How Big Is My Baby at 23 Weeks 5 Days

Get ready for a major growth spurt — get-go this week, your baby will likely double in size over the next month or so.

And with those pregnancy hormones on overdrive, you may showtime noticing that foggy, hazy feeling known equally "pregnancy encephalon."

Ane solution? Make post-it notes your friend and stick piddling reminders where you lot'll see them effectually the house.

Your Baby at Week 23

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At around 8 inches long and a smidge over a pound, your little pup is actually looking a bit similar a shar-pei — very cute, simply still very wrinkly. Poised to put on pounds, baby'due south birthday adapt has outpaced the fat that'll beginning to accumulate very before long. Equally a outcome, saggy peel hangs loosely from those little limbs like long-johns that are two sizes too big.

Your baby's pare is also cellophane sparse and has taken on a reddish cast, cheers to the vivid network of blood vessels developing underneath. Right now, information technology'due south a look just a female parent…or male parent…could dear. Luckily, a tough, protective protein, called keratin, is being added to your baby's pare cells, and that'll thicken his peel as he continues to gestate in your cozy uterus. Don't worry, his skin volition be soft, sweetness, and suitable for stroking past the time he checks out of Motel Mommy, and checks into your arms.

But before he's ready to face the earth exterior, he'south going to accept to exist able to jiff in information technology — and for that important office to function, his lungs will have some maturing to do. Right now, the maturation process is beginning — though information technology'll exist a while before those tiny lungs will be fix for the breathing big time. Small-scale capillaries are forming in the lungs and specialized lung cells, called pneumocytes, are developing. These all of import cells volition produce surfactant down the road — the crucial substance that'll help infant's lungs expand after nascence. But more than virtually that afterwards.

In the meantime, take a expect at that amazing placenta — your babe's recently completed life support system. The pancake-shaped placenta — attached to your uterine wall and connected to your growing baby by the umbilical cord — acts as a sophisticated trading post and filtering system, transferring oxygen and nutrients to your fetus, and removing waste products.

It also protects your infant, serving as a sort of fetal security checkpoint, by preventing harmful substances and infections from passing from your organisation into your babe'south. And equally if that'due south not enough to dazzle you, the placenta is also hard at work producing hormones — estrogen and progesterone — that keep your pregnancy going strong. Pretty impressive for a network of blood vessels!

At a Glance

Are you blushing?

Babe's skin is a bit saggy (but won't exist for long equally fat begins forming) and has a pink-red hue (this is truthful in all skin colors), thank you to the developing veins and arteries right underneath.

Packing a punch

Those petty arms and legs are packing more than of a punch these days...you might even run across them poke through from the outside!

The power of the placenta

The placenta — baby's recently completed life-support system — transfers oxygen and nutrients to babe and removes waste products.

23 weeks pregnant is how many months?

If you're 23 weeks pregnant, you're in calendar month 6 of your pregnancy. But iii months left to go! Withal have questions? Here's some more information on how weeks, months and trimesters are broken down in pregnancy.

How big is my baby at 23 weeks?

At around xi inches long and just over a pound, this calendar week marks the beginning of some serious weight gain.

Your baby should double his weight over the next 4 weeks alone — and you may feel as though you practice, too.

Baby's pare and organs

Baby'south skin is a bit saggy since information technology grows a lot faster than fatty, but soon he'll first to fit his frame equally fatty deposits fill things out.

By the time your infant is born, he will be pleasantly plump and filled out, from stubby cheeks to chubby toes.

And although at 23 weeks pregnant your baby's organs and bones are visible through his pare, he'll become less transparent once those fat deposits settle in.

You lot may be able to hear your baby'due south heartbeat through a stethoscope

You've probably heard your developing baby's heartbeat through a Doppler a number of times already, though you never get tired of hearing it, but by now y'all or your doctor might also be able to hear it through a standard stethoscope (though sometimes, information technology tin exist tricky to find). What a heartthrob!

Your Body at Week 23

23 Weeks Pregnant

New symptoms commencement

Yes, the baby you're expecting is cozily ensconced in your abdomen, but by now you've probably noticed that pregnancy affects you from head to toe — and pretty much everywhere in between.

At 23 weeks significant, your mind is fuzzy (this is your brain…this is your brain on progesterone) and your feet are growing. The palms of your hands and soles of your anxiety might be red and you might be more prone to estrus rash and skin tags.

Stretch marks are blooming in vibrant shades of pink, ruby, purple, cherry-red-brown or dark brown on pretty much every available surface of pare and…expect! What's that funky dark line running down the center of your belly?

Peel discoloration

Believe it or not, it's chosen the "dark line" — or linea nigra. A mutual keepsake of pregnancy that may be more noticeable in darker-skinned women, the linea nigra runs between your belly button and your pubic expanse. It's caused past the aforementioned pregnancy hormones responsible for all the peel discolorations you might exist seeing, similar the darker shade of your areolas and the deeper tone of the freckles on your arms and legs.

Some women, again, usually those with darker-peel, notice discoloration on the face up too, especially in the area around the nose, brow, cheeks and eyes. It's called the mask of pregnancy (or melasma) considering it appears as a mask-similar configuration on the face.

Residuum assured, you won't be playing masquerade for much longer. All these skin changes will fade within a few months after commitment. In the meantime, bring on the concealer — though non the bleaching creams, which won't work anyway.

Learning to relax

Is your growing package of joy making you a quivering parcel of nerves? Breathe, baby, breathe!

At present's a great time to acquire some soothing relaxation techniques — and not but because they can help you lot cope with pregnancy worries and, soon, labor contractions. They'll as well come up in handy during those new-parent moments when baby won't terminate crying, the phone is ringing and it's just you (and your lilliputian one) in the house.

Yoga is a fabulous de-stresser, if you have time to take a class. But hither's a pregnancy meditation technique you can use just nearly anywhere, anytime, to soothe your soul:

one. Sit with your optics closed and imagine a relaxing, peaceful scene, like a sunset over your favorite beach, waves gently lapping the shore or a serene mountain vista with a blathering beck.

ii. Working your way up from your toes to your face, concentrate on relaxing every muscle ane-by-ane. Breathe deeply through your nose, exhaling through your mouth, and aim for x to 20 minutes if you tin swing it.

Pregnancy Symptoms Calendar week 23

Fetal activeness

Hearty appetite

Bloating

Snoring

Bleeding gums

Tingling hands

Tips for You lot This Week

The secret to a adept dark'south sleep?

It tin be almost every bit hard to get a good night's sleep when you're pregnant as it is when you're a new parent. In fact, according to one study, a whopping 78 percentage of women experience slumber problems at some point, or many points, during pregnancy.

With all that's going on in your body — and brain — it's no wonder that a full dark'due south remainder can be so elusive. If yous find information technology hard to get comfortable, try sliding a pillow between your legs and resting with your knees bent.

Ask well-nigh maternity leave

While you lot're weeks away from meeting baby, it'due south time to start thinking almost motherhood leave. Connect with both Hour and your supervisor to brand sure you're all on the same page and you're familiar with the details.

Refill your water bottle

Keep a bottle of water by your side at all times. Staying hydrated helps maintain your additional blood volume, renews amniotic fluid and bolsters milk production.

A full general dominion of pollex: Try to drink between eight and 10 8-ounce glasses of water a 24-hour interval, though it actually varies based on your body type and size, how active you lot are and so on.

Exist sure to talk to your practitioner nearly what works for you and your situation.

Take steps to prevent UTIs

Now that it'south beingness squished by your growing uterus, your bladder makes the perfect breeding ground for bacteria — and that can pb to a urinary tract infection (UTI). Luckily, at that place are plenty of ways yous tin reduce your chances of developing a UTI during pregnancy.

Drink lots of water and cranberry juice (though the second remedy has mixed results), ideally i that doesn't contain added sugar.

Check your urine color — if information technology's dark, non straw-colored, you're not getting enough fluids and could be setting yourself upwardly for a UTI.

Other tips: Don't hold it in — pee as shortly as you experience the urge and tin find a bathroom. Concentrate on completely elimination your bladder when you become to the bathroom, and try leaning forward when yous pee. Wipe from front end to back.

Lastly, clean your genitals and the areas surrounding them, peculiarly after having sexual practice. Habiliment all-cotton underwear and take showers rather than baths whenever possible.

Rethink hair treatments

At present that you've passed your outset trimester, are you thinking most getting your hair straightened or curled at the salon? You might desire to reconsider.

There is the possibility that your hormone-infused locks will reply oddly to the chemicals — for example, you might end up with a ball of frizz instead of a crown of ringlets. There's besides a slight take a chance that the substances can exist absorbed through the scalp and into your bloodstream.

Highlights are considered safe by most practitioners, yet, since the colour isn't applied as close to the scalp. And then are milder treatments similar all-vegetable dyes or ammonia-free blends, then chances are yous'll exist able to create those auburn or gold tones with no trouble.

But ask. An ultra-cautious practitioner or stylist may recommend against whatever chemical processing until after your baby is born.

Consider buying organic

You can't become incorrect by filling your plate with fresh fruits and vegetables — whether they're organic or not.

Yet, organic foods may have a few benefits, including fewer pesticides in organic produce than conventional fruits and vegetables (if there's any at all).

Organic foods are also free of bogus colorings, flavorings and preservatives. Organic produce does tend to be more expensive than conventional fruits and vegetables and can take a shorter shelf-life.

Remember, what'southward most important is choosing a wide variety of nutritious foods and fresh, ripe fruits and veggies in a range of colors. And no affair what kind of fruits and veggies you buy — conventional or organic — you'll need to wash your produce meticulously in common cold water before eating information technology.

Attempt Pilates

Everybody (and their pregnant neighbor) is doing information technology — but is Pilates the right practise for yous? Admittedly — and it'south non a stretch!

This heed-body discipline focuses on strengthening your core and elongating your muscles, increasing tone, force and flexibility — just what you demand when yous're exercising for 2.

Just exist sure not to try any of the moves on your ain if yous're a novice. Best to do them with a Pilates instructor, preferably one who specializes in prenatal exercises.

From the What to Await editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author ofWhat to Await When Yous're Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses merely credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Larn how nosotros keep our content accurate and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial policy.

What to Look When You're Expecting, 5^th edition, Heidi Murkoff.

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