What to expect when you're expecting by Heidi Murkoff, Sharon Mazel

Realistic, empathetic, and age-appropriate preparation for your firstborn to make the life-changing transition from only child to older child should begin during pregnancy. For tips, see
What to Expect the First Year
and
What to Expect the Toddler Years.
Reading picture books such as
What to Expect When Mommy’s Having a Baby
and
What to Expect When the New Baby Comes Home
to your child will also help with older sib preparations.
    “I had a perfect first baby. Now that I’m pregnant again, I can’t shake the fear that I won’t be so lucky this time.”
    Your chances of hitting the baby jackpot once again are excellent—in fact, better still for already having a successful pregnancy under your reexpanding belt. Also, with each pregnancy you get the chance to up the odds even more, by accentuating all those pregnancy positives (good medical care, diet, exercise, and lifestyle choices).
Your Obstetrical History Repeating Itself

    “My first pregnancy was very uncomfortable—I must have had every symptom in the book. Will I be that unlucky again?”
    In general, your first pregnancy is a pretty good predictor of future pregnancies, all things being equal. So you are a little less likely to breeze comfortably through pregnancy than someone who already has. Still, there’s always the hope that your luck will change for the better. All pregnancies, like all babies, are different. If, for example, morning sickness or food cravings had you down in your first pregnancy, they may be barely noticeable in the second (or vice versa). Though luck, genetic predisposition, and the fact that you’ve experienced certain symptoms before have a lot to do with how comfortable or uncomfortable this pregnancy will be, other factors—including some that are within your control—can alter the prognosis to some extent. The factors include:
    General health. Being in good all-around physical condition gives you a better shot at having a comfortable pregnancy.
    Weight gain. Gaining weight at a steady rate and keeping the gain within the recommended guidelines (see page 166 ) can improve your chances of escaping or minimizing such pregnancy miseries as hemorrhoids, varicose veins, stretch marks, backache, fatigue, indigestion, and shortness of breath.
    Diet. It can’t offer any guarantees, but eating well (see Chapter 5 to find out how) improves every pregnant woman’s chances of having a healthier and more comfortable pregnancy. Not only can it up your odds of avoiding or minimizing the miseries of morning sickness and indigestion, it can help you fight excessive fatigue, combat constipation and hemorrhoids, and prevent urinary tract infections and iron-deficiency anemia—even head off headaches. And if your pregnancy turns out to be uncomfortable anyway, by eating well you’ll have bestowed on your baby the best chances of being born healthy.
    Fitness. Getting enough and the right kind of exercise (see page 215 for guidelines) can help improve your general well-being. Exercise is especially important in second and subsequent pregnancies because abdominal muscles tend to be more lax, making you more susceptible to a variety of aches and pains, most notably backache.
    Lifestyle pace. Leading a harried and frenetic life (and who doesn’t these days?) can aggravate or sometimes even trigger one of the most uncomfortable of pregnancy symptoms—morning sickness—and exacerbate others, such as fatigue, headache, backache, and indigestion. Getting some help around the house, taking more breaks away from whatever fries your nerves, cutting back at work, letting low-priority tasks go undone for the time being, or practicing relaxation techniques or yoga can help you chill out—and feel better.
    Other children. Some pregnant women with other children at home find that keeping up with their offspring keeps them so busy that they barely have time to notice pregnancy discomforts, major or minor. For others, all the running around that comes with