This Pregnancy Compared To My Last one (so far)

I’m currently at 28 weeks and feeling like A LOT is very similar to my last pregnancy. In the beginning I was really reading a lot into every little symptom, trying to decipher if slight differences meant a different gender or not. Obviously, all those myths are myths for a reason. 2 things I’ve come to realize during pregnancy is 1) I know absolutely nothing about horoscopes, and 2) I’m not superstitious. I’m honestly so shocked how every time someone asks what my due date is (Jan 28th btw) they follow it up with “oh so baby will be a [insert sign here]!?” Am I the only female that just doesn’t follow that?? All my close girlfriends can tell me my life story based on my birthdate and time yet I don’t even know what sign my children are lol. As for superstitions, I just don’t think it’s very ME. I like logic, science, and facts. Fables, tales, myths, etc. just don’t resonate in my mind.

With that said, here is my comparison of both pregnancies so far. Cannot wait (I mean I CAN, but you know what I mean) to see how labor goes this time around…

+ Being robbed of beauty – They say girls rob you of your beauty and with Capri I did have some skin issues. There was a permanent red dry patch on my chin and I had melasma on my cheekbones. While I do have melasma this time around (almost in the exact same spot) it’s not as bad. The red patch is back but less visible, and there’s a little but of that between my eyebrows now.

+ Cravings – With Capri I had zero cravings. I was actually looking forward to the fun demands I would make of Paul at 2AM but I never craved anything. Very anti-climactic lol. With Baby Nº2 I had many cravings in the first trimester. It seemed like every time I saw carbs on TV (or saw someone else eating them) I suddenly HAD TO HAVE IT. It was never an extreme that required Paul to leave the house to go pick something up in the middle of the night, but I did request a cheese plate with peaches one night at 9PM. I know…nothing THAT exciting. I was pretty concerned this would go on my entire pregnancy, which would eventually lead to escalated weight gain, but thankfully the cravings subsided by week 12 so I could resume my clean & healthy eating. Of course I give in if something sounds great, and I never deprive myself in general, but during pregnancy especially I find it a top priority to properly nourish your body / baby.

+ Nausea – Ohhhh the nausea. First trimester for me (starting at about 6 weeks both times) is just miserable. I feel sick / nauseas all day but never puke. I’m not sure what’s worse though – I hear once you puke you feel a relief? For me I just feel totally useless, weak, funky appetite, etc. It sucks. Since we are in a pandemic I’ve been able to spend a lot of time at home relaxing (thankfully), but last time I still had to attend work events and shoot while feeling like absolute shit. Guess I found the silver lining there, right?

+ Aches + Pains – With Capri I suffered from swelling in my feet towards the end. We were also in the height of summer so that did not help the situation either. This time I’ve experienced different pains but not consistently. I went through a 2-week period of having serious sciatic pain every time I would sit in a chair for too long. I feel like my body overall just feels a little stiff and tight now, which might be because I can’t currently do pilates (due to the pandemic). Last time I had “vagina lightning,” which is a ridiculous thing to explain (or experience) and thankfully that hasn’t happened this time around.

+ Headaches – With Capri I cut caffeine in the first trimester because I was trying to do everything “right” and it resulted in migraines almost every afternoon. I even threw up at one point from all the pressure in my head. Once I entered my second trimester I gave in and started drinking a chai every morning and it cured my gnarly headaches. THIS time around I’ve continued drinking my one cup of coffee each morning and haven’t had to deal with any caffeine headaches. However, I will say I’ve had a handful of unexplained headaches this pregnancy that seem to go away by the next morning. I usually just go to sleep early, limit phone use (or any backlit devices), and drink lots of water.

+ Heartburn – I had pretty bad heartburn / acid reflux towards the end of my pregnancy last time to a point where I couldn’t lay flat while sleeping. I had never experienced that before so it was pretty miserable. This time I started feeling the heartburn much earlier but with a lesser intensity. I haven’t been on the verge of puking (yet) like I was last time so hopefully it stays that way. But I have been avoiding spicy foods as much as possible to prevent it from getting worse.

+ Baby Moving – With Capri it wasn’t until 6ish months that I started to really feel her moving around. I remember being on my last work trip to London when I first started seeing her move in my belly, which was a pretty bizarre but amazing thing. With baby boy he has been kicking and moving for quite some time now. I’d say around 4ish months I started feeling movement. I’m now 7 months and he is full-on flipping around and I’m not surprised one bit – they say boys are more wild, right?

+ The Bump – My first pregnancy could have passed as a burrito baby for legit the first 7 months. There was nothing, nothing, nothing, then around 6/7 months it looked a tiny bit like a bump, and then 8 months I really popped. This time I was still small, but the bump was visibly a pregnancy bump at around 5 months. I managed to hide it until that time easily. They say the second time around your body just knows what to do and quickly snaps into baby-carrying mode so you show sooner.

 + Boobs – So the dead giveaway of me being pregnant is the boobs. They get SO massive! With Capri they were definitely big but it was a slow and steady growth. This time, by week 6 they were a full size bigger. Now at 28 weeks they are DDD / E’s and it’s not fun. I’ve had to purchase all new bras, which also means no longer going braless since I need the support. I totally forgot about this symptom and I’m VERY nervous to see what happens to them after I give birth once my milk comes in.

+ Stretch Marks – They say stretch marks is genetic but who really knows the real answer? I didn’t get stretch marks with Capri but I was very neurotic about applying oils, butters, and exfoliators religiously. I would like to think the continued hydration on my stretching skin contributed to my skin not getting stretch marks but also bouncing back nicely, too. So far I’m taking the same measures – oils, butters, heavy creams, and exfoliators daily. Not going to lie, it feels so rich and lux that I’m not sure why I don’t just do this in general even while not pregnant? Also a tip – apply to your expanding boobs, butt, hips, etc. Stretch marks can happen anywhere so keep the whole body hydrated!

Okay I think that’s all for the symptoms. Now that I’ve written it all out it seems like pregnancy is one miserable experience but it’s really not that bad (for me). There might be a lot but it’s also over 10 months so things are spaced out. The first trimester (both times) is definitely the worst part for me. Once I enter my second trimester a lot of these symptoms subside, allowing me to resume “normal” life as much as possible. My energy is pretty normal starting at 12 weeks and I like to keep busy like I would be not pregnant. I think working and keeping busy helps pass the time and also is a nice distraction from any discomfort you do experience.

Anyone else find their second pregnancies to be similar or different than the first?