Being pregnant with your second child is a much different experience than the first time around. Instead of obsessing over baby books and apps, you're so busy with child number one that you often forget you're carrying number two. You worry less, and you try not to repeat the same mistakes you made with your first pregnancy (making cheeseburgers and milkshakes your main diet maybe isn't the best idea). You're lucky if you have time to stock up on diapers and wipes before delivery; forget about the beautifully designed nursery you obsessed over with your first baby.
Partners of second-time-around pregnant women should also expect a different experience. You're no longer there just to rub feet and go on ice cream runs. You have a whole new set of responsibilities, expectations, and emotional weights to bear. I vividly remember being pregnant with my son when my husband decided he wanted to make an elaborate dinner for us (i.e. himself). The meat smells were more than I could bear; I headed upstairs to our room, shoved a towel under the door to block the nausea-inducing stench, and left him downstairs with a 30-step recipe and our ultrademanding 2-year-old. Good luck, buddy!
It was in that moment that he realized that his support-staff parenting role was getting an upgrade, whether he liked it or not. Luckily for both of us, he knew better than to complain to a pregnant woman, one of the many rules partners of women pregnant with baby number two should follow. If you're dealing with a second pregnancy in your family, here's a complete list of rules you need to know and abide by — or else!