As I write this, Christmas is exactly three weeks and three days away. That’s only twenty-four more days to get everything bought, baked, and planned for Christmas. I may know exactly how many days there are until Christmas, but I am not actually counting down the days until my favorite holiday. I am really counting down the days until my second child is due to be born. That’s right, I’m due to have baby number two, a boy, on Christmas Day! So, by the time you are all reading this, I have only six days left to wait – assuming he hasn’t/doesn’t come early.
As I stated above, I’m getting ready for the arrival of our SECOND child. Which means this is not my first trip to the circus. And I’ve found myself almost hyper-focused on how this second pregnancy has been different from my first pregnancy.
There are the fun differences, like being able to announce the pregnancy with the help of my daughter:
The strange differences, like way more food cravings and more severe heartburn:
But overall, my thought findings have led me to group the differences into three main categories: diet, physical (dis)comfort, and preparedness. I thought the easiest way to share the differences was with a basic table:
|
First Pregnancy |
Second Pregnancy |
| No lunch meat, cold or hot | A lunch meat sandwich every now and then, warmed up ham on a quesadilla |
| No caffeine | Caffeine EVERY SINGLE DAY! |
| Cautious cheese eating | Forgot there were some cheeses I shouldn’t eat |
| Drank plenty of water | Drink water occasionally, mostly when taking one of several pills, vitamins, medications I have |
| Drank plenty of milk, often with meals | Drink milk mostly when eating Oreos, occasionally with a meal |
| Craved cereal | Crave any and all junk food, particularly Oreos and sour cream and onion chips.
Crave oranges and orange juice. |
| Strong aversion to peanut butter | No food aversions, sadly |
| No morning sickness, yay! | No morning sickness, yay! |
| Moderate heartburn, alleviated with Tums | Severe heartburn, alleviated with Zantac 2x day |
| Carried the baby high, in the ribs | Carrying the baby as low as physically possible without him falling out the exit door |
| Experienced some mild jabs to the ribs | Experiencing severe jabbing, pinching, and kicking to several internal organs, including the bladder |
| Baby was routinely active, especially when music was playing | Baby NEVER STOPS MOVING! At least that’s what it feels like most days. I suppose that could have something to do with the caffeine and sugar I’m ingesting. |
| Nesting, nesting, and more nesting! Everything was ready at least a month before baby was due. | Nesting? Who has time for that? The baby’s room is still not ready, I have no diapers, bottles still need to be sanitized…the list could go on! |
| Carefully considered the use of an epidural, waited to see if I could handle labor/delivery without one | EPIDURAL!! |
| Went to new parent and breast feeding classes | Hmm…what all did I learn in those classes again? Some of that might come in handy in three weeks! |
| Read way too many pregnancy, parenting, new baby books/blogs/websites | Who has time for that? Besides, there couldn’t have been too many changes in three and a half years! I’ll just wing it! |
| Felt comfortable bringing home and caring for a baby girl | PENIS! Eek! |
| Enjoyed being pregnant, only uncomfortable towards the very end | Was ready for it to be over as soon as I started showing, which was about the same time I started feeling uncomfortable. |
| Had the luxury of being able to sit and relax and enjoy the pregnancy | Busy chasing after and managing the life of a preschooler |
Ultimately, many of the differences stem from the fact that this time I am also dealing with a very strong-willed three year old who sometimes likes to show her love for her new baby brother by punching me in the stomach! But who also shows her love with belly kisses:
