Really the only difference between my first and second pregnancies was for the first, like you folks, I was on pre-natel vitamins. But by the time our second child came along we had joined USANA and their vitamins were so much better than the pre-natal vitamins that I skipped the pre-natel's and took the USANA Essentials for the second pregnancy. The other big difference, of course, was that I had a better idea of what to expect the second time around :-) Genieve (gemsFamily)

Ugg, I cant even think about having a 2nd one. I suck. trisha momdot.com

I am currently 30 weeks into my 2nd pregnancy - this time with twins. It is technically my 6th pregnancy as I had 4 miscarriages in between my daughter's birth and this time around. Such a different situation for so many reasons. The main thing I have allowed myself is to slow down - way down with this pregnancy. I'm not on bedrest or anything and in fact, the babies are growing very well. I've had no health issues. Even so, I make sure to lie down whenever I get the chance, even if I'm not especially tired (which is almost never). I allow myself to eat whenever I want. I'm already bigger than I was when I gave birth to my first but it's different - my stomach just sticks out way more. Sadly, I allowed myself to panic almost uncontrollably in the first trimester. Suddenly my heart beat would race and I would be short of breath - I would lie in bed wondering when I was going to start bleeding. As irrational as I knew it was, I did call my midwife for support and that helped. This is more than just 2nd pregnancy stuff though - this is the stuff of having suffered tragedies or losses so I'm not sure how much it directly applies to the current topic. I have been a vegetarian for about 10 years and that kind of flew out the window this time. I craved meat - the fast food kind - in my 1st trimester and now I eat burgers, steak and some chicken - even some lunch meat, although I do heat that up before I eat it. Have had no desire to drink anything hot like tea or coffee - but I do occasionally have a few sips of my husband's beer - for some reason it tastes good. I worked throughout my first pregnancy and now I am at home with a 3 year old - so still active, but immersed in trying to get her potty trained so she can go to a summer program in 3 weeks...help! Pain in the arse. I put the books down (except for one on twins but even that I read with a large grain of salt), don't look at all the websites, or listen to all of the "advice" I did with my first. (was that really advice? Most of it seemed like threats) I'm allowing myself to now think about some other things than just being pregnant.

this was a great episode

I've been pregnant twice. The first time, I was nervous but excited. And sad when I miscarried, but I knew there was no reason to think it would happen again. The second time, I was even more nervous, trying to do everything right - and miscarried anyway. So for me, I think if I am lucky enough to get pregnant again, I will be a frickin wreck throughout. I will never be able to not worry about those little aches and pains, because two separate times they signaled the end. I am so jealous of women who can relax about it, since I don't think I ever can.

I think I was more relaxed with my first, honestly, despite several pre-term labor worries. My second pregnancy I rented a fetal heart monitor. And I would do it for a third. THAT'S how neurotic I get. I really get all sorts of crazy, like SERIOUSLY mentally crazy, when I'm pregnant with ridiculous irrational fears. Both times I was pregnant I was convinced someone was trying to poison me. (Different person each pregnancy.) Funny thing is, I was almost sure I was being irrational but I couldn't convince myself of it. Ugh, and then the panic induced by the triple screen test that I agreed to during my 2nd. That alone was a good month's worth of panic. But active-wise, I was definitely more active with my 2nd as I was working full-time and going to school full-time. I eventually had to take a semester off from school cause 2 programming classes + calculus + pregnant brain = crying disaster. Maybe when I decide to go for #3, I'll calm the heck down (aside from the monitor rental part).

I agree with CallieAnnie23 - Mindy you look so great in that post-labor photo! My mother-in-law put my hair up in a pony tail on top of my head, so that, paired with the fact I had preclampsia, made me look like a friggin' sumo wrestler. And might I also add that your ex-husband was rather brave in DARING to suggest you should exercise! Heather, I love you. Always have, always will. I am STILL laughing at the Donette's pictures. Drink the coffee...do the heroin, do the crack...you still make beautiful babies. Talon, your story is heartbreaking and beautiful!

Okay, complete honesty. My first pregnancy was everything it should have been. I had morning sickness when I should have had it, I felt movement before I should have, I puked VIOLENTLY at the slightest whiff of cig or cigar smoke (so hard that my ARMS hurt and I peed my pants...which also happened in the second pregnancy) and I was a very very happy pregnant person, despite the constant cough that turned out to be a reflux thing. I wasn't worried, I did everything right, and I really enjoyed being pregnant. It was PAINFUL a few times, but for the most part...it was wonderful. We had planned to get pregnant, we did, and we were going to have a baby and heaven help us if it was a boy because we couldn't agree on boy names and we wanted to be surprised... Well, we were surprised. He was a boy, and we did agree on a name, Rhys, thankfully before he died four days after he was born. No one knew he had anything wrong with him. He was PERFECT in every single way. In the breastfeeding classes the hospital offered to new moms who had just given birth, I had this big, chubby 8 pounder with hair and beautiful eyes and everyone else had these scrawny, bald, or just plain yoda babies (that some babies are just born that way and it takes a couple of months to grow out of the yoda stage. That's just facts.) But he had HLHS, which is Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, and did not exhibit a SINGLE cardiac symptom. We didn't know until the autopsy. That was in 1997. In 1998, I had a miscarriage, a blighted ovum. So, when I got pregnant (when I would have been due for the miscarriage!!) in 1999, my entire pregnancy was spent in a constant state of panic. Every piece of toilet paper was inspected for blood, and I had no less than 13 ultrasounds, from five weeks on up. My Ob/Gyn's office was so great, I could be freaking out, and call them, and they'd say, "Okay, why don't you just come on in, and we'll take a look, or listen to the baby's heart, and it's fine, everything is fine." They were fantastic and understanding, and when Ripley Honor Elora was born (with a VERY minor heart defect, the kind you don't find unless you're looking for something else, and it self corrected by the time she was four) healthy and strong, coming in under her brother at 7 lbs 15 oz (but then she was only one day late, he was eight days late) it was a celebration. My friends on the internet had gotten together and sent gifts and money to the friend who lived closest to me, and after Ripley was born and healthy, THEN they threw me a shower, all online with my doula, who was the friend who did all the shopping for the big ticket items my friends decided they wanted to buy for us there with me in person while the rest were in chat. I was constantly scared while I was pregnant with Ripley. I couldn't enjoy it, because I knew what could happen. I knew how easily and how quickly she could be taken from me. While it is very life affirming to have a child after a loss, it's also stressful. I wanted a boy. I wanted MY boy, and I know it's so good Ripley is a girl. If she had been a boy, I'm not sure how well I could have separated a second boy child, and my Rhys. And that's not fair to any child, living or dead, but especially living. So, like most everything else in my life, my experience is backwards from everyone elses. In raw, physical terms, the second pregnancy was the same as the first, except for the weird obsession with buffalo wings. I HATE them. And I craved them and ate them through my pregnancy like the were gods ambrosia. Tried them after my pregnancy? Still hate them. Physically it was the same, but I wasn't the only person on constant pins and needles, and the tests (mostly ultrasound, I refused other tests...I just wanted to play, "Let's all count the heart chambers, shall we? And the ever popular, "Does my baby have a brain?") results so we could know, or at least be sure of whatever MIGHT be there, so we could be prepared. For what, I don't know. Even if we had known of Rhys' heart defect, the end would have been the same. He had such a severe case, and so many vascular abnormalities that at the time, while they might have kept him alive a little longer, he would have never left the hospital, and he wouldn't have LIVED. I only wish I knew in hindsight, because I would have liked to have given him a peaceful death, instead of doctors frantically trying to stabilize him enough to find out what was so wrong with him. In the end, my second pregnancy didn't end with a funeral, and that was the biggest difference.

I'm seven weeks along in my second pregnancy and I'm already more relaxed than last time. I'm eating sandwich meat b/c I'm experiencing a strange aversion to hot food. I never drink caffeine anyway, but I have the occasional Sprite now to calm my sick belly. I'm also continuing to work out, because like Rebecca, I gained 65 pounds with my first pregnancy. It was a lot of hard work getting all that weight off, and I don't want to go through that again. Plus, I really feel as though me being so heavy the first go around really had an effect on my L&D. I also got married when I was pregnant last time (6 months along), we bought our first home and moved when I was 7 months. I don't plan on having any of those stressful, life changing events going on this time. Hopefully, this pregnancy can be a bit more laid back. Leslie

shit! did i not do the video right?!?