19 Weeks

Week 19:Head-to-toe I grow-n-grow!

Fetal development in pregnancy week 19

~length
10 in | 25 cm

~weight
8.5 oz | 240 g

Your favorite womb-hijacker is suddenly huge, at 10 inches in length!

Pick your jaw off the floor mama. Yes, your wee baby IS bigger this week, but only because we're now able to measure their little legs which have straightened out enough to be measured accurately.

Just in case the random medical details weren't confusing enough already, it's standard practice to measure fetuses from head to toe in the second half of pregnancy, rather than from crown to rump as we did in the first half.

Week 20 is actually when most people transition the measurement over, but we thought you'd appreciate knowing a week early.

This week your lil' fetus will start digesting the extremely appetizing diet of amniotic fluid and baby wee, as they are now capable of swallowing, digesting, and passing the fluid as far as their tiny "large" intestines.

Fortunately for you, the solid waste by-products will build up slowly into a tarry lump of baby-poop and won't be coming out while they're still in your womb.

Some time shortly after your tiny poop factory is born, this fun lump will become the first in a verrrrry long production line of baby poops.

What finally comes out - commonly known as "meconium" to the science world, will be black and sticky. By the time you're done dealing with their tar poops, you'll be relieved to see that first sweet-smelling-but-runny breastmilk poop.