Week 23: It’s Like An Unauthorized Sequel To Alien Is Being Filmed In Your Abdomen 

It’s pregnancy week 23, and here’s what’s going on…

MIND

Welcome to Week 23, Scary Mommies! Your energy still should be pretty high (if not, ask your doc if an iron supplement would help) … unless you’re trying to grow this baby while also parenting a toddler. If that’s the case, you can just forget about having energy for the next few years.

BODY

You’ve gained around 12-15 pounds and your uterus is high enough that your innie bellybutton has turned into an outie — now there’s a pregnancy milestone you weren’t expecting! Your appetite is back with a vengeance as your body demands nutrients for your growing babe. If, by chance, the nausea of morning sickness is back (or never went away) talk to your healthcare provider about changing your prenatal vitamin or starting a B6 supplement.

BABY

Your baby can squirm away if you press on your belly, and is big enough that you might even catch a glimpse of the squirming through your shirt! It’s super freaky for a lot of moms, who feel like an unauthorized sequel to Alien is being filmed in their abdomen. But it’s also undeniably cool — especially if you can avoid getting kicked in the ribs or the cervix. That shit hurts.

In addition to exploring your uterus, your baby’s getting used to sounds outside your uterus. Now’s the time to let siblings yell and dogs bark; the more your baby gets used to them now, the less it will phase them once they’re born.

NEST

Consider getting a yoga mat. You may have the energy to get up and go to yoga classes now (maybe), but it could get hard to muster up the energy late in the third trimester, let alone when you have a baby. Having a yoga mat in your house might encourage you to do some simple routines at home.