19 Weeks Pregnant: Celebrity Baby Bumps

19 Weeks Pregnant

In this article

• Pregnancy Week 19: All About You
• Pregnancy Week 19: All About Baby
• How Big Is Baby?
• Most Common Pregnancy Questions
• Multiple Madness
• For Your Partner
• Fun Facts

Do you find yourself seeking out magazines with pregnant celebrities? You're not alone. A lot of expecting women find themselves seeking out connections with fellow pregnant women.

Pregnancy Week 19: All About You

Your belly is getting rounder by the day. You may find that you need to rest more to keep your energy up. Your back and abdomen may be achy with the added weight. Expect to have some uncomfortable pregnancy symptoms fade and others get worse—your nausea has probably ended while heartburn and indigestion have taken its place. Continue to plan on plenty of bathroom breaks.

Celebrity Baby Bumps
Quick—name three pregnant celebrities. Chances are you can name more than that! You can probably even name a handful of celebrities who've given birth over the past year. Why are we so obsessed with celebrity baby bumps? "I think a big part of the fascination with celebrities' pregnancies is it humanizes them in our eyes," explains Dr. Joanne Motino Bailey, a certified nurse midwife and a woman's studies professor at the University of Michigan. Seeing a star go through pregnancy—by means of candid pictures—makes them seem more like the rest of us. After all, what could make your favorite round-bellied starlet more endearing than seeing snapshots of her downing a Big Mac in a track suit? But as with all things Hollywood, some effects of the celebrity baby boom may leave you with unrealistic expectations for your own pregnancy.

Maternity Fashions
Pregnancy clothing options used to be little more than raiding your partner's closet for shirts. Yet the celebrity baby boom has brought designers running to make pregnant women look their best. Gone are the days of ugly elastic-waist jeans and tent-like dress jumpers. You can now find maternity fashions on any budget.

The downside: We can't all afford a completely new wardrobe for a few months of use. But if you're sensible with your selection of maternity clothes, you can dress up simple shirts with stylish accessories.

Baby Bump Behavior
Back in the 1950s, pregnancy seemed almost indecent. Women wore bulky clothes to hide their bumps and spent a fair amount of time at home. This is no longer the case. Many women are often just as active and outgoing during their pregnancies as they were before conception. You can find pictures of celebrities still going to the gym, enjoying (many) a night out, and working until delivery day.

The downside: You never see the pictures of the celebrities taking naps or passing off daily tasks to their assistants. Expect to slow down and simplify your schedule during your pregnancy. Your body needs extra energy to fuel your growing baby-to-be.

Celebrity's Birth Options
Water birth, at-home birth, doula, midwife … pregnant women have many options for how they're going to deliver their babies. Celebrities made public the very private topic of pregnancy. As a result, some birth options—like home births—that were once taboo, aren't anymore.

The downside: Celebrities have an entourage of medical help to make some of their more far-flung birth requests possible. Delivering a baby in a third-world country may not be the safest option for you. And elective C-sections carry real risks.

Post-Pregnancy Body
How many times have you seen magazine covers boasting titles such as, "How [insert a celebrity's name] got her body back"? Losing post-pregnancy pounds can be extremely difficult. Some celebrities openly discuss their battles with the bulge. Knowing it's not easy for them might help you stick to your own post-pregnancy diet plan.

The downside: Many celebrities go to extremes when it comes to losing weight fast. Some even get surgical help to lose a few pounds. Others are just blessed with forever slender shapes. Watching a celebrity walk the red carpet a week after delivery can give you false sense of how quickly you'll realistically be back into your pre-pregnancy jeans.

Celebrity baby bump watching can be fun. You may feel some kinship to a once svelte siren who's now packed on the pounds, but don't compare your own experience or your body to your favorite celebrities'.

Pregnancy Week 19: All About Baby

In your 19th week of pregnancy, your unborn baby's organs continue to grow. His body is covered with lanugo soft hairs and a sticky protective coating that keeps his skin from drying out in the amniotic fluid. Your baby is moving frequently, and by now you should be able to feel those movements. Your physician can hear your baby-to-be's heartbeat with a stethoscope placed on your abdomen.

Baby is covered in vernix, a white, cheesy "cream" that protects her skin from the long bath in amniotic fluid. Preemies are covered in vernix at birth "posties" have almost none.

How Big Is Baby?

Your little one weighs in at around 7 to 8 ounces and he's between 5 and 6 inches long (crown to rump).

Most Common Pregnancy Questions

I'm 19 weeks pregnant and worried about my weight gain. How do I know if I'm gaining just the right amount? Could I be gaining too much or too little weight?
An important consideration when determining how much weight is appropriate for you is your pre pregnancy weight and your body mass index or BMI. BMI is a measurement of body fat based on your height and weight. There are some general guidelines to follow, and your healthcare provider should work with you to get you on the right track.

Most women will gain between four and six pounds during the first trimester. The weight gain in the second and third trimesters depends on what category you fall into based on your pre-pregnancy weight.

Don't try to lose weight during pregnancy or try to stay within the parameters for your pre-pregnancy weight. Too much weight gain puts you at risk for high blood pressure and diabetes. Also having a large baby can cause complications at delivery. Too little weight gain may put your baby at risk for being underweight. A woman who is underweight pre-pregnancy should gain between 28 and 40 pounds. Try to gain slightly over a pound a week in the second and third trimesters.

A woman with a normal pre-pregnant weight should gain between 25 and 35 pounds. Many women may not gain much weight during the first trimester due to nausea. But the average is four to six pounds for a healthy weight gain for your first 12 weeks of pregnancy. After the first trimester, you should gain about a pound a week. If you are overweight pre-pregnancy the recommended weight gain is 15 to 25 pounds. You should put on about one pound every two weeks in the second and third trimesters.

Don't ever try to lose weight during pregnancy.

Where Does All The Weight Go?

• Baby: 7 to 8 pounds
• Larger breasts: 1 to 3 pounds
• Larger uterus: 2 pounds
• Placenta: 1 1/2 pounds
• Amniotic fluid: 2 pounds
• Increased blood volume: 3 to 4 pounds
• Increased fluid volume: 2 to 3 pounds
• Fat stores: 6 to 8 pounds pregnancy.

Talk with your healthcare provider about what weight gain is the best for you and try to stick within those recommended parameters. Eat well! When you are feeling hungry (and you will!) try to make healthy food choices, doing so will not only help you feel better, it provides the best nutrition for your growing baby.

Multiple Madness

Famous Baby Bumps
The number of celebrities who've recently welcomed twins into the world is staggering. It's almost as though having twins is the newest PR strategy!

It's fun to watch the Hollywood crowd anticipate the arrival of stardom's newest multiples, but it's also important to keep a few things in mind.

Women sometimes get a bit frazzled when they see a celebrity who has 8-week-old twins looking slim and svelte. Don't discount that many celebrities, especially the most photographed ones, have access to dieticians, chefs, personal trainers, and airbrushing! And most have nannies who tend their children while they eat properly and run five miles each morning!

Rather than staring enviously at the latest new mom on the cover of People magazine each time you're in the checkout line, strive to emulate the celebrities who do things on their terms—or on terms that resonate with you as "real." Focus on how much they are enjoying this time. Consider moms like Jennifer Garner or Kate Hudson who openly relished time with their new babies and publicized that weight loss was not their first priority.

And remember that we see celebrities on the covers of magazines, but we don't see what goes on beyond closed doors. Nannies, chefs, and trainers aside, celebrity new moms are still new moms. They, too, experience the emotional ups and downs of new motherhood (case in point: Brooke Shields and her public battle with postpartum depression).

Take it easy on yourself. And be thankful you don't have to worry about the possibility of being photographed and critiqued each time you head to Starbucks!

For Your Partner

Famous Dads
Many women find themselves scoping out pregnant celebrities while they are also expecting. The unique sense of connection with these Hollywood figures stems from them experiencing the same things at the same time. Famous dads-to-be are harder to spot, but more and more celebrity men are "coming out" to extol the exciting, life-altering, and amazing nature of fatherhood.

Our society is changing, giving men more of a voice to be honest and open about how fatherhood feels and how it is changing their lives. And as a result, dads in the spotlight are sharing their stories.

In a society where motherhood is revered and fatherhood is seen more as a supporting actor's role, it is fun to see male stars come out and freely state how fatherhood is affecting them. Brad Pitt has been quoted several times stating fatherhood is the greatest role in his life so far. Tiger Woods talks about changing diapers and getting less sleep. "It's an awakening," says Philip Seymour Hoffman, who reports that when you become a parent everything changes; you look at your own parents differently, and at your own childhood differently. "When you have a child, as anyone knows who has them, that's basically all you want to talk about," he adds.

Take a note from these Hollywood dads and make a point to share with your spouse how you feel and what you think about your impending fatherhood. She'll appreciate the insight! The more involved you become in the lives of your children, the more likely they are also to experience benefits from being involved.

Fun Facts

Pregnancy on TV has come a long way. When Lucille Ball was pregnant during her run on I Love Lucy, TV censors thought using the term "pregnancy" on air would be in appropriate. Instead, the script called for the actors to refer to Lucy as "expecting."

Respected Readers: Need your help to keep the site up and running. please donate ! Any help is appreciated.