Second Pregnancy Symptoms

Most women think that they have become experts on pregnancy, when they become pregnant for the second time, as they have already gone through the whole process earlier. However, many times, they get a rude shock because the things that women experience during each of their pregnancies can be totally different. For instance, women who have had severe morning sickness during their first pregnancy may not experience any of these symptoms during their second and vice versa. Hence, if you have become pregnant for the second time, it is important for you to know about the symptoms or the changes that you may experience while having your second baby.

Second Pregnancy Signs

The major difference between first and the second pregnancy is during the later, you will have a toddler or school going child to care about. You will realize that you are not spending much time preparing for the arrival of the new baby, as you did for the first one. Also, there are many women who say that time passes very soon when it comes to the second pregnancy as compared to the first one. This is mainly because women have many other things to handle during the second time. All this makes the experiences of second pregnancy different and unique. However, the symptoms that women experience are not very different, rather they may observe a slight difference in the intensity in which they have them. Here are some symptoms that women may experience.

• One of the most common symptoms of pregnancy is breast tenderness. You may find that your breasts are tender to touch and sometimes painful too. The color of the areola, i.e., the pigmented area around the nipples, may also become dark in color.
• Fatigue or tiredness is another second pregnancy symptom that you may experience. It is said that most women feel more tired than they did during the first time. The reason for this is that women do not get much time to take rest during the second pregnancy and this can cause more tiredness.
• Just like the first pregnancy, morning sickness is something that women can experience during the second one too. They may experience nausea which may be accompanied by vomiting, dizziness and headache.
• Apart from the above given symptoms, some other things that the second time mother-to-be may experience include cravings, constipation, spotting, cramping, frequent urination, etc.

Changes During Second Pregnancy

Though the symptoms of pregnancy will remain the same, you are likely to notice certain changes through your second pregnancy. Most second-time-moms have said that they noticed the baby bump earlier than their second pregnancy. This happens because the womb that expanded during the first pregnancy did not contract completely. Due to this, women may need to start wearing maternity clothes earlier than they did for their first pregnancy. Nevertheless, nothing much can be said about the second pregnancy weight gain. In other words, it can be different from or similar as the first pregnancy. Similarly, mothers are likely to experience fetal movements earlier than they had experienced during the first time. Though the baby movements start at the same time during every pregnancy, many times first time mothers are not able to recognize the fleeting movements of their babies during early pregnancy. However, during the second time, mothers are more experienced and due to this, they are able to recognize movements of the baby earlier.

Apart from the above given differences, there will also be slight a difference in the second pregnancy labor and childbirth. It has been observed that the labor and childbirth process is shorter for second time mothers as compared to the first time. This happens because of two reasons, one is that usually women carry very low during their second pregnancy and the fact that the body has gone through the whole process earlier, labor and childbirth becomes quicker the second time. However, there is no hard and fast rule regarding this and as every pregnancy is unique, there will be differences even in the labor and delivery process. Other than this, the after pains that women experience after the delivery will be more severe than it was during the first time. Sometimes, women are given pain killers to relieve the pain as the after pains can be as severe as labor pains.

As the things that women experience during second pregnancy can be different from the next, it would be a good idea to go for antenatal classes. Sometimes, women do not get much time to be emotionally prepared for the new baby which may make them feel guilty. They should understand that this is a natural feeling which most women undergo, but once the baby arrives, they will surely be able to establish a bond as they did with their first child.