Ah, pregnancy. A time in a woman's life when she glows, looks sexier than ever, and is showered with constant attention, adoration, and free foot rubs.
Right. That's how you could describe your first pregnancy and you wouldn't be too far off. But if this is your second pregnancy, you need to prepare yourself because things are going to be a wee bit different.
Perhaps you are pregnant again and already have a pretty cool self-sufficient 10-year-old who wants to bring you glasses of water and lets you rest. Congratulations -- you won the jackpot! But for the rest of us -- all 98 percent of us -- who, while chasing our toddler or cleaning up our big kid's third juice spill of the day, can't help questioning whether we were sober when we decided doing this again was a great idea, here are 8 ways our second pregnancy is nothing like the first one:
You can kiss catnaps goodbye. When I was preggers with my first baby, I spent at least one hour a day snoozing under a toasty blanket. I dare you to even try and find time to do that with a young child under your roof.
You don't even notice your queasy tummy because you're busy chasing your child around. My morning sickness was far worse the second time, but I was so distracted trying to keep metal hangers (my child's obsession) out of her mouth that it was barely a thing.
You may become a little less militant about what you eat. My body was a temple during my first pregnancy and I dedicated every Sunday afternoon to preparing vitamin-packed organic meals I could eat all week. By comparison, my lunch today was 10 pretzels, a handful of raisins, and the pasta my daughter left on her plate and called "yucky."
You will probably gain less weight. Hurray, a positive side to the second pregnancy! Not only are you probably eating more garbage, you are eating a lot less of it and everything else because you have far less time to actually sit and enjoy food.
If you had a dreamy, symptom-less first pregnancy, your second will have to be a nightmare. It's a rule. You may have considered yourself a woman who simply doesn't vomit. Oh, how misguided you were.
No one -- not your husband and not even you -- will remember how many weeks pregnant you are. You will Google "due date calculator" at some point and be shocked to learn that you only have 10 weeks left.
Your husband will probably expect you to paint the nursery this time around. Try not to blame him too much. Even though your belly is huge, you still look and act like Superwoman around your first child. It becomes easy to forget that you are pregnant and unable to do certain things. Gently remind him that he did this to you and try not to hold a grudge.
You won't waste time reading books about pregnancy and parenting. You've been through labor and you know what to expect. You've already dealt with 104-degree fevers that pop up in the middle of the night when no doctor will answer his phone. You've got this. No sweat.
How is your second pregnancy different from your first?
Image via Lisa Fogarty