Pregnancy Calendar - 20 Weeks Pregnant

At 20 weeks pregnant you are now at the half way stage. In another 20 weeks or so, you will hopefully have delivered your baby, or at least be preparing for your baby’s imminent arrival. However, you’ve still a way to go and you’re probably at the stage whereby you’re wondering ‘what next?’.

20 Weeks Pregnant

What next - at 20 weeks pregnant is – a growing pregnant belly! You should have a nice ‘bump’ going on by now and no doubt friends and family are beginning to comment. You will - or will soon – have felt your babies’ movements, as he grows larger and stronger.

If it’s a second or subsequent pregnancy, you may well have felt his movements for a few weeks by this stage. And, as your size and weight increases, you may be starting to feel the effects. Maybe you’re feeling a little heavier in general or just starting to feel a little more cumbersome.

If so, that’s a perfectly normal way to feel right now and unless you’re unduly worried, you should be fine. No doubt your bladder is beginning to feel more pressured at the 20 weeks pregnant stage and it’s potentially quite bothersome. You may also have noticed that your belly button is beginning to protrude and that you’re feeling a bit more out of breath.

All perfectly normal events for the 20 weeks pregnant stage, as your baby continues to grow and develop - which in turn puts more strain on your lungs and stomach. Also, if you haven’t already had an ultra sound, you should expect to have one around now. This allows your medical team to be able to check on how baby is doing (and hopefully what sex he is) and that all is well with your uterus and so on.

You may have noticed that stretch marks are beginning to appear. This doesn’t happen to all women. I was fortunate enough not to develop any but - I know that I was in the minority. My sister eyed me very harshly when it was her turn. I think she’d judged her ‘stretch-ability’ on mine and she was rather put out to find that she was different.

However, that said, she went a long way towards taking care of her skin and tried very hard to reduce the amount in general. There are many home remedies, as well as dedicated creams that claim to either remove or prevent stretch marks. But - do be wary of buying something that uses a lot of the ‘may’ and ‘might’ marketing strategies. Vague claims usually involve high prices - and pregancy and babies are enough of an expense in themselves.

Fetal Development

As you're now 20 weeks pregnant, your baby will be roughly upwards of around 16.5cm. He will have gained a waxy layer – known as vernix - around his whole body. The vernix is thought to protect him against turning wrinkly, due to being cocooned inside your womb and the amniotic fluid.

At this stage in his gestation, your babies’ facial features are now much sharper and his ears are fully capable of picking up sounds beyond the womb. His internal organs and external form have developed to a stage whereby the next couple of months are more down to over-all growth and weight development - though there’s still a little fine tuning yet to go.

20 Weeks Pregnant - In General

Continue to eat rest and take general good care of yourself. If you’re due to have an ultra sound scan, it’s a good time to talk with your health professionals about what’s ahead for the second half of your pregnancy.

Now that you’re 20 weeks pregnant, hopefully you’ll be feeling healthy and happy and looking forwards to the second half of your journey. As always – take it easy.