal exercises to keep you energized.
4. You may carry your baby lower
Your uterine muscles aren’t firm as they were during the first pregnancy. Also, your abdominal muscles might not be able to support your baby the first time around. Because of this, you might be carrying the baby lower. Its impact is that you might be making more trips to the restroom and experience more pelvic discomfort due to the position of the baby. And that you are carrying the baby much lower this time, you may or may not experience stretch marks. Talking about the stretch marks, check out our home remedies to prevent stretch marks during pregnancy.
5. You will feel the baby’s movements sooner
Do you still remember those bubbly butterfly tickles in your stomach? You might start experiencing this at around 4 months of pregnancy against 5 months for first-timers. This is once again due to stretched abdominal muscles. Also, since you are already aware of fetal movements, it becomes easier to identify this time.
6. You probably aren’t much anxious
First pregnancy could leave you with a lot of anxiety and worries. Though your second pregnancy is different from the first, you know what to do and what to expect during your first, second, and third trimester. You might be at ease having experienced it already.
However, if you have worries or if you seem to be tense about your previous birth experience or a complicated birth experience it’s really important to talk them through with someone. It is better if you could have a word with your doctor, a supportive friend, or your partner.
Related Reading: 8 Tips To Cope With Anxiety During Pregnancy Third Trimester
7. You must let your older one understand
Whether you have a toddler, adolescent, or teen, you have a child with whom you have to share your pregnancy news. It is not going to be easy to convey the matter as you think, especially if it is a toddler. It could be challenging for you to explain to them about the arrival of the baby. After all, they are your child too. The only difference is they will be transiting from your child to an older child.
8. You will have mixed emotions
With any pregnancy, moms tend to go through mixed emotions. Some days you feel super excited and the other days you might be worried about how to take care of the arrival of the new one and manage your older child. Probably a few days you would have experienced both happiness as well as sadness. It is obvious to experience the highs and lows of emotions and that’s why we recommend these tried & tested ways to handle your emotions during pregnancy.
You might be having a good bond with your elder child. The thought of whether the same rapport will continue or not or if you could give the same attention to them after the arrival of your second child might be bothering you. Don’t worry momma! Many parents go through this phase. Convince yourself that it is not only your family that is expanding but your love for the family as well.
9. You might experience more Braxton Hicks contraction
Since you have already experienced or know what real contractions are you might be able to experience more false pain or recognize Braxton Hicks’s contractions. Since your uterine muscles have expanded already, these contractions may be more frequent for a second time mom.
Braxton Hicks contractions will end after some time, whereas real contractions will remain active and continue throughout.
To know the difference between Braxton Hicks’s contractions and real contractions, try changing your position. You need to stand up in case you are sitting or vice versa. Also, you can try drinking a lot of water to try to stop Braxton Hicks.
10. Your labor might be shorter
The good news about how second pregnancy is different from the first is that the labor and the delivery time tend to be shorter for second-time moms as you are aware of these safe & natural ways to speed up labor. Although every pregnancy is different, the second phase of the delivery for first-time moms could go up to 2-3 hours while it is anticipated to be half of the time of this for the second time moms.
Pushing the baby out also seems to be easier and quicker for the second delivery. This is because the cervix and uterus are less rigid. Hence, dilation and effacement happen more easily making it apt for the baby to come out.
11. Mood swings
Mood swings can be caused due to various factors such as physical stress, exertion, hormonal changes, and metabolic changes. In your first pregnancy, you may experience mood swings during the first and third trimesters which might not be intense. However, mood swings are intense during the second pregnancy making you lose patience too often.
Pregnancy hormones make your mood shift on a dime. Sometimes you remain calm and laugh and other times you may seem infuriated.
Conclusion
No matter how many times you become pregnant, every pregnancy is different and has various symptoms. During your second pregnancy, your body already begins to work with the pregnancy challenges. Hence, it is difficult to predict what kind of pregnancy one might experience.
People who had complications during their first pregnancy need to be more cautious with their second or later pregnancies as there are chances that the same complication might occur again putting them at a high risk of pregnancy. These complications could include
- Premature birth
- High blood pressure
- Preeclampsia
- Gestational diabetes
Those who have given birth to a human will know how difficult it is on your body. Your joints, ligaments, and muscles expand to accommodate your growing baby while the expansion on the uterus could add pressure to your pelvic causing you intense pains. However, hard it could be, you have one thing now which was not there during your first pregnancy — experience. So, stay strong and keep it going!