Your Baby at Week 20
At a Glance
Your Little … Thumbsucker?
For upon |Your little one is still working hard on her sucking reflexes and may even suck her thumb if her hand drifts close to her face.
Gender Reveal
Boy or girl? Your ultrasound this week should be able to detect what you’re having if you want to know!
The Big Week?
If you didn’t start feeling your baby-to-be’s punches and kicks last week, you may this week (and it’s the best!). But it could take a little longer.
You’ve got a heavyweight in your belly at 20 weeks pregnant (well, in baby terms, anyway). Your little champ weighs about 10 ounces and has a height, crown to rump, of about six-and-a-half inches. Think small cantaloupe (and probably as sweet too). While your baby is definitely getting bigger, there’s still plenty of growing room in there, which allows him to twist and turn (and allows you to feel his acrobatics!).
20 Weeks Pregnant Is How Many Months?
If you’re 20 weeks pregnant, you’re in month 5 of your pregnancy. Only 4 months left to go! Still have questions? Here’s some more information on how weeks, months and trimesters are broken down in pregnancy.
Boy or Girl?
Curious about whether that melon-sized belly has a boy or a girl inside? Now’s your chance to take a peek! Though the external genitals in both male and female fetuses still have a way to grow, you’ll be able to find out your baby’s gender via the second trimester ultrasound, usually scheduled for anytime between 18 and 20 weeks. This routine exam gives your practitioner a chance to see how things are going in there (and wow, are they going!). If you’re carrying a girl, your baby’s uterus is fully formed this week and the vaginal canal is starting its development (which means that in a few decades, you might be a grandma!). Your little girl also has primitive eggs in tiny ovaries now, seven million of them. By birth, that number will be down to two million. If your fetus is a boy, the testicles have begun their descent this week, though they’re still in the abdomen waiting for the scrotum to finish growing so they’ll have a place to go in a few weeks.
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Watch Your Baby’s Growth At Week 20
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Your Body at Week 20
Hair and Nail Growth
Now that you’re at the midpoint of your pregnancy (20 weeks down, 20 more to go!), that little cantaloupe you’re carrying is becoming more of a reality as you feel his movements and draw smiles from passersby who see your baby bump. You might also be noticing that your nails are stronger and your hair (all over your body) is growing faster than usual, feeling thicker and fuller. You can thank pregnancy hormones again, which trigger a surge in circulation that brings extra nutrients to hair and nail cells.
But even though your nails might be long, they can also turn dry and brittle (of course, it’s those pregnancy hormones). And though you may love your lavish locks now, don’t get too attached: Your good-hair-day run ends with delivery, when the normal daily hair loss that’s suppressed during pregnancy (thus the thicker mane) picks up where it left off and then some.
Feeding Your Growing Appetite
Are you in the Hunger Zone? With weeks of nausea and food aversions behind you, you may be more than ready to make up for lost eating time (move over crackers, hello four-course meals!). But before you dig into that all-you-can-eat buffet at lunchtime, here’s something you might want to consider. The grazing approach that was your mealtime MO during those queasy months is still the best way to feed yourself and your baby now that food’s no longer a four-letter word. Not only does it help fend off pesky second-trimester tummy troubles (like the heartburn and indigestion that are sure to set in by your second trip to the buffet), but it also ensures that baby’s getting a steady supply of calories when he needs it the most. In fact, studies show that moms who eat at least five or six small meals and snacks a day are more likely to carry to term. So bring on the grub when pregnancy hunger hits, and lots of it — just bring it on a little at a time.
Learn more about the pregnancy diet.
The article was originally published here.
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