18 Weeks Pregnant

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Holly Pevzner is an award-winning writer who specializes in health, nutrition, parenting, and family travel.
Andrea Chisolm, MD, is a board-certified OB/GYN who has taught at both Tufts University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School.
Andrea Chisolm, MD, is a board-certified OB/GYN who has taught at both Tufts University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School.
Next in Your Pregnancy Week by Week Guide
At 18 weeks pregnant, others may begin to notice that you're expecting. This week, you may be feeling your baby move, and you may get the opportunity to see your baby during an ultrasound.
18 Weeks Pregnant Is How Many Months? 4 months and 2 weeks
At 18 weeks, baby measures a little over 5 3/4 inches (14.7 centimeters) from the top of their head to the bottom of the buttocks (your doctor may call this measurement the crown-rump length).
The average height for a baby at 18 weeks from the top of their head to their heels (known as crown-heel length) is approximately 8 1/3 inches (21.2 centimeters).1 This week the baby weighs almost 8 ounces (222 grams).2
Your baby-to-be is practicing their napping skills. The internal clock that regulates sleeping and waking throughout the day is developing and will become more organized as your baby continues to grow.3
Baby is also beginning to form myelin.4 Myelin is a mix of fat and protein that insulates and protects nerve cells in the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord. It also helps messages travel along the nerve pathways faster.5
While your baby's reproductive system is still developing, at this stage, the doctor or ultrasound tech can determine the baby's sex visually with a high degree of accuracy.6
Explore a few of your baby's week 18 milestones in this interactive experience.
Watch all episodes of our Stay Calm Mom video series and follow along as our host Tiffany Small talks to a diverse group of women and top doctors to get real answers to the biggest pregnancy questions.
This week, you're more likely to look pregnant, and you have a better chance of feeling your baby move. But, as your waistline expands, you may also feel off-balance as you adjust to your changing body. Dizziness from a natural dip in blood pressure is also common during the second trimester.
Some expecting moms, especially those who have been pregnant before, may have already started to feel baby flutters. For many first-time moms-to-be, feeling those first little movements or kicks called quickening may begin this week. But not feeling baby move just yet doesn't mean there's anything wrong. Some moms don't feel anything until week 20 or even later.7
Your uterus is continuing to expand, and it's making your pregnancy more and more visible. Of course, everyone's body is different. You may have a very obvious baby belly, or you may just have a little bump that's barely noticeable to others. You're more likely to have a bigger bump if you've been pregnant before.
As your belly grows, your body shape and your center of gravity shifts. Add to that changes in your muscles and joints, and you can find yourself a little off balance. You may feel unstable, wobbly, and even begin to trip. Reaching forward can also become more difficult.8
Some pregnant women see a natural dip in their blood pressure during mid-pregnancy.9 These slight changes are not typically dangerous. However, low blood pressure can lead to fatigue, dizziness, and feeling faint.
Not all those expecting have the mid-pregnancy dip. Blood pressure changes during pregnancy vary greatly depending on your health, history, and genetic background.9
You may want to learn how to combat dizziness this week. It's also a great time to think about doing something special for yourself.
You may not feel any different, even if your blood pressure does drop a bit. But, if you feel a little dizzy or lightheaded, you can try:
Dizziness could also be a sign of low blood sugar or anemia, so be sure to mention it to your doctor.
You've been going through a lot of physical and emotional changes in the last few months. If you can swing it, take a little break to do something for yourself. You could spend a few hours or a day with your friends or your partner at a spa or nail salon. A prenatal massage might be a nice splurge, but a hair cut, manicure, and pedicure can also get you feeling revived and reenergized.
Just be sure to let everyone who works with you at the spa or salon know that you're pregnant. Most treatments, such as manicures and hair coloring, are safe once you enter your second trimester, but limiting the use of chemicals and staying in a well-ventilated area is always safest. You can check with your doctor's office if you have questions about any treatments.
Of course, not everyone enjoys the salon. Maybe you would rather spend some quality time with your partner or friends at dinner or a movie. The important thing is to take time to do what makes you happy.
Get ready for your mid-pregnancy ultrasound.
Talk to your doctor about any new symptoms including dizziness.
Plan something enjoyable with friends or your partner.
Begin researching pediatricians.
There’s a lot to prepare for before the baby arrives, including interviewing and ​choosing a doctor for your child. You can help start the search by getting some recommendations from family, friends, other parents, or even your own physician.
There are many things to consider when choosing a doctor. You may prefer the intimacy and specialization of private pediatric practices. Or, you may value the benefits of choosing a pediatrician affiliated with a medical care facility, such as easier electronic medical record referencing (for family history) and the convenience of scheduling several visits for members of the family all on the same day, in the same place.
Once you’ve narrowed your list of candidates, team up with your partner and schedule some doctor meet-and-greets. At these sessions, you can discuss basic issues, including appointment availability, weekend coverage, hospitals the practice is affiliated with, and what insurance they accept.
You’ll also want to come armed with more personal questions on topics such as:10
These meetings are common practice (and are usually free), so don’t worry about pediatricians accommodating or charging for them.
You may be scheduled for prenatal testing this week.
This week you may get to see your baby. The big, mid-pregnancy ultrasound will most likely take place between 18 weeks and 22 weeks.11
This ultrasound goes by a few different names, such as:
This ultrasound provides your doctor with detailed information about your baby and your pregnancy. It includes an examination of the baby's body parts, including the:
It also looks at and measures the umbilical cord, the placenta, and the amniotic fluid.12
During this ultrasound, you can learn the sex of your baby or babies. If you don't want to know this information, be sure to tell your doctor and the ultrasound tech in advance.
Your doctor may recommend more detailed prenatal testing in certain situations. Two tests that are performed at or around 18 weeks or after are fetal echocardiogram and fetal blood sampling.
A fetal echocardiogram is a special ultrasound of the baby's heart. The ultrasound uses sound waves to show the parts of the heart and how the heart is working. It also shows the blood flowing through the baby's heart and can pick up problems with the baby's heart rate or rhythm.13
Your doctor may recommend this test if:
This procedure is typically performed between 18 weeks and 22 weeks. It is similar to and as safe as a regular ultrasound.14
Cordocentesis is a prenatal test where blood is removed from the umbilical cord to test the baby for anemia or other blood disorders. It is also a way for doctors to treat the baby for certain conditions since they can give medication or a blood transfusion directly to the baby.15
This test may be recommended if the baby is at risk for severe anemia or another blood disorder. It is the only test that can get directly to the baby's blood and circulation. In the past, fetal blood sampling was also used to test for infections and chromosomal abnormalities. However, with advances in technology, safer prenatal diagnostic tests such as chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis are now much more common.
Fetal blood sampling is not without risks. So, your doctor will discuss the benefits and the possible complications with you. Complications include:
At 18 weeks, your baby is growing and moving all around. This week, you may feel some of those moves and get to see your child demonstrate them on the ultrasound screen. If you don't get to peek inside the womb this week, you'll probably get the chance within the next few weeks.
Learn how you can best prepare for pregnancy by answering a few simple questions
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Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Oyer CE, Sung CJ, Friedman R, et al. Reference values for valve circumferences and ventricular wall thicknesses of fetal and neonatal hearts. Pediatr Dev Pathol. 2004;7(5):499-505. doi:10.1007/s10024-004-1117-6
Pan X, Taylor MJ, Cohen E, Hanna N, Mota S. Circadian clock, time-restricted feeding and reproduction. Int J Mol Sci. 2020;21(3):831. doi:10.3390/ijms21030831
Girard NJ, Dory-Lautrec P, Koob M, Dediu AM. MRI assessment of neonatal brain maturation. Imaging in Medicine. 2012;4(6):613-32.
MedlinePlus, Myelin. U.S. National Library of Medicine. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health. Updated May 13, 2019.
Chitayat D, Glanc P. Diagnostic approach in prenatally detected genital abnormalities. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2010;35(6):637-46. doi:10.1002/uog.7679
Linde A, Georgsson S, Pettersson K, Holmström S, Norberg E, Rådestad I. Fetal movement in late pregnancy - a content analysis of women's experiences of how their unborn baby moved less or differently. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2016;16(1):127. doi:10.1186/s12884-016-0922-z
Takeda K, Shimizu K, Imura M. Changes in balance strategy in the third trimester. J Phys Ther Sci. 2015;27(6):1813-7. doi:10.1589/jpts.27.1813
American Academy of Pediatrics. Ten Things Physicians and Patients Should Question. American Board of International Medicine (ABIM) Foundation. 2019.
Bethune M, Alibrahim E, Davies B, Yong E. A pictorial guide for the second trimester ultrasound. Australas J Ultrasound Med. 2013;16(3):98–113. doi:10.1002/j.2205-0140.2013.tb00106.x
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Ultrasound in pregnancy. Practice Bulletin No. 175. Obstet Gynecol. 2016;128: e241–56. doi:10.1097/aog.0000000000001815
MedlinePlus. Fetal Echocardiogram. U.S. National Library of Medicine. U.S. Department of Health of Human Services National Institutes of Health. Updated January 22, 2019.
Donofrio MT, Moon-grady AJ, Hornberger LK, et al. Diagnosis and treatment of fetal cardiac disease: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2014;129(21):2183-242. doi:10.1161/01.cir.0000437597.44550.5d
Berry SM, Stone J, Norton ME, Johnson D, Berghella V. Fetal blood sampling. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2013;209(3):170-80. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2013.07.014
Bates K, Herzog ED. Maternal-fetal circadian communication during pregnancy. Front Endocrinol. 2020;11:198. doi:10.3389/fendo.2020.00198
Maulik D, Nanda NC, Maulik D, Vilchez G. A brief history of fetal echocardiography and its impact on the management of congenital heart disease. Echocardiography. 2017;34(12):1760-1767. doi:10.1111/echo.13713
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Verywell Family's content is for informational and educational purposes only. Our website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Ⓒ 2021 About, Inc. (Dotdash) — All rights reserved
Verywell Family is part of the Dotdash publishing family.

Medically Reviewed by Jennifer Wu, M.D., F.A.C.O.G. on June 24, 2021
It could be pregnancy hunger pangs — or it could be the very first signs of fetal movement, which can happen at around week 18 of pregnancy.


At 18 weeks, your little chick is about the same size as that chicken breast on your dinner plate — about five inches long and five ounces in weight.
But don’t let his small size fool you — there are big goings-on in that little body of his this week. Meconium — your baby’s first poop — is slowly starting to accumulate in his bowels. If your baby’s a boy, his prostate gland is forming. And both girl and boy babies now officially sport finger and toe prints. Those tiny swirls and wrinkles mark your baby as uniquely himself from here on out… though there’s probably little need to tell you how especially unique your baby is!
Under major construction now is your baby’s nervous system. That’s the network that coordinates your cutie’s every move. Right now your baby’s brain, spinal cord, and nerves get a boost from myelin, a substance that coats the nerves and speeds up the time it takes for messages to travel between nerve cells.
Myelin also helps baby’s nerves form more complex connections, enabling your teeny mover and shaker to perfect more intricate moves such as sucking a thumb, clasping hands, and curling his fingers around the umbilical cord.
And guess what, momma! Somebody’s listening to you. Baby’s ears have arrived at their final destination — the sides of his head — and the tiny bones inside the inner ear have hardened, allowing your baby to hear some sounds, including the sweet sound of your voice! Now hear this: thanks to all the time they spend listening to it in utero, studies show that babies are able to identify their mom’s voice right after birth. Keep that in mind the next time you serenade your womb with your lullabies…or rock out in the shower. Your little one is all ears!
Your one-of-a-kind baby is truly one of a kind now, with unique fingerprints on those little fingertips and toes.
Myelin, a protective insulation, is starting to form around baby-to-be's nerves. This covering continues to grow until your baby's first birthday.
Having a girl? The fallopian tubes and uterus are now in proper position. A boy? Genitals may be visible on your next ultrasound.
If you're 18 weeks pregnant, you're in month 5 of your pregnancy. Only 4 months left to go! Still have questions? Here's some more information on how weeks, months and trimesters are broken down in pregnancy.
At 5½ inches long from crown to rump and 5 to 6½ ounces in weight — about the size of that boneless chicken breast you're making for dinner — your baby may be large enough now or anytime in the next few weeks for you to feel twisting, rolling, kicking and punching in the womb.
Now for the skill of the week: The art of the yawn has been mastered by your baby, along with hiccupping, which you may feel soon, too!
In fact, you might catch a glimpse of that adorable yawn and all those other fetal movements at your ultrasound this month.
Something you won't see on the ultrasound — but you'll learn is in working order — is your baby's nervous system, which is maturing rapidly when you're 18 weeks pregnant.
A network of nerves, now covered with a substance called myelin that helps speed messages from nerve cell to nerve cell, are forming more complex connections.
And those in the brain are further developing into the ones that serve the senses of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing.
Speaking of hearing, your baby's is growing more acute and baby can finally fully hear you this week, making your little one more conscious of sounds that come from inside your body. Meaning you could bo
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