Second trimester · roughly month 6 · about 17 weeks to go

23 weeks pregnant

Everything Hello Belly has for week 23 — how your baby is developing, what your body is doing, and the small things that are easier to know in advance.

Your baby at 23 weeks

23–24 weeks

And here is the baby again! Now he is almost the same as he will be at birth, just smaller. Grooves are actively forming on the brain, and the brain itself has become ten times larger over the past three months. By the way, for these processes the baby needs a lot of oxygen: walk more, breathe more deeply. The digestive system is already fully formed, and the baby trains it, making one throat a second (by the way, it also trains his lungs). And due to this process, the baby can sometimes hiccup. But you will feel it for sure.

Most of the time your baby sleeps (well, it’s not a surprise, you definitely will not miss the moments of his wakefulness!) Scientists say that at this time of pregnancy the baby can already see dreams. It would be fascinating to know what he's dreaming, right? And while he is awake, he applies his senses totally: hears everything, shudders from loud sounds, blinks into bright light, discerns the taste of amniotic fluid and understands whether he likes this taste or not. He also experiences the same emotions as you (you now have great support: on an incorrectly compiled report you are angry together) and probes the cord with pens.

This week's open tip

Read it in full right here — no account needed.

It's time to eat!
Your baby has gone completely red. She’s not embarrassed, but this can be credited to the actively developing veins and arteries under her thin skin.
Read the full tip →