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20 Weeks Pregnant

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Here's what's happening during Week 20 of your pregnancy:

Your Growing Baby

By week 20, your baby begins to produce vernix, a white, creamy substance that protects his skin in his watery environment. Permanent teeth are starting to form behind his baby teeth. He seems able to differentiate between morning, afternoon and evening and starts to become more active at certain times than at others.

Your Growing Belly

Around now, you should feel a psychological boost: You've made it halfway already! It's a good time to find a childbirth class to educate you about labor and calm any anxieties. Plus, you'll meet other parents-to-be and possibly create friendships for both you and your child in the years to come. Your care provider will now monitor your growth by measuring the height of your uterus with fingers or a tape measure. Your uterus is now about in line with your belly button. From now on, the top of your uterus will grow toward your rib cage at a rate of one centimeter a week.

Tips & To-Do's

Take Me To The Water

Even if you've cherished every stage of your pregnancy, there may have been a few moments when you felt a little... awkward. And chances are one or two of those moments were during exercise. It's no wonder, as your center of gravity shifts. Luckily, workouts in water work like magic—you're buoyant, plus the water is soothing and relaxing. Here are 3 simple moves you can do in the wet stuff to look and feel great right up until you deliver.

Here's how to get started now.

Things to think about this week: You're halfway there! Time to take a tour of your hospital's maternity ward.

 

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.

4-weeks-pregnant

 

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.

 

8-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.

 

 

10-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.

 

 

15-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.

 

 

16-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.

 

 

29-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.

 

 

36-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.

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Sometime between 16 and 22 weeks, you'll start to feel your baby move.


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