I was talking to a friend the other day about how different her 2 pregnancies are. She is currently 26 weeks with a little girl, and has a 3 year old boy. Her pregnancies have been very different, and it got me thinking about my 3 experiences.
Pregnancy 1
Gemma was my first baby, and my only girl pregnancy. I was sick, sick, sick for the first few weeks. Forget morning sickness, this was all-day-and-most-of-the-night sickness! It lasted until about 12 weeks then magically disappeared overnight (much to my relief!).
After the sickness went, I felt great. I quickly ‘bloomed’ and my bump was enormous! It was discovered I had polyhydramnios (excess amniotic fluid) and so was monitored closely and given extra scans, but all was well, and I just had a huge baby bump – measuring 52cms the day Gemma was born!
She arrived almost 3 weeks late after a very traumatic delivery, but is now a very happy, smart and chatty little madam.
Pregnancy 2
Jacob was baby number 2. His pregnancy was very different from my first. I had none of the sickness that I suffered from first time round, and actually felt well all the way through. My main gripe this time was heartburn – I spent many nights sat up in bed drinking gallons of Gaviscon and milk in an attempt to shift it! I again had quite a large bump, but nowhere near as big as with Gemma.
All was well with the pregnancy until my waters broke at 34 weeks. Jacob was delivered by emergency C section and spent some time recovering in SCBU. He is now a very lively, cheeky and mischievous little monkey who never stays still.
Pregnancy 3
This pregnancy had elements of both my previous pregnancies – namely the fact that I was again diagnosed with polyhydramnios and had extra monitoring and scans, but it was not as severe as first time round and that, combined with the fact that I was a lot more clued up this time meant I was not as worried. I also had the awful heartburn and was again keeping Gaviscon in business!
The main issue with this pregnancy was definitely SPD. The chronic pain in my hips and back made life very difficult, especially with 2 children to run around after, and I ended up being signed off work a bit early. So I tried to rest where I could (ha!) and spent the last few weeks sporting a very attractive maternity support belt.
Max was born at 36 weeks by emergency C section, and spent 48 hours on CPAP to help his breathing. He is now almost 10 months old, and a crawling, climbing little tike who melts hearts with his smile.
It’s true what they say – no 2 pregnancies are the same, and it’s never all plain sailing.
If you want to read more about my birth stories you can find them all here.
How have your pregnancies been? Did you find any similarities, or were they totally different?
