At 26 weeks pregnant, you lot're rounding the corner of the second trimester and you are almost to the third!

Your infant'south cute optics may open up this calendar week. And symptoms-wise, you may be struggling more with pregnancy insomnia and clumsiness as your tummy continues to abound.

Your Baby at Week 26

Don't have headphones?

View video transcript.

At two pounds and nine inches long, your piddling nestling is having an eye-opening calendar week. Until now, his fetal optics were under wraps, quietly developing beneath fused eyelids. Only now information technology'south time for the big reveal as his eensy optic orbs open up … and blink. Of course, these newbie peepers are just learning to focus… plus, there's not much to see in the murk of his cozy confines. Still, it's a big milestone…and important practice for the moment when your little one's eyes and yours lock for the offset time.

Wondering if you'll exist looking into babe blues…or greens…or browns? Correct now the irises are still pretty pale. Pigmentation comes in over the next few months — and even at nativity, eye color is frequently in transition. It may not exist articulate if y'all've got a light-green-, blue- or chocolate-brown-eyed beloved until he'southward at least six months erstwhile.

Your baby's first blinks of an center may be ambrosial, but they're also a very of import developmental stride. Blinking is a skill that's essential in the outside globe considering it lubricates the optics and protects them from foreign objects — including your little one'due south own wayward fingers.

Looking a little lower on that ambrosial face, nerves effectually that bow-shaped oral cavity and lips are getting a lot more sensitive now, prepping infant for the all-important task of honing in on mom's nipple once he'due south built-in. Already, he'll try to mouth whatever comes about those lips…including the umbilical string.

And high inside that rima oris — higher upwards in the gums than those babe teeth buds that developed earlier — are the first inklings of permanent teeth. Correct at present they're only tiny buds, and they've got a lot of hibernating to practice before they're gear up to poke out, but in six or so years they'll abound into pearly whites that'll terminal your little one his whole life.

In other development news, your maturing baby is meliorate coordinated now — peculiarly when it comes to his easily. He tin hands brand a fist, suck his thumb, clasp his easily together, and even play with his toes. Can't expect until you'll be able to play with his tiny digits yourself? Why not start some baby games now with some poking play? Try returning his pokes with your own gentle prodding through your belly. You'll both get a kick out of that.

At a Glance

Are yous making eyes at me?

Your little one is getting ready to woo you now that eyelashes are growing in. Presently you'll get to come across your cutie bat those babies at you!

Ouch!

Teeny tiny fingernails have arrived! Be forewarned: They tin be jagged and abrupt by the time your babe arrives in your arms.

Swallowing exercise

Your baby-to-exist continues to work hard swallowing amniotic fluid this calendar week. This human action is instrumental to healthy lung development.

26 weeks pregnant is how many months?

If you're 26 weeks pregnant, you lot're in calendar month 6 of your pregnancy. Only 3 months left to get! Still take questions? Here's some more data on how weeks, months and trimesters are broken down in pregnancy.

How big is my infant at 26 weeks?

What's up with your baby's growth this week? She now weighs a full ii pounds and measures xiv-plus inches long.

Your baby will soon be feeling a lilliputian cramped in your uterus — but not to worry, at that place'southward nonetheless plenty of space in in that location to grow. It just ways your tiny gymnast will have less room for those somersaults, cartwheels and other Olympic feats.

Baby'southward eyes open

Expect who's looking! Information technology's your baby! Those fiddling optics — which have been closed for the past few months so that the retina, the function of the eye that allows images to come into focus, could develop — are beginning to open at 26 weeks pregnant.

That ways your infant is able to see what's going on now, though unfortunately the view in your uterus isn't all that exciting.

Simply do try this at dwelling house for kicks: Shine a flashlight at your breadbasket. Your little peanut might kick in response — as in: "Become that light out of my eyes!"

Correct now, the iris, which is the colored office of the eye, still doesn't have much pigmentation — that'll fill in over the next month or two — so it'due south too early on to starting time guessing your footling 1'due south center color.

And even the colour your baby is born with might not exist the permanent shade. You may exist kept guessing until she's a year old, with the near dramatic changes occurring by almost 6 months.

Brain-moving ridge activeness kicks in

Await what else is going on this week: Your babe's brain-wave activity is gearing up at this stage in fetal development, which means your little one tin not only hear noises simply tin can now also reply to them. Non in so many words, of course, just with an increment in pulse charge per unit or movement.

Your Body at Week 26

26 Weeks Pregnant

Protruding navel

At 26 weeks pregnant, you're 2-thirds of the fashion through your pregnancy and your uterus is nigh 2½inches in a higher place your abdomen push. And speaking of your navel, take you noticed that it's taken on a life of its own — a larger-than-life life?

A newly outie belly button may non exist your thought of forward fashion, peculiarly when you accept a umbilicus piercing or when your once innie belly button at present bulges through tight clothes, but it'due south de rigueur for the pregnant gear up. And it's easy to sympathise why.

Beginning somewhere effectually the middle to end of your second trimester, your enlarging uterus swells enough to push your abdomen forward, making your navel popular out like a timer on a well-washed turkey — even though you lot have a way to go earlier your baby is "well done." Your belly push should revert back to its regular position a few months after commitment — though it may have that stretched-out, "lived in" wait.

While you may need to have out your omphalos piercing if it gets too tight, effort to look on the vivid side: It gives you a take chances to make clean out all the lint that'southward accumulated there since you were a kid.

Insomnia

If a full night's rest has become elusive, welcome to the (sleepless) world of pregnancy insomnia.

Between heartburn and leg cramps, bathroom runs and that big beach brawl — with its protruding omphalos! — beneath your nightie, it'south no wonder your trunk's having trouble calming downwards and drifting off.

Merely there are lots of tactics to attempt that should aid keep you in bed instead of pacing the floor, including daytime practice, a daily dose of fresh air and limiting fluids before y'all hit the hay.

Infant's movements in the womb

Experience like you're carrying the Karate Kid with all the boot going on? Your babe is really practicing all kinds of movements that will somewhen be used in life on the outside — including pedaling against your abdomen, a sort of pre-walking skill.

As your babe'southward nervous system becomes more than adult, fetal movements will become much more coordinated. And as she gets bigger and stronger, those movements will become much more powerful...and occasionally, even painful to you. If your baby lands a good one, that tiny left claw might hurt — a lot.

Another pull a fast one on she may try — stretching that leg out and then far that the foot becomes lodged between your ribs. Next fourth dimension you come up nether attack, attempt changing positions or doing some stretches of your own. You can also gently push your infant back with your hand when your knee-jerker jerks a piffling too hard. Y'all but might be able to send your little slugger dorsum into the corner of the ring!

Pregnancy Symptoms Calendar week 26

Bloating and gas

Your expanding uterus continues to put more than and more pressure on your stomach and intestines, resulting in the bloating you probably experience. Minimize the problem by eating several small meals a day instead of iii big ones so that you don't overload your digestive system. Read More

Pregnancy encephalon

Has "pregnancy encephalon" caused you to forget some crucial meetings or $.25 of information lately? While this subtract in memory is temporary and totally normal, try writing key things downwards in a trusty notepad or on your smartphone to help you stay organized for the rest of your pregnancy. Read More

Awkwardness

Your loosened joints, shifted eye of gravity and added weight are just a few of the factors that crusade you to skid, trip and fall more often than usual. This clumsiness is temporary, but for at present, be actress careful in the tub, shower and on other slippery surfaces. Read More

Migraines

Some women who accept a history of migraines have them more often when they're meaning, while others have fewer of them. Only don't be surprised if yours flare up more these days. Since potent migraine medications are probably off-limits for now, consider holistic therapies such every bit acupuncture, biofeedback, massage, meditation and yoga, which tin likewise help reduce stress, a well-known migraine trigger. Read More

Blurred vision

If your optics are feeling irritated, that's probably because pregnancy hormones decrease tear product, which leads to dry eyes. Use eye drops to ease the discomfort and be sure to tell your practitioner if you develop serious vision problems since this could exist a sign of preeclampsia. Read More

Circular ligament pain

If the "growing pains" caused by your expanding uterus, technically called round ligament pain, are feeling particularly achy lately, go off your feet when yous can and get every bit comfortable as possible. Too, remember to shift positions slowly so as not to aggravate the hurting. Read More

Tips for You This Calendar week

Limit fluids later half-dozen p.thousand.

If frequent trips to the bathroom are continuing between y'all and a practiced night'southward sleep, cut dorsum on the corporeality you lot beverage subsequently dinnertime (but get enough fluids earlier and so). Drink if yous're thirsty, just don't guzzle a 16-ounce canteen of water right before bed.

Cook your meat well

When it comes to meat, fish or poultry, half-broiled isn't baked enough for you. Pierce your cooked chicken with a fork — if the juice comes out blood-red, information technology's undercooked, and then put it back in the oven and let it heat upward till the fluid runs clear.

Cut through the thickest part of cooked meat and chops to make certain the middle is gray or brown with no rare spots.

And instead of searing fish and serving it rare or medium, broil, broil, grill or poach it until it'south cooked through. Improve all the same, check the temperature with a quality meat thermometer.

Remember these "fully cooked" temps of some family favorites:

  • Whole chicken and turkey: 165 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Beef, veal, lamb and pork roasts, chops and steaks: 145 degrees F
  • Chicken breasts: 165 degrees F
  • Ground chicken and turkey: 165 degrees F
  • Ground beef, veal, lamb and pork: 160 degrees F
  • Fish: 145 degrees F
  • Precooked ham: 140 degrees F

Say no to onetime-school cribs

Putting the nursery together is super exciting, only recollect: safety outset. The U.Southward. Consumer Product Safety Committee (CPSC) sets strict standards for both manufacturers and retailers. These requirements include stronger mattress supports and crib slats, extremely durable crib hardware and rigorous safety testing.

Too, the CPSC put an end to manufacturing and selling unsafe drib-side cribs. So avoid buying that vintage (read: discontinued) driblet-side crib — it poses a risk to your newborn.

Baby, let's move!

Yous know that getting calorie-free to moderate practice throughout pregnancy is adept for you (assuming your doc has given you the greenish calorie-free). Merely once you commencement feeling babe kicking, you may find yourself with a little workout buddy every time you go for a walk, do some laps in the pool or hit the gym.

Be enlightened that every infant in utero responds differently to Mom's practise routine, however. Some may be lulled to slumber by the movement, while others might seem to start a conditioning of their own — "Wait, I can kickbox, too!"

Talk to your practitioner nearly what intensity level is right for yous and your tiny fitness partner, and what kind of fetal movement you can look during and afterward your exercise session.

Launder up

Clean up in the kitchen. That goes for your hands first and foremost, and also for your dish towels, countertops and sponges — everything that's even remotely a part of the food-prep process, including the food itself.

Be extra vigilant about this when handling raw meats, eggs, poultry or fish — wash your easily with warm, soapy water earlier, during and after you lot touch these foods, and be sure to make clean the utensils, cut board and towels yous handled forth the fashion.

Launder fruits and veggies thoroughly earlier eating them, fifty-fifty the ones yous intend to peel. The one exception to the wash-before-using rule: Don't rinse raw meat or poultry. You won't be washing off the bacteria — only cooking can eliminate that — only you lot volition be splashing the bacteria all over the sink and countertop.

Practise good posture

Betwixt your burgeoning belly and your aching back, it isn't always easy to stand up upwards…never mind stand up straight. But try to resist the tendency to thrust your hips and tummy forward and throw your shoulders back when you're walking, every bit that could exacerbate those pregnancy pains.

Instead, aim for a straight line between your shoulders and your hips when you're up and about — and to meet what that feels like, back up against a wall. While you're at information technology, practice some standing pelvic tilts. Sit smart by putting a pillow backside your lower dorsum for back up.

Avoid raw eggs

When preparing eggs, cook until the whites have set firmly and the yolks accept begun to thicken. And never eat salad dressings, sauces or mousse-type desserts made with raw eggs unless yous're using the pasteurized variety.

Also, resist the temptation to eat raw cookie dough or cake concoction. As yummy every bit it is, it's a skilful idea to kick the habit fifty-fifty if y'all're not pregnant!

From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, writer ofWhat to Await When Yous're Expecting. What to Look follows strict reporting guidelines and uses just credible sources, such equally peer-reviewed studies, bookish research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Learn how we proceed our content accurate and up-to-appointment past reading our medical review and editorial policy.

  • What to Expect When You're Expecting, fiveth edition, Heidi Murkoff.
  • WhatToExpect.com, When Will Your Baby'southward Eyes Change Color?, June 2021.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Crib Safety, Baronial 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, The All-time Exercises for Significant Women, October 2019.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Salmonella During Pregnancy, October 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Why Information technology'south Not Safe to Eat Raw Flour When You're Pregnant, March 2021.
  • WhatToExpect.com, When You'll Feel Your Baby Motility and Kick, June 2021.
  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, How Your Fetus Grows During Pregnancy, August 2020.
  • Mayo Clinic, Fetal Development: The 2nd Trimester, June 2020.
  • National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, Fetal Development, June 2021.
  • U.Southward. Section of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health, Stages of Pregnancy, April 2019.
  • American University of Pediatrics, Newborn Eye Color, June 2020.
  • Zip to Three, When Does the Fetus'due south Brain Begin to Piece of work?, 2021.
  • National Sleep Foundation, Pregnancy and Sleep, October 2020.
  • Stanford Children's Health, Headaches in Early Pregnancy, 2021.
  • Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Migraine Headaches During Pregnancy, 2021.
  • Consumer Product Safe Commission, Safety to Sleep — Crib Information Heart, 2021.
  • FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Cooking Temperatures Charts, April 2019.
  • FoodSafety.gov, Food Rubber by Type of Food, April 2019.
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Iv Steps (Clean, Separate, Melt, Chill) to Food Safety, August 2020.
  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Practice During Pregnancy, July 2019.

Recommended Products

What to Expect selects products based on independent research  and suggestions from our community of millions of parents; learn more about our review procedure. We may earn commissions from shopping links.

Best Products to Assistance Minimize Stretch Marks

View All

best stretch mark creams - Palmer's Cocoa Butter Massage Lotion

⚠️ You tin can't see this cool product considering you accept ad block enabled.

Please whitelist our site to go all the all-time deals and offers from our partners.

best stretch mark creams - Burt's Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter

best stretch mark oil - Belli Elasticity Belly Oil

⚠️ Yous can't come across this cool production because you accept advertizement block enabled.

Please whitelist our site to get all the best deals and offers from our partners.

best stretch mark creams - Earth Mama Belly Butter

best stretch mark oil - Hatch Belly Oil