You are 23 weeks and 4 days

Over the next few weeks, your baby will look more and more like a newborn.

115 days until your due date

Your baby's eyelids and eyebrows are well developed, although the eyelids stay fused. The cells that will become the fingernails were there at 10 weeks, and those for the toenails four weeks later.

Now the nails are just starting to appear at the base of the nail bed. They'll grow throughout life, but it will be several weeks before they reach the fingertips, and then the toes.

The skin is developing fast and often looks wrinkled, as if your baby hasn't grown into it yet. It's covered in extremely fine, short lanugo hair, which will almost all be gone by birth. The hairs help hold vernix on the skin, the white, greasy coating often seen in patches on newborns. It collects in skin folds and creases and protects the skin from the water in the amniotic fluid and the waste products in it.

As pregnancy advances and your baby's kidneys work better, the amniotic fluid becomes more and more like urine.

Good to know

Pregnancy posture

Your posture naturally changes in pregnancy because of the extra weight and softer joints. Before pregnancy, your center of gravity was over your hips; later it shifts forward to your belly, increasing the curve of your lower spine, which can cause lower back pain, and the extra weight also strains your back. Exercises can help rebalance your body and ease the aches.

It's important to adapt to these changes:

Do abdominal exercises to strengthen your core, plus back stretches, to keep good posture and avoid back pain later.
Watch how you walk and stand: pull your shoulders down and back, don't arch your lower back, and keep your pelvis neutral.
Don't balance things on your hip, which can throw off your hip and back alignment.
Don't hold a phone between your ear and shoulder, which can cause neck pain.

Pelvic tilt: to lengthen your spine, stand with knees slightly bent and shoulders back, support your lower back, and gently roll your pelvis under.

This is general information based on NHS guidance, not medical advice, and every pregnancy is different. Talk to your midwife or GP about anything that worries you. If your baby's movements slow down or change, or you have bleeding, severe pain or leaking fluid, call your maternity unit straight away. In an emergency, call 999.

Pregnancy posture

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