5 Months Pregnant: What to Expect During Pregnancy

At 5 months pregnant, you're in for some exciting changes!

If it hasn’t already, chances are your baby bump is starting to show.

And you might be feeling little flutters that aren’t gas nor signs of hunger.

Yep, your bae is moving.

There’s more: if you want to find out your baby’s sex, this is the month!

5 months is around about the halfway mark — let’s see what it involves.

In this article: 📝

How many weeks is 5 months pregnant?

The 5-month period is between week 17 and week 20.

During this time, your little one is between 5 and 9.9 inches long (about 12 to 25.0 cm).

They’re about the size of a carrot or a banana and probably weigh a pound or so. 🍌

What are some 5 months pregnancy symptoms?

Battling heartburn?

Would you do anything for a working tummy?

Feeling dizzy, short of breath, and having the odd nose bleed?

Yep, although they’re not a huge amount of fun, these common symptoms are the signs of a healthy pregnancy at 5 months.

And there’s good news — like, really good news.

After weeks of “Am I showing? Is this it?” — the moment has arrived.

Your 5 months pregnant belly is likely to make itself known around this time — if it hasn’t done so already.

To you and many around you, there’s definitely a baby growing inside there.

So, is your stomach hard at 5 months pregnant?

It’s probably getting there.

As your uterus grows during your second and third trimester, it starts to push against your abdominal wall, making it feel harder.

If you’re feeling this at 5 months, it could also be Braxton Hicks contractions, which is one of the other symptoms you can expect.

Here’s a list of a few others:

Pain in your lower back

As your body starts to adjust to your growing belly, your lower back might take a bit of strain.

Those muscles are working more than usual right now!

Try to sit in supportive chairs, use a pillow if you need to, and give some back-strengthening exercises a shot.

Trouble sleeping

Speaking of pillows, you might need a few extra when you sleep, too.

Wedging a pillow between your knees or under your belly can give you the support you need to feel comfy.

Our ultimate guide will tell you more about the options available.

It might take a bit of trial and error to find the one that works best for you.

Swollen feet

With the increase in fluctuating hormones, your body starts holding more water than normal.

Gravity causes the fluid to collect at the lowest parts of the body: the legs.

Pelvic girdle pain

Whether you realize it or not, your body is probably becoming quite familiar with relaxin.

It’s a pregnancy hormone that helps to prepare your body for birth, partly by relaxing your muscles and loosening the joints in your feet.

And that means?

You guessed it: painful pelvic muscles that are struggling to carry the weight of your baby bump.

Stretch marks

These are things to be loved, mama.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Stretch marks are (quite literally) signs of life, and you might notice them appear on or around your belly at this time.

Scrambled eggs for brains

Did you find your car keys in the fridge again?

Forget your sister’s birthday?

Pregnancy brain fog is real.

It’s probably a result of your hormones changing and the fact that you may not be sleeping terribly well at the moment.

Braxton Hicks contractions

At 5 months!?

Yip, it’s possible that you might start to experience Braxton Hicks contractions around this time.

These “practice contractions” feel like cramping or tightening in your abdomen and usually go away fairly quickly.

You might notice them the most towards the end of the day or after you have sex or exercise.

Chat with your doctor if you’re at all worried.

How does a baby look at 5 months inside the womb?

So, what happens to the baby at 5 months pregnant?

To protect their brand-new skin, soft hair (lanugo) and a greasy coating (vernix) are starting to form around their body.

While the lanugo will mostly be gone by the time your baby enters the world, the vernix will still cover their body completely at birth.

If your baby’s biological sex is female, this is also around the time their uterus forms.

They might be starting to suck their thumb as they get ready to feed when they’re born.

And they’re becoming more acrobatic!

Those punches, kicks, and somersaults are starting to become unmistakable.

What happens at your 5 months pregnant ultrasound?

You can expect more exciting news at the 5-month mark: finding out the sex of your baby!

(That’s if you want to know, of course!)

Unless your 5 months pregnant baby position makes telling the sex tricky (which happens), you should be able to learn if you’re expecting a boy or a girl at your 20-week scan.

Whether you choose to find out is entirely up to you — there’s no right or wrong approach here.

This scan is important for other reasons, too.

It’s quite a big milestone scan, during which your sonographer (the person performing the scan) will take a look at your baby’s brain, heart, bones, spinal cord, and abdominal organs.

While they won’t be able to pick up all potential issues, this scan helps them identify markers for several conditions, including Down syndrome, cleft lip, and developmental differences of the bones and organs.

What should I eat in the 5th month of pregnancy?

Around this time, your little one is absorbing quite a bit of your red blood cells.

(It’s all that growing, you know!)

This can put you at risk of anemia or low iron levels.

Keep your levels up by eating iron-rich foods like dark leafy veggies, fish, and meat, and take your prenatal vitamins.

If you’re at risk for gestational diabetes, chat with your doctor about whether they would recommend a glucose screening test.

5 months pregnant: the bottom line

While some 5 months pregnancy symptoms can be a bit of a pain, this is also a rich and rewarding time when things are starting to feel very real!

Enjoy this special time, mama.

If you have the energy, use it for things like shopping for maternity bras and clothes, going away with your partner, and thinking about what your babe’s nursery will look like.

Looking for other mamas who are on the same journey?

Our Peanut community is always here. ❤️