My second labor was fast and easy and smaller baby. But recovery harder because I was 38 and had a potty training kid at home. A lot less rest was possible.

It seems like the older you are the more effects on your body. I had my first in my 20s and gained 50 lbs but 6 months later looked like I had never been pregnant. Second baby in 30s I gained much less weight but ended up with stretch marks, wrinkled stomach skin and an umbilical hernia.

I was completely wrecked after my first--huge episiotomy that took forever to heal, prolapse, etc. I also had PPD. It took months for me to feel like myself again, mentally and physically. OTOH, I lost the weight almost immediately--it just melted away--and externally I looked completely unchanged. No permanent difference in my waist or hips or shoe size, no stretch marks.

My second (5 years later) was the opposite: really easy labor and delivery, I felt terrific afterwards with no physical issues and no PPD (in fact, I had a huge endorphin high for several weeks after delivery). But, though I gained no more than I had gained with my first pregnancy, it took a lot longer for me to lose the weight; I permanently went up half a size in shoes; even after I lost all the weight, my waist was never as small as it had been before; and I had a few stretchmarks.

No, my second was a piece of cake compared to 3 hours of pushing a sunny side up baby with my first. I think I had dozens of stitches. The Dr lost count. I couldn’t walk properly for months.

Anonymous wrote:Nope, had 2 C- sections and recovery for my second was way way easier. Like, exponentially.

Honestly, this tracks with most anecdotes I’ve heard (particularly if the first was an unplanned C.)

OP — I know a lot of vaginal delivery folks who take much longer (a full year —- up to and including managing chronic injuries like prolapse and urinary incontinence for life) after delivery #2, mostly because more of the support structures in the pelvic floor have been wiped out after a second delivery. Don’t lift your toddler (you aren’t supposed to no matter which way you delivered), gentle walks, and book in with a pelvic floor pt when you are cleared for internal work.

Nope, had 2 C- sections and recovery for my second was way way easier. Like, exponentially.

Anonymous wrote:You’ll feel better soon. Try to rest as much as you can. Keep the kids on a schedule that prioritizes your rest and theirs.

+1 You will feel better soon. Enlist help, hydrate and do your best to get some sleep when you can. I think you will find responses here will be all over the map so not particularly helpful or reassuring. You've got this!

You’ll feel better soon. Try to rest as much as you can. Keep the kids on a schedule that prioritizes your rest and theirs.

No, but a faster delivery can be a harder recovery.

Yeah, having another child at home definitely makes recovery harder. There is never a break ever.

2 vaginal deliveries, first was back labor and hurt, 2nd was quick and easy and relatively pain free (compared to back labor with #1), but we had a toddler at home, so everything was more difficult

My delivery and recovery were MUCH easier the second time. My second was 11 oz smaller than my first with a much smaller head. I only pushed for 10 minutes vs 2 hours. I had a retained placenta and they attempted manual extraction before moving to a D&C, but even then I had nowhere near the same amount of swelling and soreness as after the first one.

Delivery was much worse for #2 and 3. Body did not bounce back at all.

A friend did a VBAC after having twins for #1. 4th degree tear (all the way through). Boy did she regret that.

First delivery was harder and I had some tearing. Second time was easier. However, my bladder control was completely gone after kid 2 was born. Took lots of therapy to improve, and I’m still not completely normal two years later.

I always heard that labor gets easier for second (+) kid but just had my second and labor and recovery has been significantly harder. The labor was faster but hurt more. Both were vaginal deliveries with no major issues but I just feel so much more wrecked. I am really surprised by this. What is everyone else’s experience?