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20 Weeks Pregnant

Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

Congratulations! You're pregnant at 20 weeks, which means your pregnancy is half over.

Your Body at 20 Weeks Pregnant

When you're pregnant at 20 weeks, you might be doing the pregnant lady waddle. This is because your weight gain has changed your center of gravity. To help your posture, consider getting some gentle exercise, such as swimming or walking.

Being 20 weeks pregnant means that you might start feeling aches in your belly, caused by your growing uterus. Leg cramps and backaches can also become more frequent as your pregnancy progresses.

If you haven't felt your first kick yet, you can expect to feel them soon! At first, kicks, punches and other movements will feel like butterflies in your belly, but you'll soon feel a definite kick. These movements are reflexes, but your baby is using his hands and feet to explore his environment.

Sex when you're pregnant at 20 weeks can be challenging. If you're having problems with intimacy, consider trying some new positions.

Your Baby at 20 Weeks Pregnant

Your baby at 20 weeks pregnant is about 6.5 inches long. His abdominal organs—his intestines, stomach and liver—are all safely inside his abdomen and he's starting to grow hair. Additionally, the nerves that control senses like touch, hearing, smell and taste are beginning to develop in the brain.

human fetus at 20 weeks 

Although your baby won't have teeth for quite a few more months, the tooth buds for his baby teeth are now in place in his jaw. Your baby at 20 weeks will also have a spine that's significantly straighter than it was in previous weeks.

What to Consider When You're 20 Weeks Pregnant

Many women have their big ultrasound when they're pregnant at 20 weeks. This ultrasound can often reveal your baby's gender, but it's important to remember that there's always a chance that the scan was wrong—an amniocentesis is the only 100 percent accurate way to determine your baby's gender. If you don't want to know the baby's sex, make sure to discuss this with your healthcare provider so that he or she knows to keep the news a secret!

If you haven't signed up for prenatal classes yet, now's the time. These classes typically start in your seventh or eighth month of pregnancy, but they can fill up rapidly so it's a good idea to sign up early. Talk to your healthcare provider about the different types of classes that are available in your area.

When you're pregnant at 20 weeks, it's a good idea to read the labels of any cleaning products that you use on a regular basis. Some of them can contain harmful chemicals that should be avoided during pregnancy. Also, if you're getting ready to paint your baby's nursery, make sure that you're using low VOC paints so that you're not breathing in harmful fumes.

What to Expect at 21 Weeks Pregnant