19 Weeks Pregnant

19 Weeks Pregnant: Your Baby’s Development

At 19 weeks pregnant, your baby has hit several developmental milestones. If you're carrying a girl, her little reproductive system is already well established. The vagina, uterus, and fallopian tubes are all in place, and the ovaries contain more than 6 million primitive egg cells! Once she’s born, that number will have dropped to about 1 million.

If you're having a boy, his testicles have formed and have been secreting testosterone since about week 10 of your pregnancy, and the external genitals are continuing to grow.

Around this time, your baby’s skin starts to produce a waxy coating called vernix caseosa. Made of oils secreted by the skin, dead cells, and lanugo (the fine hair that covers the body), vernix protects your little one's skin from the effects of floating in amniotic fluid. Most of it will disappear before birth, but preterm babies are often born covered with a lot of vernix.

Another milestone around the time you’re 19 weeks pregnant is that your little one begins to sleep and wake in more regular patterns. They may also wake up to movement and noises.

Additionally, your baby is growing little nails on those recently formed fingertips and toes.

The Size of the Fetus at 19 Weeks Pregnant

When you’re 19 weeks pregnant, the fetus is about the size of a mango. If you have a checkup this week (or sometime soon), your healthcare provider may start measuring the height of your uterus to check on your baby’s growth. This measurement along your baby bump is called the fundal height measurement.

How your baby looks this week can be easier to imagine with the help of a visual, so check out the illustration below:

How Many Months Is 19 Weeks Pregnant?

When you reach 19 weeks pregnant, how many months along are you? At this point, you’re well into being five months pregnant. This is nearly halfway through your second trimester!

Your Body at 19 Weeks Pregnant

At this point in your pregnancy, you may feel more aches and pains as your bump grows, and your feet might swell up a little bit. Other body changes that you may experience include dizziness, nasal congestion, and backaches.

Still, you’ll be thrilled when you start to feel a flutter or a kick as your little one grows and starts getting active.

If you’re lucky enough to have periods of increased energy, then you might like to use those bursts to do things like putting together your baby shower registry or thinking about any baby essentials you’ll need once your little one arrives.

Even if you do have some extra energy, try not to overdo it. Make time to rest and relax whenever you can.

19 Weeks Pregnant: Your Symptoms

At 19 weeks pregnant, here are some of the symptoms you may be experiencing:

• Skin changes. The dark patches you may have on your nose, cheeks, and forehead are a common condition of pregnancy called chloasma, or the "mask of pregnancy." Hormones are to blame for this blotchiness, although not all pregnant women experience it. Pregnancy hormones are also responsible for the linea nigra, the dark line running down your belly to your pubic bone. Both chloasma and the linea nigra will gradually fade after you give birth. Exposure to the sun can darken the pigments in your skin even more, so be sure to use sunscreen or stay in the shade.

• Round ligament pain. To accommodate your growing uterus, the round ligaments supporting it must stretch. Occasionally, these stretched-out ligaments will cause a sharp pain or a dull ache in your lower abdomen, usually on one side or the other. It's probably most noticeable when you change positions or get up suddenly. Rest usually offers the best relief. Call your healthcare provider if the pain comes with a fever, chills, painful urination, or bleeding, or if the pain is severe.

• Lower back pain. Backaches are among the most common pregnancy complaints, especially from the halfway point of your pregnancy onward. This is due to your growing uterus and the hormonal changes going on in your body. As your center of gravity shifts, your expanding uterus strains your back muscles. You can take some measures to ease back pain, such as doing exercises that stretch and strengthen back muscles, wearing abdominal support garments, and using heating pads to soothe sore muscles.

• Congestion and nosebleeds. At about 19 weeks pregnant, you may find yourself reaching for the tissues with a stuffy or runny nose. Your hormone levels have increased, and your body is making extra blood, which can cause the mucus membranes in your nose to swell, leading to congestion and maybe even nosebleeds.

• Dizziness. You may feel faint, dizzy, or lightheaded at this stage of your pregnancy. Lie down if you’re feeling faint and stay hydrated.

19 Weeks Pregnant: Things to Consider

As you reach 19 weeks pregnant, you may start to wonder what to anticipate, what you should do to support your pregnancy, or how to prepare for your baby’s arrival. Below you’ll find a few things to consider.

• Get moving. Every little bit of gentle exercise helps! Exercise is beneficial for you and your baby; however, it's important not to overdo it. Walking, swimming, and even pregnancy-specific yoga or Pilates classes are great choices. When you’re 19 weeks pregnant, it’s a good time to work on strengthening those back muscles, and exercise in general can help reduce your stress levels, too. Talk to your healthcare provider about finding the right form of exercise during your pregnancy.

• Side sleeping. As your bump gets bigger, you may find it’s getting in the way of a good night’s rest. Sleeping on your back from the second trimester onward puts weight on your spine and back muscles, and it can also compress major blood vessels, which can leave you feeling dizzy. Try to sleep on your side with both legs bent and place a pillow between your knees. You can also put a pregnancy pillow under your belly. If you wake up in the middle of the night on your back, just go back to sleeping on your side. Learn more about sleeping while pregnant throughout the trimesters.

• Building community. Connecting with other moms-to-be or parents of young children in your local area or online may help you feel more prepared for what’s to come. You may be able to find relevant groups on social media, or you can ask your healthcare provider for recommendations on locating parental support groups.

• Baby shower. If you’ll have a baby shower in the third trimester, it’s time to get your shower registry organized! It’s best to give yourself or the host of your shower plenty of time to prepare and send the invitations, which gives guests enough time to set aside the date and buy a gift. Use our interactive baby shower registry checklist to help you remember to register for everything you’ll need.

• Baby gear. Use this time to think about what baby gear you’ll need, and give yourself time to shop around and research specific products you’d like (whether it’s to add to your registry or buy yourself). Ask other parents for advice and look at product reviews. You can also look at all the baby gear that Pampers Parents voted as the best to help you make your choices. You don’t have to go on a shopping spree and buy it all; instead, reach out to other parents for their tips on must-have items and which items you can easily go without.

19 Weeks Pregnant: Ask Your Healthcare Provider

You and your healthcare provider are on this journey together, so feel free to ask about anything, including the following:

• What is the size and position of the baby when you’re 19 weeks pregnant?

• What exercise is safe at this stage of your pregnancy?

• What could be the cause of uncomfortable symptoms like back pain, abdominal pain, painful urination, or fever?

• What are the risks and benefits of any genetic tests that may be offered during the second trimester?

• Does the provider recommend amniocentesis?

• When will the mid-pregnancy ultrasound exam be, and what information will it provide?

19 Weeks Pregnant: Your Checklist

Take advantage of this handy checklist when you’re 19 weeks pregnant: