At seven months pregnant, your belly is noticeably rounded and sitting high, with the top of your uterus reaching well above your belly button. This is the start of the third trimester, covering roughly weeks 25 through 28, and it’s the stage where pregnancy becomes unmistakable to everyone around you. Your baby weighs about 2¼ pounds and measures close to 10 inches from head to rump, roughly the length of a large eggplant.
How Your Belly Looks and Measures
By month seven, your uterus has grown significantly past your belly button. A simple guideline doctors use: after 20 weeks, the distance from your pubic bone to the top of your uterus (measured in centimeters) roughly matches your week of pregnancy, give or take 2 centimeters. So at 28 weeks, that measurement is typically around 26 to 30 centimeters. Your belly shape varies depending on your height, core muscle tone, and whether this is your first pregnancy. First-time mothers often carry higher and tighter because their abdominal muscles haven’t stretched before, while women in subsequent pregnancies may notice the belly sits lower and wider.
Your belly button may have flattened out or started to pop outward by now. This is purely a result of the expanding uterus pressing against the abdominal wall from behind, and it returns to normal after delivery.
Skin Changes You Might Notice
Up to 80% of pregnant women develop a dark vertical line running from the pubic bone toward the belly button, and sometimes extending up toward the chest. Called the linea nigra, this line is about ¼ to ½ inch wide and appears darker than your surrounding skin, ranging from brown to light black. It becomes visible for most people around 20 weeks and tends to darken further into the third trimester. Higher hormone levels from the placenta stimulate the cells that produce skin pigment, which is why the line appears. It fades gradually over weeks or months after delivery.
Stretch marks are also common by this point, typically showing up as reddish or purplish streaks along the sides and underside of the belly, hips, breasts, or thighs. They form when skin stretches faster than its elastic fibers can keep up with. Some women also notice darker patches on the face or chest for the same hormonal reasons that cause the linea nigra.
What Your Baby Looks Like Inside
At 28 weeks, your baby is about 10 inches long from the top of the head to the tailbone and weighs roughly 2¼ pounds (about 1,000 grams). The baby’s skin is becoming less translucent as fat layers start building underneath. Those fat deposits serve two purposes: they’ll help regulate body temperature after birth and give the baby the rounder, smoother appearance you’d recognize in a newborn.
The eyes can open and close now, and the baby responds to light filtering through the uterine wall. The lungs are developing rapidly but aren’t fully mature yet, which is one reason why the coming weeks are so important for growth. Brain tissue is folding into the grooved pattern seen in a full-term brain, and the baby cycles between periods of sleep and wakefulness in a way you can often feel from the outside.
How Movement Feels at This Stage
Fetal movement becomes more defined and forceful during month seven. What started as flutters earlier in pregnancy now feels like distinct kicks, rolls, and jabs. You may see your belly visibly shift or ripple when the baby moves, especially when you’re sitting still or lying down.
Week 28 is when most providers recommend starting “kick counts.” The goal is to feel 10 movements (kicks, flutters, swishes, or rolls) within two hours. Most women hit that number well within one hour. The best time to count is after a meal or a cold drink, when babies tend to be more active. If you go two hours without feeling 10 movements, that’s worth a call to your provider. Kick counting matters more now because reduced movement in the third trimester can be an early signal that something needs attention.
Common Physical Symptoms
Swelling in your feet, ankles, and fingers is one of the most visible changes at seven months. Your body holds more water during pregnancy, and gravity pulls that extra fluid to the lowest parts of your body throughout the day. Standing for long stretches or hot weather makes it worse. The growing uterus also puts pressure on veins that return blood from your legs, which contributes to fluid buildup. Mild, gradual swelling is normal. A sudden increase in swelling, particularly in your face or hands, is different and warrants an immediate call to your provider, as it can be a sign of preeclampsia.
Back pain intensifies around this time because your center of gravity has shifted forward, and the hormone relaxin is loosening joints and ligaments in your pelvis to prepare for delivery. You may also start noticing Braxton Hicks contractions, irregular tightening sensations across your belly that come and go without a pattern. These are your uterus practicing, and they’re generally painless or mildly uncomfortable.
Shortness of breath becomes more common as the uterus presses upward against the diaphragm. Heartburn, frequent urination, and difficulty sleeping round out the list of symptoms that tend to pick up in the early third trimester.
How to Tell Normal Discomfort From Warning Signs
Because seven months marks the beginning of the third trimester, it’s helpful to know what preterm labor looks like versus routine pregnancy aches. Normal Braxton Hicks contractions are irregular and stop when you change position or drink water. Preterm labor contractions come at regular intervals and don’t ease up. Other warning signs include a dull, persistent low backache that feels different from your usual back pain, pressure in your pelvis or lower belly, vaginal spotting or bleeding, and any gush or steady trickle of fluid from the vagina.
What Happens at Prenatal Visits
During the third trimester, prenatal visits shift to every two to four weeks, up from the monthly schedule earlier in pregnancy. Around this time, your provider will check your belly measurement, blood pressure, and urine, and listen to the baby’s heartbeat. A glucose screening test is typically done around 24 to 28 weeks if it hasn’t been completed already. If your blood type is Rh-negative, you’ll receive an injection around 28 weeks to prevent complications with the baby’s blood cells.
Weeks 27 through 36 are also the recommended window for the Tdap vaccine, which protects your newborn against whooping cough in the first weeks of life. Your provider may also discuss flu, COVID-19, and RSV vaccines depending on the time of year and your individual health profile.