I am (as of today) 29 weeks pregnant with my second. This one was a complete surprise, after 9 years of saying we were NOT having a second child, no way, no how; after 9 years of fights with the grandmothers to PLEASE for the love of everything you hold dear, stop telling our firstborn to ask for a sibling, you’re only forcing us to break her heart when we keep telling her it’s not going to happen.
The main difference between the two pregnancies is that the first one happened during one of the worst years of my life and I was under a lot of stress, and, for as expected and anticipated as that baby was, it could have been a much healthier process in general (loss of apetite, highly emotional events, etc…). This one… well. It’s been the most (possibly ONLY) normal thing I’ve ever had in my life. She’s growing at a textbook-perfect rate (51%), my own weight gain has been spot on by-the-charts, I’ve had every typical symptom at the exact point they “typically” occur. It’s strange. I’m not used to things not being upside down.
But now that I’m in the 3rd trimester I’m finally trying to get with the program and Eat What I’m Supposed To, Drink Enough Water, Get Plenty of Rest, etc., etc. Even though I haven’t exactly been sticking to any of that the last 6 months, and, clearly, as you said, it hasn’t affected the outcome.

I am 34 weeks today and when people ask me if this pregnant is the same or different from my last one, I honestly don’t know. It’s been a whirlwind. I have a 2 year old, a full time teaching job, and blogging.

The only time I think about pregnancy is when I am kicked in the cervix, get some BHs from walking too fast down the hallway, or have to pee AGAIN in the same hour.

The first time all I thought about was the pregnancy. I analyzed every bite put in my mouth, every puny little change.

This time I am all “dude. I’m having a baby in five weeks.”

what?

Man, I am about 19ish weeks pregnant with twins. I have a 4 1/2 yr-old daughter, and this pregnancy is kicking my ass. Last time, I felt happy and healthy from the start. This time, although I’m in much better pre-pregnancy shape, I am a disaster. I have almost every non-serious pregnancy ailment imagiable, I am a hormonal mess, and I just want to climb into bed.

I agree with MB, though. My daughter’s interest in my belly and her impending siblings is so exciting and makes all of this stuff worth it.

Oh, and I have gone absolutely back to my Euro roots with this pregnancy. A small glass of wine and some delicious, stinky, soft (though pasteurized!) cheese are perfectly healthy and really, really needed, thankyouverymuch!

Yes, yes, yes! To this and all comments posted. I am 12 weeks, or so, maybe 13 now, with a 19 month old and I completley agree! The first time around I was reading every pregnancy related book I could get my hands on; this time all I have time to read are books suited for 1 to 2 year old children. None of which provide any information on poor, already neglected, growing belly baby #2. I don’t attend prenatal yog twice a week, or ever, let alone take the time and energy required to track calorie, vitamin, mineral, etc… intake for everything I eat. Ha! I am just happy to be able to sit through an entire meal without having to get up 5 times for various reasons including baby #1 refusing to eat what is currently being served and demanding waffles. I can’t imagine how mommies going through their third+ pregnancy have time to even brush their teeth. Yes, I suck at being pregnant this time, I am in total agreement!

I’m 35 weeks pregnant with my second and while I can relate to some things in this I definitely don’t relate to the measuring how many millilitres of water you have in a day – what?! As someone else has said, I think the rest of the world is generally less interested this time around except for my 3 and a half year old – he’s so excited and involved. “What’s the baby saying?” “Why’s he upside down?” “In my dream the baby was laughing at me.” And he’s always singing songs to my belly, it is adorable. I was fairly relaxed the first time around but I think I was more in awe the first time too – I kept a pregnancy week by week diary for example. No chance this time! I’ve been more relaxed with the cheese and mayonnaise situation this time around – if it’s pasteurised I’m eating it! I’ve also exercised more this time with aquanatal and cardio and it’s helped me feel more human and stronger and not as fat towards the end!

Love it! I’m 18 or so weeks along with my 2nd and I have a 2 1/2 year old. At my last OB appointment my main question was “is it normal that I don’t have that many questions and that I’m not worrying as much as I did the first time around? I mean I haven’t even talked to Jill (the nurse) in over 3 weeks!” It’s actually kind of nice to not worry and obsess all the time :)

My second pregnancy was such a snore. I mean, I was over it by the time my EPT stick dried, and in a way, it made for a more liberating, common-sense experience. I confess that when the first contraction hit, I thought, “Oh sh*t, this is gonna suck….” And when my newborn son woke up crying that first night in the hospital, my first thought was, “Oh sh*t, this is gonna suck….” So many women are hesitant or loathe to share those feelings down at the “ugly” end of the parenting spectrum. The “Oh God, what have I done?” moments. The, “OK, kid, if you don’t stop crying, one of us is going out the window” moments. Even the, “I know you’re my baby but I’m not bonding so much right now and that’s….weird…” moments. But I learned that accepting those ugly moments make the entire spectrum that much richer. And I learned that voicing the moments aloud make all kinds of women come out of the woodwork and clutch your arm with big, teary eyes.

And by the way, this part is much easier to do the second time around :-)

I could have written this post word.for.word! I’m 26 weeks along with my 2nd child. With a 2 year-old who is a horrible sleeper, a full-time job and a busy life outside of being a mom and working, I feel like this pregnancy is just slipping through my fingers. I did have a tough time with this pregnancy initially – I threw up every day, at least once a day, from week 5 to around week 22, but now I’m actually feeling good, so good I sometimes even forget I’m pregnant. Oops! We did decide to keep our son in full-time daycare while I’m on maternity leave with our 2nd child. Most people look at me like I have three heads when I say that, but I’m really looking forward to having the time to bond with this child. I feel like this poor kiddo has been neglected so far!!!

I have a 3 1/2 year old daughter and I’m only 10 weeks pregnant… and I still agree 100% with this post! With my first pregnancy, I was constantly petting my own belly, “glowing” and couldn’t stop smiling. I was able to fit in my pre-pregnancy pants (with help of a hair band) until I was five months pregnant. As for the food and drinks that entered my body? Cravings and my sense of smell helped quite a bit with that (to this day, I haven’t eaten fish).

Now, at a mere 10 weeks along, I’m already having to replace all of my pants with maternity pants that actually fit (scary). I’ve had no morning sickness or smell aversions, really, which is unfortunate since these symptoms helped me really control what I was eating and drinking. I’ve hardly had time to think about being pregnant with being a full-time student and mother… until somehow I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

Now, I’ll have to focus on the idea of being pregnant, because unfortunately, women with diabetes tend to have larger children and I’m not built to have children (my daughter was 4lb 10oz and did just as much damage as a 9lb baby), so the only thought running through my head now is “sh*t, this kid better not break me…”

This pregnancy is completely different, mainly because the thrill of being a mommy doesn’t seem to tag along with the second pregnancy. I’m already a mommy, so I just need to juggle for one more.

I swear I could have written this post! You’re absolutely not alone here. I totally suck at this pregnancy thing the second time around.

Also over here ROFL @Swain’s “Oh sh*t this is gonna suck…” comments.

I am so glad I found this post! I was much like you with my first pregnancy. I researched everything before I ate it and every activity was closely monitored for adverse reactions. With that being said, I had a wonderful first pregnancy. This one? Complete mess of emotions, exhaustion and vomit. I’m 12 weeks with my second and I have a 2 year old. My toddler consumes my every thought and it isn’t until the end of the day when I finally give the baby in my belly any attention. I feel guilty, especially when I think back to this time with my first I was already picking out names, nursery colors and reading Jane Austen to him at night. It’s nice to see I’m not the only one!