V 19

Your Pregnancy: Week 19
Now that you're almost halfway done, it's time to start really planning for life after baby. That means making room for Junior, whether it's on the floor of your closet or in his own apartment, like the celebrity babies do it. Have fun with the process (who doesn't love shopping?) and don't stress when you're told it takes 12 weeks to get that special glider made and shipped.

What You're Thinking
"Where did the baby get a flame thrower? This heartburn is the worst!"

Your Body
If your chest is on fire every time you eat, drink or lay down, then you're probably dealing with the all-too-common pregnancy annoyance of heartburn. Luckily, this is one ailment that can be cured.

Sometimes eating several small meals instead of three large ones can help with heartburn.
Need more relief? Try chewing gum after each meal, drinking warm milk with honey at bedtime, eating yogurt or elevating the head of your bed.

Your Baby
This week your baby starts bulking up and packing on the grossly named "brown fat" he'll need to keep warm when he gets evicted from his comfortable uterine home. Other highlights this week:

Vernix, a milky white coating that protects your baby's skin, appears all over your baby's body to keep his skin from getting pickled in the amniotic fluid. Think of it as if your baby has been dipped in yogurt, like those delicious but fake-healthy yogurt-covered raisins and pretzels. Ooh, we feel another craving comin' on. ... Under the vernix, a fuzzy layer of hair called lanugo now covers baby's body. Don't worry, your Mini won't look like Cousin It when he's born. Most of the fuzz will fall off before baby makes his grand entrance.

Good news: Your baby's kidneys are fully functioning and producing urine this week. Bad news: That means there will be lots of diapers in your future. But so far you're safe—at the moment the pee just passes into the amniotic fluid.

He or she now weighs about 8½ ounces and measures 6 inches, as long as a turkey sub from Subway on warm, delicious Italian Herbs and Cheese bread (or Honey Oat bread, or Oregano bread or ...)