Difference Between First and Second Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a beautiful journey that a woman experiences in her lifetime. Here, we are asked to differentiate between the terms first pregnancy and second pregnancy. Even though there are many similarities between both the pregnancies, but at the same time it offers the woman to experience a lot of different feelings and emotions each time. There are major differences between both, first pregnancy and second pregnancy. After being pregnant the first time, one is not aware of the experiences in the initial stage of the journey of motherhood, but slowly and gradually in second pregnancy one knows what is going to happen, but sometimes in the second pregnancy, it is unpredictable.
First Pregnancy vs Second Pregnancy
The main difference between first pregnancy and second pregnancy is that both the pregnancies make the woman feel different mentally as well as physically. In the first pregnancy, the woman is comparatively less prepared both mentally and physically. On the other hand, in the second pregnancy, the woman is more prepared and she is aware of the things, even though the symptoms, experiences, etc are different from the previous pregnancy. Also, pregnancy differs from woman to woman and hence, sometimes it is unpredictable.
Generally, it is often termed as in first pregnancy the baby bump or the stomach portion of a woman during pregnancy takes time to get big. It takes a longer time because of the stomach muscles, which enables the muscles to slowly and gradually stretch. Also, the woman feels the movement or the baby kick comparatively late. Also, in the first pregnancy, a woman experiences a lot more painful labor pain as well as contractions.
On the other hand, generally, it is often termed as in second pregnancy, the baby bump or the stomach portion of a woman shows a little sooner. This is because, the stomach muscles have already experienced the enlargement of the muscles in the previous pregnancy and therefore, it eases the muscles sooner and faster. One more major change that women have seen or felt is the movement or the baby kick shows up earlier. Also, in the second pregnancy, the labor pain is comparatively low and barely.
Comparison Table Between First Pregnancy and Second Pregnancy
| Parameters of Comparison | First Pregnancy | Second Pregnancy |
| Belly Size/Baby Bump | In the first pregnancy, the belly size or the baby bump takes a bit longer time to show up. The baby bump gradually and slowly stretched the stomach muscles. | In the second pregnancy, the belly size or the baby bump shows up early as compared to the first pregnancy. This is because in the first pregnancy the stomach muscles are already stretched and hence it takes comparatively less time to show up. |
| Duration of Labour Pain | In the first pregnancy, it is often said that the labor pain takes a bit longer time, of approximately eight hours. | In the second pregnancy, it is often said that the labor pain takes less time of approx five hours or so. |
| Birth | In the first pregnancy, the birth of the child takes more time and at the same time, it is comparatively more painful. | In the second pregnancy, the birth of the child takes less time, and also it is often considered less painful than the first pregnancy. |
| Movement of the Baby | During the first pregnancy, the women have noticed that the baby’s movement or the kick takes time to happen. | During the second pregnancy, women have noticed that the baby’s movement or the kick takes less time and therefore the baby starts making movements from the early stage itself. |
| Fatigue/ Low on Energy | In the first pregnancy, women are not as low on energy as compared to the second one. Being fatigued is common, but it’s less in the first pregnancy. | In the second pregnancy, women are mostly exhausted and low on energy. The feeling of fatigue is comparatively more in the second pregnancy. |
| Braxton Sickness | During the first pregnancy, the pregnant woman experiences the Braxton Hicks contractions very late and around the 16th week. | During the second pregnancy, the pregnant woman experiences Braxton Hicks at an earlier stage. |
| Complications | Generally, in the first pregnancy women have some complications such as preterm labor, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Therefore, it varies from woman to woman. | Generally, in the second pregnancy women-only experience severe complications if they had any kind of complications in their first pregnancy. But, if no complications are seen in the first one then the woman doesn’t experience anything in the second one. |
| Morning Sickness | In the initial stage of the pregnancy, women often feel nausea, and therefore after a few weeks, these feelings completely vanish. But, in some cases, the morning sickness remains throughout the journey of pregnancy. | If a woman experiences morning sickness during her first pregnancy, it is said that she is bound to have those morning sicknesses again in the second pregnancy as well. |
What is First Pregnancy?
First pregnancy simply means being pregnant with the first child. The first pregnancy is a very special and crucial time for both parents. Being pregnant for the first time, engages a lot of time, effort, care, excitement, etc. In short, a bunch of joyful as well as sensitive moments. In the first pregnancy, the woman not only experiences a bunch of new experiences but she has to go through a lot both mentally and physically. There are a lot of physical changes in the woman’s body such as weight gain, acne, allergies, stretch marks, etc. There are many such instances, that we are going to discuss here.
The changes that are included in the first pregnancy are such as the size of the belly increases, there are back pain as well as body aches, headaches, the feeling of fatigue, etc. In the first pregnancy, the size of the belly or in other words the baby bumps slowly and gradually increases, therefore it takes time. As the stomach muscles in the initial stage experience a new change. Also, it is said that baby takes time to show any sort of movement in the belly. In the first pregnancy, the labor pain and contractions are severe, since it is the first time for the woman of giving birth. One more thing that is noticed in a woman is that the first delivery period is approximately eight hours or so.
Low energy, or feeling fatigued, and morning sicknesses are one more point that is to be noted. Generally, the mentioned problems are experienced in the initial stage or the first trimester of pregnancy. But, in some cases, these problems are experienced throughout the pregnancy journey. Medications, proper medical guidance is very important in this period. Also, some complications arise in some women such as high blood pressure, diabetes, preterm labor, etc. And, after giving birth still the woman has to take medications for the complications.
What is Second Pregnancy?
A woman who is bearing her second child in her womb is known as second pregnancy. The second pregnancy can be said more intense and the changes are different from the previous pregnancy. Maximum women have experienced changes or differences in the second pregnancy that includes many changes like labor pain, body pain, symptoms, complications, etc. In the second pregnancy, it is noticed that the baby bump shows up early. The reason behind this is that in the previous pregnancy when the stomach muscles stretched, the body adjusted itself into that, and hence when the baby develops itself in the second pregnancy the baby bump shows up early.
In the second pregnancy, women are seen that their labor pain is quite less. That means the labor pain only lasts for five hours or so. The delivery of the baby takes less time and is often considered less painful. Because, after the first delivery the vaginal muscles are extended to some extent, that helps the woman to push out the baby with less pain and time. The movements of the baby are also caught early in the second pregnancy.
There is no such complication in the second pregnancy, but if a women experience any sort of complication during the first pregnancy then she gets the same set of complications in the second one also. The complications are high BP, diabetes, etc. Also, the morning sickness often tenses the woman. Due to severe morning sickness, there are high fluctuations of mood swings. If the morning sickness is severe for the first time or lasts throughout the pregnancy then in the second pregnancy the same sort of morning sicknesses are seen.
Main Differences Between First Pregnancy and Second Pregnancy
Conclusion
Being pregnant or motherhood is a journey, where a woman sacrifices her time, energy, efforts, love, care, etc to nurture her child from the very first day she gets to know that she is pregnant. As time flies, she experiences different sets of feelings and emotions both physically and mentally. Therefore, we have discussed the differences between the changes experienced in the first pregnancy and second pregnancy. All the complications, symptoms, labor pain, contractions, etc are more intense the second time. Therefore, one needs to take care of the women who go through this journey.
References
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