If you are currently pregnant with your second baby, you might be wondering what to expect from your second postpartum experience. Even though you have gone through it before, things will be different the second time – just like your second pregnancy and second birth will be very different from your first.
But have no fear, because you are in the right place, Mama. Today we will be going over 5 things that will be different about your second postpartum experience.
This is the third and final part to our three-part series on having a second baby. To learn more about what will be different with your second pregnancy and second birth experiences, be sure to check out the posts from the first two parts of the series.
And now, let’s dive into what you can expect to be different about your second postpartum.
How the Second Postpartum is Different
1. More Painful Cramps
Something I noticed almost immediately and for about a week after giving birth for the second time was that my postpartum cramping was more painful than the first time.
After my first birth, nurses kept offering me pain meds for the cramping, but I never needed them. It just wasn’t very painful. But with my second postpartum, I did indeed use pain meds to help me rest better through the cramping.
Read my first natural hospital birth story here.
After talking about it with my sister, she said she had the same experience with her second postpartum cramping being more painful than her first.
Don’t be afraid to take the pain meds if you need them for your second postpartum cramping. Just make sure you only take the type and amount of medicine that is safe while breastfeeding if you are planning to breastfeed.
2. Different Tears
If you did not tear at all during your first labor, that is great and I hope it’s the same for you this time. But if you did tear – as many women do – you may be feeling nervous about what your experience will be with tearing recovery the second time around.
If you had a challenging experience with tearing the first time, find some comfort in the fact that it may be a totally different experience during your second postpartum.
I think my tearing the second time was similar as the first time in terms of how many tears and the degree of tearing I had. But my pain from tearing was significantly less in my second postpartum experience. I also healed much quicker – perhaps because this time I used witch hazel on my postpartum pads.
After giving birth to my first child, I could feel discomfort from one of my tears for a couple of years. But the second time, my tears completely healed up and left me with no discomfort after only a few weeks.
3. Bonding with Baby
How quickly and easily you bond with your baby is another thing that will quite possibly be different with your second postpartum experience. This can be due to several factors.
Your hormones may simply treat you differently this time around. Breastfeeding may be an entirely different experience (if you breastfeed).. Your second baby might be a happier or more fussy baby. Your second baby may require more or less medical interventions than your first.
Read about the postpartum experiences nobody talks about here.
You may be getting more sleep or less sleep than your first postpartum. The dynamic is different because there is an older child in the mix this time. And sometimes we just bond more quickly and easily with some personalities than others. So many things can play a role in your bonding experience.
For me, initial bonding was a very different experience during my second postpartum. This was mostly due to the fact that it had been a very difficult pregnancy following three miscarriages. I was never able to bond with my baby during this challenging pregnancy after recurrent loss.
But bonding was also made more difficult initially by her high-risk elevated bilirubin that required her to spend a significant amount of time under blue light therapy during the first two days of her life.
And finally, postpartum depression hindered my ability to bond with my baby in those first few months of her life. But as the postpartum depression improved, my ability to bond with my baby did too.
If you struggle with postpartum depression during your second postpartum, please talk about it with your doctor and your support system so they know how to help keep you and baby healthy and safe.
To read more about how God lifted my postpartum depression in the most surprising of ways, read the story of my baby’s heart defect here.
One of the natural ways I have been able to take the edge off of my depression at various challenging times is by using maca. To learn more about that, read this post on balancing hormones with maca.
4. Ease & Speed of Recovery
Here is something you can look forward to in your second postpartum experience! Thanks to the fact that your body has done this once before and the fact that you simply have no choice but to get back up and moving with an older child to care for, you will likely bounce back quicker.
Of course, this is subject to the type of birth you have and whether or not you experience any complications.
But unexpected complications aside, you will likely find that your ability to get up and moving with life again comes MUCH quicker than it did with your first postpartum.
5. Confidence as a Mom
This is another great thing about your second postpartum: Your confidence as a mom will be more established this time around. Since you have done this before, you know some of what to expect from your baby and your own abilities.
Honestly, I personally felt fairly confident about caring for my first baby. But still, with my second baby, I felt even more relaxed in my care for her because I had already done it all before.
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The exception to this, of course, is if your second baby receives any diagnosis with which you may not have prior experience. My second baby had a heart defect and she was high-risk jaundice for the first week and a half after she was born. I did not have experience with either of these things with my first daughter.
And yet, overall, I still felt fairly confident in caring for my second baby. As a matter of fact, I often commented to my husband during my heart baby’s hospital admissions that I was so glad this was our second baby. I felt much more capable of handling the emotional side of everything she went through than I would have with our first baby.
Some Things Will Be Similar With Your Second Postpartum
As always, however many differences you have between your first and second postpartum, there will also be similarities.
You will still have an adjustment to make with a new little person in the family adding his or her own personality to the mix. You will still need to be willing to accept any offered help so that you can get some rest now and then. You will still have to sacrifice in a lot of ways. And you will still know that every sacrifice you make for that new little member of your family is completely worth it.
And, just like your first postpartum, the long nights and fussy days will not last forever. And neither will the newborn cuddles. So make sure you soak them up as much as possible, in between cuddling with and chasing after your older child.
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