6 MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN YOUR FIRST & SECOND PREGNANCIES

Find out how your pregnancy may differ the second time around. Posted by Manjiri Kochrekar on momjunction.com. MomJunction is your friend, philosopher, and guide – all rolled into one. We are a place to stop for a while and hang out with likeminded people, a place to learn and to teach. Image courtesy of Natalia Deriabina via Bigstockphoto.

Congratulations! You are expecting again! While you may be delighted, it is possible that thinking about the tough periods during your first pregnancy have you worried. But, mostly, you’re probably only curious about how your habits, behavior, style, food choices, and other things will be different this time around.

We at MomJunction can understand your curiosity and anxiety. So, here we talk about the differences between first and second pregnancy. Read on to learn more.

Your second pregnancy experience would be significantly different from the previous one. Here, we list some key differences between first and second pregnancies.

1. Reading Fewer Books Than Before:

In the first pregnancy, you would like to read all available books, blogs, and other materials on the pregnancy care, birth, and fetal care. However, in your second pregnancy, your interest in reading such books would be minimal. You might be busy taking care of your first baby. So you would hardly read any pregnancy books and would be more confident about pregnancy because of the previous experience.

2. Eating Leniently:

You would be eating as healthy as you can in your first pregnancy by preparing and following a ‘Foods to Avoid in Pregnancy’ list. By eliminating certain foods, such as sushi, lunch meat, and non-vegetarian cuisines, from your diet, you will choose only nutritious foods. You will eat regularly, and restrict the consumption of animal products. However, in the second pregnancy, you may be more lenient in eating and happily include sushi and other healthy non-vegetarian recipes to your diet.

3. Experience Lesser Excitement Than Earlier:

The first pregnancy is always a great excitement, not just for you but also for the would-be grandparents. So, you may plan a party or have certain family celebrations on learning the wonderful news. However, in the second pregnancy, you might not be as excited as you were during the first pregnancy. It’s not that you aren’t happy expecting again, but it’s not just the same. The excitement level is comparatively less in the second pregnancy. This is one major difference between first and second pregnancy.

4. Lesser Fears Than The First Pregnancy:

In your first pregnancy, you would be worrying about everything and taking a great deal of care to ensure a healthy pregnancy and your unborn baby’s safety. You will worry about which shampoo to use, which lipstick to put on, and every other minor thing in your life. However, during your second pregnancy, you will have a ‘let go’ attitude. Even though you would be concerned about your unborn baby’s safety and health, you would not stress out yourself on minor things. Rather, you would be more confident about your lifestyle and pregnancy care.

5. Observing Body Shape Less Keenly:

In your first pregnancy, you would be watching your belly and body shape keenly and admiring your cute and round belly. You would observe the change every week. However, in your second pregnancy, you may find your stomach a bit droopier and less cute than earlier. Also, you would be less bothered about your body shape as you have already experienced the change in your previous pregnancy.

6. Nursery And Room Décor:

On learning that you are expecting your first child, you would take a great interest in creating a lovely nursery for your baby. You would shop for many décors and take much interest in decorating your room for the arrival of the baby. But, during your second pregnancy, you would realize that babies are too small to care about the nursery and room decorations. You would be using the same décor that you used for the arrival of your first child to decorate your room and baby’s nursery again. This is one major difference between first pregnancy and second pregnancy you note during that period.