Week 28 of Pregnancy: What's Going On Inside

Topic Overview

At 28 weeks, your baby may be moving a lot more-and possibly keeping you up at night! Believe it or not, babies find the movement and noise of daytime hours to be soothing. So they often sleep during the day and are awake at night.

Wondering what your baby looks like now? As you enter your eighth month of pregnancy, your baby is about the size of a large eggplant. Average baby length is 250 mm (9.8 in.). And average baby weight is 1000 g (2.2 lb).

How your baby is changing

Here are some of the important facts and developments around 28 weeks.

• For most of this month, a fetus is putting on a lot of weight.
• At this size, a fetus can still move around a lot-from head-down to feet-down, or even sideways. You will notice more movement or less movement at certain times of the day and night.
• At about 24 weeks of pregnancy, the lungs are starting to make surfactant, which helps the lungs breathe air.
• With every week after 22 weeks, a baby is a little more likely to survive after birth. A baby born before 26 weeks is not yet equipped to breathe air. Starting at week 26, the chances of healthy survival get better.
• Around 28 weeks, the eyelids are open, hair is growing well on the head, and fat under the skin is making the skin less wrinkly.