Our Pregnancy Calendar will help you find out how your baby grows and changes from a small group of cells to a fully developed baby ready to begin life.
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21 Weeks Pregnant
Future mom
In the next 10 weeks you will be sharply gaining weight as your child starts to accumulate fat. The amount of weight gained during this period constitutes about one half of the total increase in weight. You will feel an increase in appetite because the strengthened metabolism requires an additional 500 calories from you. Eat well, but do not stick on any one of product types, especially if it concerns fatty food and other products with low nutritional content. Do not be surprised if all of a sudden you start craving for something unusual. This refers to as the perverted or depraved appetite; for example there have been some women who wanted to chew a handful of earth or plants.
The top edge of the uterus is now situated about 0.49 inches above the navel area.
Your baby
There is a considerably high content of red blood cells in the baby’s blood already; the white blood cells that are responsible for suppressing infections are starting to develop. Taste buds start to be formed on the tongue. The digestive tract is already capable of separating liquid and sugar from the amniotic fluids swallowed by the baby and passing its fibrous contents down to the straight intestine.
It is possible to see a spiral shaped fluff of lanugo on the forehead and above the upper lip and it is especially plentiful over the eyes and eyebrows. It is particularly this area of the face that is plentifully covered by vernix caseosa or firstborn oiling which the child started to produce over the last week. Eyes are still hidden by the eyelids. You probably would like to know about your baby’s sex? You certainly can do that, but other than the fact, that if your child would want to have his secret revealed. Your baby still moves too fast and too much in the amniotic fluids. By the end of this trimester, the baby will start to be fixed in one position, usually with head down, but there are other variations as well and approximately 3-4 % of all babies up to the end of the pregnancy remain in pelvic presentation or with legs forward.
Fetus length and weight
Length from crown to sacrum - approximately 10 inches.
Weight - approximately 13 ounces.
