I meant to write this post before Lana was born while I was still pregnant, but, oops.
I basically just wanted to take a minute to look back on this pregnancy and remind myself how it compared to my first one:
- Symptoms were a little different, appeared sooner, and seemed to be more pronounced.
- I really had no morning sickness with Della, whereas this time I was plagued for a good 2 months. Fortunately I only barfed 1 night (all night long, ugh), but that horrible nausea stayed with me for a solid 8 weeks, from about week 6 to week 14-15.
- I did get sick during the early weeks of both pregnancies. With D I got just a really bad cold with a cough that wouldn’t quit. This time I again got what I thought was a horrible cold/cough combo, but it turned out to be an upper respiratory infection. Then the penicillin they put me on exacerbated the nausea. Hoo boy, that was fun.
- My sensitivity to certain scents wasn’t nearly as severe this time as it was with D. There are honestly some things that I smelled during my 1st pregnancy that made my stomach turn so terribly that I still can’t stand smelling them to this day. I experienced a little of that this time around, but not nearly as badly as with D.
- My sacro-iliac joint pain cropped up early on in this pregnancy with a vengeance, while I really only remember being bothered by it during my 3rd trimester with D.
- I had that horrible carpal tunnel syndrome this time, mainly in the last 2 months, where I never had it with D. I do think it helped prepare me for this newborn stage again, though, since I was pretty much used to not sleeping by the time L was born.
- All the other all over aches and pains just seemed a little worse this time – I felt more tired by the end, my body felt more sore by the end, etc.
- My 2nd trimesters were almost identical, though. Felt great, pains weren’t too terrible yet, decent energy, plus it was summer so we were out and about a lot just enjoying the days and nights.
- My weight gain seemed different this time, too. I gained 33 lbs. with D, and I gained 36 lbs. with L. In looking back at the pictures, I think I gained it more all over with D, whereas this time it seemed to really go mainly to my belly. My face, arms, and butt all looked much fuller/bigger when I was pregnant the first time than they did this time. Why, I have no idea, especially since I gained a couple more pounds this time.
- I didn’t focus nearly as much this time on “being pregnant” as I did with D. That’s due to the obvious fact that we had a toddler to focus on, so pregnancy wasn’t as new, unknown, and front and center as it was the first time. That’s not saying we didn’t care that I was pregnant this time, it just didn’t seem to have the “wow factor” that it did with D. Yes, I did the weekly pictures, kept track of milestones, stuff like that, but most of the time I was just focused on normal daily life with Ryan and D. Plus losing my job and transitioning to being home was in there this time too, so I think I just had a lot more on my mind period.
- I was able to exercise almost the entire pregnancy this time, whereas last time I was put on a no exercise restriction for 6 weeks around 4 months in, then never really picked back up after that was over. This time I think I did my last workout at the gym with my trainer around 36.5 weeks pregnant. I really think it helped me with recovery, just having that little bit of exercise each week to keep my body moving.
- I don’t think we were nearly as anxious about having a baby this time as we were last time. I remember before D was born I had all the nursery stuff set up super early, baby clothes that we had washed and in the drawers, all the extras in place and ready to go, stuff printed out from the online birthing class I did to get ready for labor, all this extra crap that we never even touched in the hospital bag, etc. This time we were obviously nervous about just the whole unknown of when labor was going to happen and how it was going to be adding another little person to our family, but the day-to-day stuff was a no brainer. Nursery furniture? It’s pretty much all there and the same stuff, we just moved the crib into our room when we got D a big bed. Baby clothes? No sweat – I brought what newborn and gender neutral stuff we had down from the attic, washed it again, and made room for it in D’s dressers. Diapers/wipes/necessities? I just added some smaller sizes to our monthly Amazon delivery – easy peasy. It just didn’t seem as scary. We’re having another baby – excellent. Not OH MY GOD WE’RE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!!!!
I think those were the main things I had in mind. Will there be a 3rd pregnancy to compare/contrast someday? Who knows. We’re not there yet – let’s make sure #2 survives first.