My second child is due towards the middle of next year. This was an expected, planned pregnancy.
I have no worries or reservations about having another child. It's something my wife and I both wanted and we agreed upon the timing.
That said, I have found this pregnancy to be much less exciting and emotionally charged than the last (it's less pregnant, if you will). I know some of this is just because it's not new and many of my fears/worries about pregnancy were assuaged.
However, my lack of excitement is much more severe than I expected. I feel less emotionally invested in this pregnancy than the last.
I have read about some fathers needing a long time to feel attachment to their child, but these articles are usually about fathers who felt this with their first child. They're not about parental attachment to additional children/pregnancies.
I don't have any worries about whether or not I will love my next child as fully as possible, but I do wonder when that will happen.
Is this a common (or not uncommon) feeling during additional pregnancies? Is there any trend regarding when this attachment develops (such as during a stage of pregnancy, during labor/delivery, or some time frame after birth)?
If those questions are unanswerable, does anyone have advice on making pregnancies more exciting for the parents?
Edit:
Since there have been a couple responses that I feel might have confused the question, I wanted to clarify that I'm not concerned about my ability or potential to love my new little one. I've emphasized the relevant part of the question above.
I also wanted to add that we found out the other day that we're having another son. I'm marginally more invested now that I have a more concrete image of who's coming, but I still can't help but feel a little guilty about how little excitement I'm feeling.
However, I have found that two things are helping to make me more excited: - Trying to decide on a name for my new son - Asking my firstborn questions such as, "Do you think we should get a baby?"
I think these work because I'm adding to the mentality that there will actually be another person in our family soon.