Trying to Plan for Pregnancy Number 2

Every pregnancy is different. It doesn't matter who you are. Every pregnancy is different and every child is different. This is no way to determine how it will be for you.

Take the recommended dose of prenatal vitamins ahead of time. Find a good OB who will work with you, who will involve you in decision making and who will listen to your concerns now and help you prepare. You may have to interview several. Prepare a list of questions in advance. Prepare a brief summary of your previous pregnancy and its problems in an easy to read font and bring to your appts. This is faster than telling the story and you won't forget anything.
Do yoga now to get your flexibility improved. Be sure you do yoga designed especially for pregnancy.
Find a certified massage therapist who specializes in pregnancy massage. You may have to interview several again. But you want one who is familiar with the problems you had before.
Expect this to be easier!
Every pregnancy is different.
Don't get advice from too many different places, choose your health care professionals carefully and stick with their advice and plan of care. Be sure that they develop a plan of care WITH you not FOR you and that changes will be discussed beforehand, unless it is an emergency. Be sure you trust your physician completely....both of these conditions can be life threatening so you want to know that your physician will respond promptly and correctly to any emergencies that occur. Be sure to find out how many partners are in the practice, how often your doctor will be on call, and what happens if you have a problem after hours and another doctor is on call. If you are not comfortable with their answer to any of your questions, keep looking. If they seem uncomfortable answering a lot of questions from you, again, keep looking. You want a partner not a dictator. You have every right to know their statistics, their qualifications, their attitudes and biases and any doctor who thinks you don't is not one you want.

You need to take a look at Dr. Tom Brewer's site (and search some sites, you'll find some really interesting interview sites as well)... though the vast majority of providers and parents aren't aware of it, the mass of PIH is really managable. http://www.blueribbonbaby.org/ Secondly, as I would tell anyone in my childbirth classes, much of the birth (and getting what you want out of it) depends on you making great choices regarding the providers that will attend your birth (doc, midwife, hospital, birth center, etc).

I didn't have 'issues' with any of my 3 kiddos, but many of my students in my classes have been able to deal with things that were issues in previous births/pregnancies (i.e.- PIH), and move through a subsequent pregnancy much more smoothly.

May your second pregnanacy and birth be a blessing to your family!

I am the biological mom of seven children, adoptive mom of two and foster mom of 1! All my pregnancies were different. Childbirth is hard, and there is no way to stop that, but some were worse than others, and some were relativly easy. I'm not sure what made the difference. My third was amazingly easy and short. My sixth was my only homebirth, and the one I had all the complications with, it was horrendous, a nightmare!! When I had baby number seven, I had a midwife in the hospital. I was so scared to give birth again, and I read everything I could on how to have an easy birth. It's been 11 years, and I can't remember all I took, but I do remember vitamin E and C. Those were supposed to make my skin soft and stretchy. That birth was also amazingly easy and short, and when the baby was born, she had skin like velvet and beautiful hair!!
By the way, my first adoption was also a nightmare, we didn't know if the child would be ours up to the last minute, and our second one went off without a hitch!

C.! Congrats on wanting to be as healthy as you can be before getting pregnant. One thing many women don't realize is that when their hormones are out of whack, it can affect many other areas of our health! Here is a great website to check out with Dr. John Lee, one of the pioneers on natural progesterone research. www.johnleemd.com

I was 37 when I knew I would be wanting to get pregnant in the next year to 1.5 years. I didn't have a regular cycle...it was anywhere from 3-6 weeks between. This would have made it very difficult for me to get pregnant. So after some research, including Dr. John Lee's website/books, I started using natural progesterone cream the last month I knew I was going to be on the pill. The first month completely off the pill and only on the N.P. cream, I had a regular cycle and did for 13 months before getting pregnant (at 38 yrs)! I had a great pregnancy! I used the cream through my first and most of my second trimester (as suggested by Dr. John Lee). Even though my daughter was born 6 weeks early (for no apparent reason), my delivery was good as well. She was born healthy and only in NICU for 5.5 days! She was born 3 days before my 39th birthday! She just turned 4 last month!

Anyway, I'm sure that way much more information than you wanted. I am no doctor, but highly recommend natural progesterone creams or some companies call them natural balancing creams. You do need to be careful because not all balancing creams are created equal. I use Arbonne's natural balancing cream, Prolief. I still use the natural balancing cream and plan to the rest of my life.

After doing research, I'd be happy to help you get some if you want to try Arbonne's. I can also email you a document with a couple websites and books to read if you want. My email is ____@____.com Bless!!

Unfortunately I had the same nausea issues with both pregnancies. I did find that if I took a minimumal dose of phenergan it curbed the nausea without all the side effects of the meds. My second delivery was much easier even with a much larger baby. I think my nurse played a huge part in that with positioning my body to help open up my hips and allow the baby to drop into position. Good luck!!
Jen D. -Frisco

I have seven children, three biological and four adopted. Each of my pregnancies was different as each child is different. My easiest pregnancy and delivery was with my child that I was at a good weight, did yoga (or some sort of exercise), swam regularly, and ate sensibly. Mainly extra care to maintain myself as well as my pregnancy. Good idea to take care of your weight before you become pregnant.

Hi C.,

I was sick with my 2nd pregnancy much worse than the first. Every morning I felt like I had a hang over, it was awful. My doctor put me on Phenergan(sp?)for the nausea. I would take it every night and would wake up feeling so much better. I had a 17 mo. old at the time, so things had to be better. It was a God send!! I hope you have a wonderful pregnancy!!

T.

My second pregnancy was harder than my first, I believe mainly because I had another child to take care of too. Of course, I didn't have any real health issues. (My blood pressure did start to creep up, but my midwife had me take a Magnesium/calcium supplement that took care of that.) I think it will be tougher for you because you have a young daughter who will still need a lot of attnetion. I am glad that there is a 3yr. 3month gap between my kiddos now, although I thought I wanted them closer together.

All that being said, maybe you can research more natural prenatal care and delivery options. I loved my homebirths. They were the two best decisions of my life. My first homebirth has been the single biggest life changing event of my life. It gave me so much self-confidence. I have the most awesomely positive memories from both birts. I used a CPM, certified professional midwife. I would be glad to point you in that direction if you would like to research it more. (It is way, way cheaper than a hospital birth and proven safe.)

I don't know if the problems you had with your pregnancy could be avoided with more natural care. You would need to talk to a midwife about that first. You can make an appointment to interview midwives for free.

Good luck and happy baby-making.

Hi C.,

I had more difficulty with my 2nd pregnancy, but I think that staying active is the key to a lot of things. I didn't keep active and I didn't go through Lamaze class again, which I think could have helped. Walking helped and having carbs like dry cereal, rolls, and crackers always on hand helped me with nausea. Maybe you should look into a diabetic diet so that if you schedule an eating pattern you might not have to take insulin. I really hope you have a great pregnancy and an easy delivery.

Congratulations!

You should go haead aand start your Folic acid suppliment while ttc. I second the fab advice to follow the Brewer diet. It does amazing things for PIH and Pre-eclampsia, GDM. Most of the problems in pregnancy come form a lack in the nutrition problem.

As far as morning sickness, unfortunaltey :o) bad mornng sickness is a sign of a healthy pregnancy! Not have it doesn't mean there is a problem, but having it can be a good sign.

I am currently pregnant with my 5th child and am anticiapting a nother wonderful peaceful homebirth with my midwife.

You said you were not so hapy with your birth experience, you may want to check out my website ( I am a doula and childbirth educator) I recently added a great section of midwives and birth centers in the metroplex. A birthing center or homebirth may be the experience you are looking for!
www.mtmbirthing.com

I am a mom of 5, and believe me, every pregnancy was different! Luckily I didn't have any morning sickness, but everything else was different. So just because one wasn't so great, it doesn't mean the next will be the same. My one word of advice is:walk. I know it doesn't seem like some great revelation, but boy does it work. My first labor was over 16 hours, second was 8 1/2 hours, but I didn't do alot of walking. With my third, I walked my oldest to kindergarten and back each day during the school year. (approx. 9 blocks each way). We all enjoyed the time together and I didn't realize the great exercise I was getting. When I went into labor with my third, I felt the first contraction at about 5:05 pm, got to the hospital at 6:00pm and she was born at 6:29pm. An hour and a half of total labor! Hard labor, but quick! I didn't realize that it was the walking that did it until I had my fourth and didn't walk very much, and the labor went back up to 6 1/2 hours. I learned my lesson! My children are grown now, but one of them listened to me and when she went in to deliver her first child, she was breathing and handling things so well they didn't check her immediately, and when they did she was already dilated to an 8 1/2. So it even works with first babies too. Hope this helps, good luck and I'll be praying for you.

Have you ever looked at the website "Naturally Healthy"? Shonda Parker is a great resource for nutrition, healing AND pregnancy. We have 2 of her books: "Naturally Healthy Pregnancy" and "Mommy Diagnostics". Her info takes alot of the mystery out of physical ailments and makes them overcomeable. Plus, she will answer your email questions.

Check her out and congratulations on the decision to give your daughter the BEST gift (a sibling)!

Best of luck to you!! I am on my third pregnancy my girls are 5 years and 10 months so staying in shape and being healthy is a huge concern for me. I found a wonderful website www.babyfit.com this website is very helpful the biggest difference in my third pregnancy vs. 1 and 2 is that I work out 5 times a week and it has made such a difference.

K.

I just experienced my 2nd pregnancy. I really enjoyed it. I think it was easier. I had preeclampsia with my first and delivered six weeks early. I think with this one I didn't panic at every little twinge. I did develop gestational diabetes, but it wasn't that difficult to manage. Just know that your diabetes will come back with any pregnancy you have and begin monitoring your diet as soon as you are pregnant and enjoy. Each pregnancy is different. Two children are really a joy.