The difference between the first and the second pregnancy is that the second pregnancy is much more... empowering!

Having some experience with pregnancy diet already, now there is no need to refer to the "safe foods" guidelines on bookmarked Babycenter page. No need to count calories consumed and calories burned on a phone app either; when expecting the second child the deal is - when you have a chance - you eat!

The first trimester of the first pregnancy feels like 10 hours of sleep nightly would not be enough; during the first trimester of the second pregnancy I could function on the usual 6-7 hours just as well. At the same time I could also manage my mood swings better (especially if Arthur was nearby), and... ignore hallucinations.

I was generally able to maintain same level of physical activity throughout both first and second pregnancies - say, at 37 weeks I still do prenatal yoga twice a week and swim twice a week - but certain things that seemed impossible 2 years ago just happen now! For instance, 2 years ago I stopped jogging around month 5, when my belly started showing, and by month 8 whenever I had to cross a road running I was literally holding my belly with my hands, and yet it was still shaking and jumping up and down, making me worried about the baby and convinced I physically can't run or jump anymore at that point of my pregnancy.

Ha-ha-ha.

3 weeks till the due date - whenever Arthur sprints away from me in the street at an unpredictable trajectory, I chase him at a speed faster than a car coming our way and before a single thought of whether I'm supposed to be running crosses my mind. If I have to run - I will :) If at a playground I have to climb up a few steps to help Arthur get on the top of the slide and then - to jump down and run to the bottom of the slide to catch him - I will. I will also lift or carry around these 26-27lbs of pure awesomeness: if that needs to be done immediately - all out of sudden I can do that! :)

I am also one of those lucky women who never suffered from morning sickness throughout their pregnancy, but I can speculate that if I were prone to it, my nausea experience during the second pregnancy would have been much less brutal. Of other significant differences - this time I am much less swollen than 2 years ago, however my lungs gave up on jogging after month 2.

As for the remaining few weeks, the actual big day and the time of recovery - I am even more curious how things will work out this time. I'll have to wait just a little bit more until I actually have the right to compare and make conclusions :)