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

And with those pregnancy hormones on overdrive, you may start noticing that foggy, hazy feeling known as "pregnancy brain."

One solution? Make post-it notes your friend and stick little reminders where you'll see them around the firm.

Your Babe at Calendar week 23

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At effectually viii inches long and a smidge over a pound, your little pup is really looking a bit like a shar-pei — very beautiful, merely still very wrinkly. Poised to put on pounds, baby'south birthday suit has outpaced the fat that'll start to accumulate very soon. As a result, saggy skin hangs loosely from those little limbs like long-johns that are two sizes too big.

Your infant's skin is too cellophane thin and has taken on a red bandage, thank you to the bright network of blood vessels developing underneath. Right now, information technology'due south a look only a mother…or father…could love. Luckily, a tough, protective poly peptide, called keratin, is being added to your infant's peel cells, and that'll thicken his skin as he continues to gestate in your cozy uterus. Don't worry, his skin volition be soft, sugariness, and suitable for stroking by the fourth dimension he checks out of Motel Mommy, and checks into your arms.

Simply before he'south set up to face up the globe outside, he's going to accept to be able to breath in it — and for that of import function to function, his lungs volition take some maturing to do. Right now, the maturation process is beginning — though information technology'll exist a while before those tiny lungs will be ready for the breathing large time. Small capillaries are forming in the lungs and specialized lung cells, called pneumocytes, are developing. These all important cells volition produce surfactant down the road — the crucial substance that'll help infant's lungs expand after birth. Merely more about that later.

In the meantime, take a wait at that amazing placenta — your baby'south recently completed life support organization. The pancake-shaped placenta — attached to your uterine wall and connected to your growing baby past the umbilical string — acts as a sophisticated trading mail and filtering organization, 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 baby'southward. And every bit if that's not plenty to dazzle you, the placenta is also hard at work producing hormones — estrogen and progesterone — that go along your pregnancy going strong. Pretty impressive for a network of blood vessels!

At a Glance

Are you blushing?

Baby's skin is a bit saggy (only won't be for long as fat begins forming) and has a pinkish-ruddy hue (this is truthful in all skin colors), thanks to the developing veins and arteries right underneath.

Packing a punch

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

The power of the placenta

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

23 weeks pregnant is how many months?

If you lot're 23 weeks pregnant, you're in month 6 of your pregnancy. Only 3 months left to go! Still have questions? Hither's some more information on how weeks, months and trimesters are cleaved down in pregnancy.

How big is my infant at 23 weeks?

At around 11 inches long and just over a pound, this week marks the offset of some serious weight gain.

Your baby should double his weight over the next iv weeks lone — and you may feel equally though you exercise, also.

Baby's skin and organs

Baby's skin is a bit saggy since it grows a lot faster than fat, only presently he'll start to fit his frame every bit fatty deposits fill things out.

By the time your babe is built-in, he volition be pleasantly plump and filled out, from chubby cheeks to chubby toes.

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

Y'all may be able to hear your baby's heartbeat through a stethoscope

Yous've probably heard your developing infant's heartbeat through a Doppler a number of times already, though you never become tired of hearing it, just past now you or your dr. might also be able to hear it through a standard stethoscope (though sometimes, it tin be catchy to find). What a heartthrob!

Your Torso at Calendar week 23

23 Weeks Pregnant

New symptoms start

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

At 23 weeks pregnant, your mind is fuzzy (this is your brain…this is your brain on progesterone) and your feet are growing. The palms of your easily and soles of your feet might exist cherry and yous might exist more prone to heat rash and pare tags.

Stretch marks are blooming in vibrant shades of pink, red, purple, scarlet-brown or dark chocolate-brown on pretty much every available surface of skin and…wait! What'southward that funky dark line running downward the center of your belly?

Skin discoloration

Believe it or not, information technology'due south called the "dark line" — or linea nigra. A common keepsake of pregnancy that may be more than noticeable in darker-skinned women, the linea nigra runs between your belly push and your pubic expanse. It'southward acquired by the aforementioned pregnancy hormones responsible for all the skin discolorations you might be seeing, like 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-skin, notice discoloration on the face too, peculiarly in the area around the nose, brow, cheeks and eyes. It'due south called the mask of pregnancy (or melasma) because it appears as a mask-like configuration on the face.

Remainder assured, you won't exist 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 bundle of joy making yous a quivering package of nerves? Breathe, baby, breathe!

Now's a not bad time to acquire some soothing relaxation techniques — and not just because they can aid you cope with pregnancy worries and, soon, labor contractions. They'll too come in handy during those new-parent moments when babe won't end crying, the phone is ringing and it's merely you (and your little one) in the firm.

Yoga is a fabulous de-stresser, if you have time to take a course. Simply hither's a pregnancy meditation technique you lot can utilise but well-nigh anywhere, someday, to soothe your soul:

i. Sit with your eyes closed and imagine a relaxing, peaceful scene, like a dusk over your favorite beach, waves gently lapping the shore or a serene mountain vista with a blathering brook.

two. Working your way upward from your toes to your face up, concentrate on relaxing every muscle one-past-1. Breathe securely through your nose, exhaling through your mouth, and aim for 10 to 20 minutes if yous can swing information technology.

Pregnancy Symptoms Calendar week 23

Fetal activeness

You may be getting used to feeling your baby'south movements in the womb. Cherish these light kicks now before they get more powerful, pronounced and sometimes painful — like when baby kicks you in the ribs, abdomen or cervix so hard it hurts! Read More than

Hearty ambition

It's perfectly normal to find yourself wanting to devour the contents of your kitchen cabinets and fridge — after all, you lot take a growing baby to feed! So try to stock your home with healthy snacks such equally fruit, cut-up veggies, nuts and whole wheat crackers. Read More

Bloating

If you tin't seem to shake that ate-besides-much feeling, you're experiencing the effects of progesterone. The hormone causes the gastrointestinal tract to relax and slow downwardly digestion, so nutrients have more than fourth dimension to enter your bloodstream and reach your baby. Potable more h2o to assistance keep things moving. Read More than

Snoring

This common-but-annoying pregnancy symptom can disrupt your sleep and your partner's. Partly due to nasal congestion caused by extra weight and bloated mucous membranes in your nose, snoring can be alleviated by wearing a nasal strip at bedtime and running a warm-mist humidifier in your bedroom. Read More

Haemorrhage gums

Reduce irritation to your gums, which are swelling more usual these days due to hormones, by fugitive chewy sweets, brushing and flossing regularly and visiting the dentist at least one time while y'all're expecting. Read More

Tingling hands

Swelling during pregnancy can put pressure on nerves in the wrists and cause the aching and tingling associated with carpal tunnel syndrome. If you lot work at a estimator, have frequent paw-stretching breaks and make sure your wrists are direct and elbows aren't higher than your hands when you're at your desk. Read More

Tips for You This Calendar week

The secret to a good night'due south sleep?

Information technology can be nigh equally difficult to get a good night's sleep when y'all're pregnant every bit it is when you're a new parent. In fact, co-ordinate to one study, a whopping 78 percent of women experience sleep issues at some point, or many points, during pregnancy.

With all that's going on in your trunk — and brain — it'south no wonder that a full night'southward rest can be and so elusive. If you find information technology hard to go comfortable, try sliding a pillow between your legs and resting with your knees bent.

Ask virtually maternity leave

While you're weeks away from coming together baby, it's fourth dimension to offset thinking nigh maternity leave. Connect with both 60 minutes and your supervisor to brand certain you're all on the same page and you're familiar with the details.

Refill your water canteen

Keep a bottle of h2o by your side at all times. Staying hydrated helps maintain your additional claret volume, renews amniotic fluid and bolsters milk product.

A general dominion of thumb: Try to drink between eight and 10 eight-ounce spectacles of water a day, though information technology really varies based on your body type and size, how active you are and and then on.

Be sure to talk to your practitioner near what works for yous and your situation.

Take steps to forbid UTIs

At present that it'south being squished by your growing uterus, your bladder makes the perfect breeding ground for leaner — and that can lead to a urinary tract infection (UTI). Luckily, at that place are plenty of ways y'all can reduce your chances of developing a UTI during pregnancy.

Drinkable lots of water and cranberry juice (though the 2nd remedy has mixed results), ideally one that doesn't contain added saccharide.

Cheque your urine color — if it's dark, not straw-colored, you're not getting enough fluids and could be setting yourself upward for a UTI.

Other tips: Don't concur it in — pee as presently every bit you experience the urge and tin detect a bath. Concentrate on completely emptying your bladder when you go to the bathroom, and endeavour leaning forrard when you pee. Wipe from front end to back.

Lastly, clean your genitals and the areas surrounding them, especially after having sex. Wearable all-cotton fiber underwear and take showers rather than baths whenever possible.

Rethink hair treatments

Now that you lot've passed your start trimester, are you thinking about getting your pilus straightened or curled at the salon? You might want to reconsider.

There is the possibility that your hormone-infused locks will respond oddly to the chemicals — for case, you might end up with a ball of frizz instead of a crown of ringlets. At that place's likewise a slight gamble that the substances can be absorbed through the scalp and into your bloodstream.

Highlights are considered rubber by most practitioners, however, since the color isn't applied as close to the scalp. So are milder treatments like all-vegetable dyes or ammonia-gratuitous blends, then chances are you'll be able to create those auburn or gold tones with no problem.

Simply enquire. An ultra-cautious practitioner or stylist may recommend against any chemic processing until subsequently your baby is built-in.

Consider buying organic

Y'all can't get wrong by filling your plate with fresh fruits and vegetables — whether they're organic or not.

Withal, 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 besides costless of artificial colorings, flavorings and preservatives. Organic produce does tend to be more expensive than conventional fruits and vegetables and can have a shorter shelf-life.

Call up, what's about important is choosing a wide variety of nutritious foods and fresh, ripe fruits and veggies in a range of colors. And no matter 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 it.

Try Pilates

Everybody (and their significant neighbour) is doing it — but is Pilates the right do for you? Absolutely — and it's not a stretch!

This listen-torso bailiwick focuses on strengthening your core and elongating your muscles, increasing tone, force and flexibility — just what you need when you're exercising for two.

Just be certain non to try any of the moves on your own if you're a novice. All-time to practice them with a Pilates instructor, preferably ane who specializes in prenatal exercises.

From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author ofWhat to Wait When You're Expecting. What to Wait follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such every bit peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected wellness organizations. Larn how nosotros keep our content authentic and up-to-engagement by reading our medical review and editorial policy.

  • What to Look When You're Expecting, 5th edition, Heidi Murkoff.
  • WhatToExpect.com, What to Do if You Get a UTI During Pregnancy, February 2021.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Should You Eat an Organic Diet During Pregnancy?, March 2021.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Hair Dye and Highlights During Pregnancy, January 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, 8 Common Pregnancy Slumber Problems & Solutions, April 2021.
  • WhatToExpect.com, What Every Mom Needs to Know About Maternity Get out, June 2021.
  • WhatToExpect.com, How Much H2o Should You Drink During Pregnancy?, Dec 2020.
  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, How Your Fetus Grows During Pregnancy, August 2020.
  • Mayo Clinic, Fetal Evolution: The 2d Trimester, June 2020.
  • American Academy of Dermatology, Melasma, 2021.
  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Skin Conditions During Pregnancy, June 2020.
  • American University of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, July 2016.
  • National Sleep Foundation, Pregnancy and Sleep, October 2020.
  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Urinary Tract Infections, Nov 2020.
  • National Institutes of Wellness, National Library of Medicine, Canadian Family Physician, Prophylactic of Hair Products During Pregnancy, Oct 2008.
  • Nutrient and Drug Administration, Cosmetics Safety Q&A: Hair Dyes, August 2020.
  • U.Due south. Department of Agriculture, Organic 101: What the USDA Organic Label Means, March 2019.
  • U.Due south. Section of Agriculture, Organic Aquaculture, 2021.
  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Practice During Pregnancy, July 2019.

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