I had my son in January and found out I was pregnant again in April, now 10weeks odd with pregnancy number 2 and even though there’s so little time between them I’d forgotten a lot and had to sit and think back.
My first pregnancy I had fertility treatment to conceive. I found out day 23 of my cycle as I had bloods taken on day 21 to check if ovulated and my progesterone was sky high, I also I had quite bad back cramps and incredibly painful boobs and 2 days later took a test expecting nothing only to have a positive, cried happy tears and got the shakes.
I started being horribly sick at 7 weeks, was hospitalised twice, off work for months and continued to be sick until the day before birth, I also had bad stomach cramping week 8-10. My boobs got worse and worse until I couldn’t get them wet in the shower and couldn’t wear a top let alone a bra without being sore. My back was agony by week 10 and I was counting down to get a pregnancy massage in the 2nd trimester. Also my feet hurt and I remember nearly crying when my husband would rub them off an evening, my skin was rubbish and I got terrible spots of my face but also on really random body parts including my belly button. I didn’t show until late and people were constantly saying how small my bump was. One very rude woman asked me at 36 weeks if they’d checked whether baby had stopped growing as I was clearly too small for that gestation.
This pregnancy I realised my period hadn’t returned yet and some of the women on my baby group were on cycle 2 or 3 even. Thought I’d have to speak to the doctor eventually but thought they’d tell me to take a test first, I did, fully expecting nothing after 3 years of negatives and the fertility treatment etc and nearly passed out to see the positive, cried, got the shakes, cried more. My boobs were only sore for a week or so and only if I really pushed and pulled them and only in certain bits , they are bigger though, I am nauseous but I’ve only been sick a handful of times and mainly if I haven’t eaten, my back hasn’t cramped and I had very very mild stomach cramps week 7. My main symptom is tiredness, I am absolutely exhausted however I’m low on iron and have a 4 month old so probably not surprising 😂 I’m sneezing a lot, my skin is really clear. My blump is visible, especially in the evening although I’m not back in my maternity jeans just yet. It’s got a shape to it this time.
Mentally it’s totally different, everyone I spoke to said 2nd/3rd pregnancies were different but I didn’t believe them - god they were right (or for me anyway!). I’m much more chilled out, not constantly reading the apps, have to count how many days I am instead of knowing it off by heart, I ate a medium steak last week which I would never have done 1st time round and even though there were issues at the start (not knowing if it was ectopic, not seeing anything on scans straight away) it’s turning out to be far more enjoyable experience this time.