September 2014 Moms

Third time moms...

I'm just wondering if recovery time with baby#2 was easier than with baby#1. I had DD naturally(with drugs:)) and tore a little and was pretty miserable for a few wks. Im wondering if I'm less likely to tear with #2 and if I'll bounce back quicker since my body has already been there and done that. I'll have to take care of a newborn and a 18 month old so I'm a little scared;)

Re: Third time moms...

  • I am not a third time mom but I'm butting in here because I'm in almost the same boat...

    I had a vaginal birth with drugs, tore, recovery took awhile, and I will have a 20 month old when I give birth this time. From what I've read tearing (or not) the first time does not give any indication of tearing subsequent times. Bounce back probably depends on how everything ends up panning out, but I'm also hopeful for a quick bounce back for the same reasons you are.

    I'm going to stalk this thread for more insights from 3+ time moms.

    meganmccr said:
    I had DD naturally(with drugs:))
    I'm assuming this means vaginally with drugs. I've noticed a lot of throwing around of the term 'natural' birth. You can just say vaginal.
  • I had both girls vaginally, med free, tearing w stitches both times.

    I actually had a tougher time with dd2 but I think a lot of factors played into that. 1 - I had a piece of retained placenta that passed on it's own but then required a very painful internal exam at less than 24 hrs pp to make sure everything was out. It really wiped me out, I had been feeling great until that point. 2 - I nursed dd2, but had only pumped with dd1, so that was a pretty big learning curve. 3 - you continue to have contractions after baby is born, which apparently are supposed to be worse with each pregnancy, so I generally felt like id been repeatedly punched in the gut for about 2 weeks. 4 - my kids were 15.5 mos apart and I didn't want dd1 to feel slighted. I really think i pushed it too far too fast at times.
    image
    image        image
    image
  • Loading the player...
  • Second DD was much easier L&D. Pushed 3 times and she was out, compared to DD1 with 2+ hours of pushing and an episiotomy. My exhaustion level was so awful with delivery of DD1, so just not having to do nearly as much physically with DD2 made recovery so much easier. Every time is different though. I'm hoping this baby is easy on me!
  • jmarshalljmarshall member
    edited July 2014

    Not the same situation as yours, but I had #1 and #2 both via emergency C-section.  I found with #2, I didn't notice the pain as much.. because I had less time to focus on it.  When the baby was sleeping, I was trying to spend time with #1 verses just focusing on myself.

    Pregnancy Ticker
    Scheduled C-Section 8/20!
  • I had an episotomy with DS1 (vaginal birth, no epi, 3 long hours of pushing).  I tore with with DS2 (vaginal birth, epi, 20 min of pushing).  I don't remember the difference in recovery at all.  With DS2, I bounced back a lot faster, but mainly b/c I had to.  With DS1, I was able to lay around and be lazy when he was sleeping.  With DS2, I had DS1 to take care of, so i didn't have the option to be lazy. 
    Image and video hosting by TinyPic
    Baby Birthday Ticker TickerBaby Birthday Ticker Ticker


    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • jod3+2jod3+2 member
    I had a c section with both. It was so nice the second time but that has to do
    with being knocked out for an emergency c section and the second was planned and i was awake. But i would say second time was great. Make sure you focus on you and that helps you heal and be there for both kids
  • I had vaginal, drug free births with both - #2 was a water birth. I had very minimal tearing with #1 that didn't require stitches, and didn't tear at all with #1. I had a tougher pregnancy with #2, so I feel like the recovery might have felt easier because I was so unbelievably happy not to be pregnancy anymore. 

    I think physically the recovery was pretty similar with both, maybe slightly easier with #2, but I was better prepared with #2 and the transition of 1 to 2 was so much easier than 0 to 1 for me. I came out of the haze faster, felt like myself faster, etc. 

    My first was 21 months when my second was born, and he handled it well - he actually was super helpful bringing diapers, etc and doing little helpful things like that. We bought him a bunch of new books, toys, coloring books, etc and kept bringing new things out to keep him entertained while I was nursing the baby or trying to relax on the couch. I think the more prepared you are for that, the better!
  • I had emergency C-section with first and a vacuum assisted vag delivery with 2nd...3 hours pushing with pretty good tear. By miles even though that was a rough vag recovery by all medical accounts it was still way better physically than c/s and I didn't think that my c/s recovery was too bad. But I had some postpartum depression with the 2nd that tripped me up some. Mine are 26 months apart and I've really never had 2 kids in diapers. So I'm not sure, since I had 2 radically different deliveries and both with tougher recoveries than most, if that helps or not.

    I used this advice though and it might be the best thing anyone ever said to me

    When helping one kid make sure to tell the other "I'll be with you in a minute I'm helping baby" and do the same to the baby "baby, I'm helping big boy I'll be with you next" when baby cries,so that they feel equal and eventually this becomes a habit and even now I can see the other one visibly calm down when I say those things because they know I will come help them next. It really helped me keep calm and learn to cope with multiple requests without feeling so sad I couldn't help everyone instantly. It sounds silly but it has worked so well for us.

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker

    baby #3 arrived in September 2014...cannot get ticker to work no matter what I try!




  • I had both girls vaginally, med free, tearing w stitches both times. I actually had a tougher time with dd2 but I think a lot of factors played into that. 1 - I had a piece of retained placenta that passed on it's own but then required a very painful internal exam at less than 24 hrs pp to make sure everything was out. It really wiped me out, I had been feeling great until that point. 2 - I nursed dd2, but had only pumped with dd1, so that was a pretty big learning curve. 3 - you continue to have contractions after baby is born, which apparently are supposed to be worse with each pregnancy, so I generally felt like id been repeatedly punched in the gut for about 2 weeks. 4 - my kids were 15.5 mos apart and I didn't want dd1 to feel slighted. I really think i pushed it too far too fast at times.


    I also had uncomfortable post-delivery contractions with #2.  Every time I nursed her I felt like I was going into labor (for at least the first week or so).  Apparently they get worse w/ each kid so I'm preparing for the worst this time around.  Otherwise, delivery itself was much easier.

     

    Kid #1 - 3, Kid #2 - 1, Kid #3 - due 9/10/14


    BabyFruit Ticker
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"