Second Pregnancy-itis

No one ever tells you how different your second pregnancy is from the first. I think that part of it is that you don't know what to expect with your first, so you take everything in stride. This pregnancy has been different from the very beginning. I had incredible morning (actually evening) sickness and I crave sweets; with my first, I had very little morning sickness and craved spicy food. I was so sure that I was having a girl, but the ultrasound showed (very clearly, I might add) that we were expecting a second boy!

Anyway, last night I was home alone with my son, when I started having incredibly sharp pains that I have never felt before. I knew that they weren't contractions, but I also knew that I didn't have those pains with the first one! The difficulty was that my son was still insisting that I get him dinner and then we had to have our nighttime bath, but I was actually afraid to stand up as a result of the pain! I obviously had to, because I couldn't ignore the needs of my son. Luckily, once I put my son to bed and was able to lay down on the couch and get my feet up, the pain subsided and I started to feel a little better.

By chance, I had a routine OB appointment today and so I asked about it... Guess what she said? (I'm paraphrasing here) Oh yeah, that happens with second and subsequent pregnancies...your body never quite goes back to normal after you have one child. You're going to find that you have pains that you never had before, varicose veins show up (I don't have any yet, knock on wood), and from time to time it may feel like your baby is just going to FALL OUT (I'm not kidding - this is what she said). She then followed up by saying that I shouldn't worry because none of these things are abnormal and the baby won't just fall out. (Ok, the scientist in me knew that this was the case, but I still had this sense of...phew). She said that when I feel this way, I should just lay down, drink water, and keep my feet up until the feeling subsides. Are you kidding? She has kids, she should know better! There is no way my son will let me lounge around with my feet up whenever I feel this way! Oh well, such is the life of parents with young children.

This makes me laugh about my behavior during my first pregnancy. Based upon all of the doctors rules and suggestions, I didn't lift the laundry basket after my first trimester, I didn't have an OUNCE of caffeine, I protected my belly at all costs (even from benign threats). I definitely wasn't in the real world of parents with children. It's not that I'm not trying to do those things now, but my son weighs 30 lbs and I HAVE to lift him up, that is much more than a laundry basket would weigh! I had awful headaches at the beginning of this pregnancy, and so my doctor TOLD me to drink a cup of caffeine when that happens. My son routinely knees me or jumps on me (as toddlers are wont to do) and while I try to protect my belly, I'm beginning to learn how tough it is to damage these babies in utero.

So, the second pregnancy is really quite different than the first. I can't possibly be as careful as I was, and yet, so far, everything is going according to plan. The strange pains and other feelings are definitely new territory, but I will trust my doctor that this is just second pregnancy-itis. In the meantime, I'm counting the weeks until the baby is born. I don't want him to come early, but I am also ready to be done with this discomfort (and suffering through the heat!). To quote the Grateful Dead, "what a long, strange trip it's been..."