24 Week check In!

Hello little pumpkin, 
Mommy is way behind on posts, but I am keep notes between them so I can keep all things fresh on my mind. It has been a busy few weeks and will be unnaturally busy over the summer with mommy working this year too. 

Development:

Week 21

There is little change compared to last week. Most of the baby's growth now is weight gain.

He might be over the halfway mark in terms of length but he still needs to put on nearly ten times his present weight! From now on, your baby will gain around 2oz/60 grams a week. You will put on around 1 lb/500 grams a week. That´s perfectly normal.

Your uterus comes up to your navel now and growing at quite a rate. Your bump seems to be getting bigger and bigger by the day.

With your uterus growing so quickly, you could find you get round ligament pains. These feel like a stitch or shooting pain in the side of your uterus. You're likely to find this happens more when you've been too busy. The only remedy is to lie down and rest. (Mommy has this a lot!!)

The baby's skin is no longer transparent. White blood cells are developing, which are vital to your baby's immunity against disease and infection. The tongue and organ of balance are fully developed. The baby will start pulling faces to exercise his facial muscles.

Week 22

The ears start to develop their final shape in week 22. By now, the baby's hearing is quite well developed and he will be able to hear sounds from outside the uterus.

If you sing the same song a lot to your baby now, he'll probably recognize it after birth and it could actually comfort him. 

The layer of fat under the skin is gradually increasing, and your baby is

looking more and more like a newborn baby. His skin is still a little wrinkly but this will improve as the weeks go by.

You are also accumulating more amniotic fluid. By the end of your pregnancy your womb will hold a liter of amniotic fluid!

The baby may often pinch the umbilical cord. That's nothing to worry about though, the vein and the two arteries in the umbilical cord are well protected. In fact, it takes quite some strength to cut the cord, as you´ll notice after the birth. By the time the baby is born the umbilical cord will be about as long as the baby.

Your child is asleep most of the time. After he is born, you´ll soon notice that your baby has a favorite sleeping position, which he is developing right now.

Week 23

Your baby weighs around 1lb 2oz/500 grams. His body is growing faster than his head so by the end of this month, the proportions will be practically the same as for a newborn baby. The fingernails and toenails are fully formed.

Your baby will start breathing now too. Not breathing in air, of course, but amniotic fluid. He's practicing what to do once he's been born. His lungs are not fully functional yet.

You may notice a little yellowish fluid leaking from your breasts. This is colostrum, the first 'milk' your baby will drink after birth (if you intend to breastfeed). It is perfectly normal for this to happen now, but equally normal if you produce no colostrum until the baby is born. So there's no reason to worry either way.

Colostrum is full of antibodies and protects the baby from infection and disease. Compared with normal feed, colostrum has much higher levels of protein, vitamins and minerals and lower levels of fat and sugar. It stimulates the digestive system and is, in effect, a natural laxative ensuring that the baby's organs dispose of all the waste that has collected in its little body during pregnancy. The colostrum will turn to milk after 3-5 days. The fluid will gradually become thinner and turn from yellowish to a bluish white. You will produce normal breast milk within about ten days of giving birth.

Many women develop anemia around now. This is due to your body´s rapid growth and the extra blood you have to produce. This may result in low iron levels, which can make you feel weak, faint and even a little dizzy at times. Your iron level or Hb level (Hemoglobin) can be tested using a special device. All it takes is a single drop of blood from your finger. If your iron level is too low, you will be advised to eat more iron-rich foods. If this doesn't help raise your Hb level, then you could be prescribed iron tablets.

You may find you develop reddish stretch marks, so-called striae, on your abdomen, breasts, legs and/or bottom. They are harmless and caused by the skin stretching due to rapid growth. You can keep your skin supple with oil or a special cream but you cannot prevent striae. Whether or not you develop stretch marks depends on your skin. After your pregnancy they will fade to a pale pink or white, but will not disappear altogether.

Week 24

The end of the second trimester is in sight now. You are nearly two thirds of the way through your pregnancy and have probably started counting the weeks away.

The baby is quite big and strong already and is now much easier to feel from the outside. Pregnancy is much more fun for the father now. If he gently rubs his hand over your bump he will feel the baby react, and the baby may also react to his voice.

The fetus is covered with fine, soft hair, called lanugo. His delicate skin is protected by a waxy film called as 'vernix.' This could still be on your baby's skin during birth but will soon be absorbed. It will usually still only be visible on premature or early babies. Babies born well after the 40th week are often completely 'clean'. 

The baby's hearing is fully developed. He may respond to things going on around you, such as rows or hard noises. Your baby might not respond to external influences but will respond to your reaction. Try to avoid that kind of stress as much as possible, as it could make him or her very restless. You could notice a similar effect after birth, if your baby cries a lot, for instance.

Your baby has developed a pattern of sleeping and waking. This pattern need not necessarily be the same as yours. Often enough, in fact, it will be the exact opposite. While you are busy doing things, you rock the baby to sleep, as it were. Then, just as you finally sit down to relax or go to bed, the baby becomes highly active!

He will sleep for most of the time though, between 16 and 20 hours a day. The baby needs that much sleep to be able to grow as quickly as he does. Most of the vital organs are well developed by now; just the lungs are not fully functional yet. Inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid will help the lungs mature enough for the baby to survive outside the womb.

Your child's spine consists of about 150 joints and 1000 ligaments.

Up to now, the fetus has had very little fat and been very skinny. From this week on, fat will start to accumulate under the baby´s skin. This fat will enable your child to maintain the ideal body temperature after birth. That's why premature babies are often placed in an incubator until they have reached a weight (approx. 5 1/2 kbs/2500 grams) that will enable them to regulate their body temperature themselves.  (info courtesy of pregnology.com)