19 Weeks Pregnant

< Previous Week Next Week >

Here's what's happening during Week 19 of your pregnancy:

Your Growing Baby

Your baby is between five and six inches long and weighs about seven ounces—about the size of an apple. If the baby is a girl, early ovaries contain follicles with forming eggs. Soon, half of the genetic material for your potential future grandchildren will be formed. Pictures of babies at this age show them touching the membrane of the amniotic sac, touching their own faces, reaching for the umbilical cord, pedaling their legs, and sucking their thumbs. If you're carrying twins, they may already be swatting at each other. Your baby may already have a preference for the left or right hand. In the brain, areas of the nerve cells that serve the senses of touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing are becoming specialized and are forming more complex connections. Loud sounds as well as any feelings you may have of stress or alarm may be communicated to the baby. The baby responds to these stresses by becoming more active. Practicing yoga and meditation can be good for your sense of calm and balance.

Your Growing Belly

You may be popping out all over, with bigger breasts and a bulge above your pelvis. You may experience back pain as the weight of your uterus makes your back work harder to keep you upright. Make sure your diet contains plenty of B vitamins and good fats to support your baby's developing brain cells. You may find that you can't stop worrying that something will go wrong with your pregnancy. As normal as worrying is, if you feel like it's taking over your emotional life, then it may be time to pinpoint your worries, examine how likely they are to be true, and consider what you might do if they were.

Tips & To-Do's

Leg Work

During pregnancy, your big, beautiful belly will likely block most of the view of your legs, but that doesn't mean you should ignore them. Your legs do important work during pregnancy, including easing the pressure on your back. Try our easy 3-move plan to increase circulation, which can reduce the risk of varicose veins, a common side effect of pregnancy.

Here's how to get started now.

Things to think about this week: Decide whether or not you'd like to know your baby's sex. Many doctors do a detailed ultrasound between 16 and 20 weeks, at which time gender often can be determined.

 

Pregnancy Milestones:

Below are some of the most important milestones of your pregnancy. Click on any week to read more, or view our Week-by-Week Pregnancy page to see your pregnancy at-a-glance.

 

Week 4: Positive test: You're pregnant! You may be starting to feel bloated, crampy, tired and moody, and experiencing sore breasts, nausea/vomiting and a frequent need to pee.  But don't worry if you're not—that's normal.  Read more about being 4 weeks pregnant.

 

Week 8: Your doctor may look or listen for the baby's heartbeat with an ultrasound. Once you see or hear it, your miscarriage risk drops to about 2 percent. He'll also give you an official due date—though very few women actually deliver on that day.  Read more about being 8 weeks pregnant.

 

 

Week 10: Your inch-long baby is now called a fetus. While the icky side effects of pregnancy may be starting to abate, your anxiety about having a healthy baby might be increasing.  Read more about being 10 weeks pregnant.

 

 

Week 15: The "window of opportunity" for many important screening and diagnostic tests opens this week, should you decide to undergo them.  Read more about being 15 weeks pregnant.

 

 

Week 16: Sometime between 16 and 22 weeks, you'll start to feel your baby move.  Read more about being 16 weeks pregnant.

 

 

Week 29: The basketball-sized lump in your belly may be inhibiting shoe tying, leg shaving and the like. The fetus is increasingly sensitive to light and sound.  Read more about being 29 weeks pregnant.

 

 

Week 36: The baby may drop lower into your pelvis in preparation for delivery. This should make it easier to breathe—yet your pee breaks will become ever more frequent.  Read more about being 36 weeks pregnant.

 

 

Click here to read more about every week of pregnancy on our Week-by-Week Pregnancy page.