Family and Parenting

Pregnancy Week 22

What to expect when you're 22 weeks pregnant

Updated Apr. 01, 2022

By: Jennifer Wise

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Edited by: Justin Martino

Baby development at 22 weeks pregnant

Your little one is making more sense of the world through taste, touch and rudimentary sight that can detect light. Help your baby live it up this week by trying a fruit or vegetable that’s new to you and testing their responsiveness to light by shining a flashlight over your abdomen.

Your baby measures almost 10 inches and weighs 15.2 ounces. This is about the size of a papaya!

At week 22, your baby’s taste buds are developing. This is the time to introduce a variety of (ideally) healthful foods into your diet if you haven’t already — children tend to favor what their mothers ate while pregnant.

Right now, your baby is sleeping in cycles — approximately 13 hours each day.

Your baby’s nervous system is now mature enough to process the sensation of touch. They will experiment with tactile stimulation by sucking their thumbs, exploring your cozy womb and flexing and extending limbs. Although your baby’s eyelids are fused shut, the eyes themselves can now move and perceive light.

Week 22 pregnant belly

A typical pregnant belly at 22 weeks measures 20 to 24 centimeters from the pelvic bone to the top of the uterus — this measurement is known as the fundal height. Although weight gain varies among pregnant women, most tend to gain roughly a pound each week.

Week 22 pregnancy symptoms

At 22 weeks pregnant, you’re still in the honeymoon stage of pregnancy. Many of those unpleasant first trimester symptoms have subsided, but you may still be feeling the effects of carrying a baby in the form of sleep problems or other discomforts. Your pregnancy is becoming more evident to the outside world, thanks to your burgeoning baby bump, and you’re likely feeling your baby’s movements!

Stretch marks: If you’re noticing lines streaking over your belly, you’re in good company. Many pregnant women develop striae gravidarum, or stretch marks, over their abdomens, breasts and thighs. As your body expands, your skin tears and forms a scar. Although there is little you can do to prevent these marks if they appear, they usually fade after pregnancy.
Dizziness: If you’ve had dizzy spells lately, low blood pressure may be to blame. Your body continues to make more blood, filling your very relaxed blood vessels. Your blood pressure will probably be lower than was typical for you before pregnancy.
Gas: You may feel gassier than usual. That could be the result of hormones, what you’re eating or any number of other things.
Leaking breasts: Your breasts may begin to leak colostrum, the precursor of milk. This pale yellow fluid will serve as your newborn’s first meals.

Pregnancy checklist at 22 weeks

If you haven’t had your midpregnancy ultrasound yet, this is the week! Stay on track with the items below.

Reminders for
Week 22

Go to your imaging study. An imaging study gives you and your obstetrician a peek at your baby’s major organs and other developments.
Have a quad screening. Week 22 is also the time your obstetrician will recommend a maternal blood screening, or quad screen, if it wasn’t done earlier. This screening measures four substances in your blood: alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), estriol, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and inhibin A. These metrics help determine if your baby’s risk of a genetic abnormality is elevated and whether diagnostic testing is necessary.

Explore pregnancy by week
Week 21 | Week 23

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