You are now 24 weeks pregnant and at the beginning of week 25. Your baby has grown to be about 30 cm long from head to toe (11.75 inches) and approximately 700 grams in weight (just over 1 lb 8 oz). Your baby may now be big enough for others to feel your belly and sense them kicking and stretching!
Babies at 24 weeks have been noted to increase their breathing patterns (by expanding their lungs with amniotic fluid), after their mothers eat, especially if the food contains sugar! Your baby's lungs now start to produce a substance called surfactant, which lines their lungs and assists them to breathe after birth.
What is my body doing at 24 weeks pregnant?
As ever, your body’s changing week by week: by week 24, your uterus will be about the size of a football. It’s also time to take a glucose screening test - also known as a glucose challenge test or GCT - to check for gestational diabetes, a high blood sugar condition that can affect pregnant women.
You also may be experiencing the joy of haemorrhoids, or piles, which are essentially varicose veins in your bottom. Like the veins in your legs, the ones in your bottom can stretch so that blood starts to collect in them, causing pain and swelling.
The reason they’re so common in pregnancy is down to those pesky hormones, again – they can cause sluggish digestion and constipation, meaning you strain when you go to the loo, putting extra pressure on the veins around your bottom. You may notice itchy bumps around your anus and bright, red blood in the toilet bowl and on the loo paper. As unpleasant as they are, piles can be treated easily with haemorrhoid creams to numb the pain and itching, so book an appointment with your GP for advice.
Common symptoms to look out for:
- Breathlessness
Many women complain of feeling breathless during pregnancy. This is very normal and usually comes and goes. You can be short of breath even while sitting and having a normal conversation.
- Palpitations
This is a feeling that your heart is 'racing' or beating strongly and rapidly in your chest. Palpitations are very common during pregnancy, due to the extra workload on the heart pumping up to 50% more blood volume around your body. Palpitations can be felt for no apparent reason, but may be associated with exercising, being stressed, feeling anxious or excited. They usually subside on their own after a few minutes or less. Palpitations may also be associated with feeling breathless.
NOTE: Occasionally palpitations can indicate a heart condition. If you are concerned that they are not going away and you are feeling unwell, contact your caregiver.
Emotional reactions
Many women have vivid or scary dreams during their pregnancy. These may involve being abandoned or losing their partner, giving birth to a baby who has an abnormality, having a 'painless' birth and discovering the gender of their child or experiencing an out of control situation. The things that you dream about are not likely to merge into reality when the time comes, but they may reflect some unconscious concerns you have.
Other considerations
Water birth
In recent years water births have become more mainstream. Many hospitals now have baths installed for women to use warm water for pain relief during labour, with a few hospitals accommodating water births. If you are keen to have your baby in water, ask your caregiver about the possibility of doing this.
Lying on your back
During the later months of pregnancy (after about 24 to 28 weeks), a few women find that if they lie flat on their back for a few minutes or more, they start to feel light-headed, dizzy and possibly breathless and nauseated. This can happen because the growing baby is placing pressure on one of the major blood vessels called the vena cava. However, not every pregnant woman experiences this. Usually lying on your right or left side, sitting in an upright position, or even in a semi-upright position you can avoid vena-caval compression.
Natural therapies in pregnancy
Hydrotherapy is the therapeutic use of water to relieve stress and tension, it also increases urine production and reduces swelling as well as being a gentle medium to exercise in. Hydrotherapy is generally regarded as safe during pregnancy, with some pools offering specialised classes for pregnant women and new babies.
How big should my bump be at 24 weeks pregnant?
At 24 weeks pregnant you can expect to have gained around 14 to 16 pounds.
How many months is 24 weeks pregnant?
Learning how to do the pregnancy math can be complicated, but at 24 weeks pregnant, you're around five months and one week into your pregnancy.
Babies at 24 weeks have been noted to increase their breathing patterns (by expanding their lungs with amniotic fluid), after their mothers eat, especially if the food contains sugar! Your baby's lungs now start to produce a substance called surfactant, which lines their lungs and assists them to breathe after birth.
What is my body doing at 24 weeks pregnant?
As ever, your body’s changing week by week: by week 24, your uterus will be about the size of a football. It’s also time to take a glucose screening test - also known as a glucose challenge test or GCT - to check for gestational diabetes, a high blood sugar condition that can affect pregnant women.
You also may be experiencing the joy of haemorrhoids, or piles, which are essentially varicose veins in your bottom. Like the veins in your legs, the ones in your bottom can stretch so that blood starts to collect in them, causing pain and swelling.
The reason they’re so common in pregnancy is down to those pesky hormones, again – they can cause sluggish digestion and constipation, meaning you strain when you go to the loo, putting extra pressure on the veins around your bottom. You may notice itchy bumps around your anus and bright, red blood in the toilet bowl and on the loo paper. As unpleasant as they are, piles can be treated easily with haemorrhoid creams to numb the pain and itching, so book an appointment with your GP for advice.
Common symptoms to look out for:
- Carpal tunnel syndrome: Noticing that your wrists and fingers are feeling numb? It’s carpal tunnel syndrome, another confusing pregnancy symptom. The swelling you’ve noticed during pregnancy is responsible: it causes fluids to accumulate in your lower body during the day, and redistributes them around the rest of your body once you’re lying down, which puts pressure on the nerves that run through your wrists, and thus can cause pain, tingling, a sense of numbness or an ache in your hands, fingers and wrists. These symptoms will disappear once your baby’s born, but for now, try to shake your hands and wrists and to avoid sleeping on them at night.
- Blurred vision: Seeing double? Blame those pregnancy hormones again! They can decrease tear production, which increases fluid buildup in the eye, which can obscure your vision. Ask your GP for eye drops if your eyes feel dry, and don’t panic: these symptoms will go away once your baby is born.
- Red, itchy palms: Known as palmar erythema, your palms and the bottom of your feet may turn itchy and red. This is due to an increase of oestrogen and increased blood volume. Stay away from irritants like harsh soaps, and seek relief by applying cold water or ice to your palms or feet.
- Breathlessness
Many women complain of feeling breathless during pregnancy. This is very normal and usually comes and goes. You can be short of breath even while sitting and having a normal conversation.
- Palpitations
This is a feeling that your heart is 'racing' or beating strongly and rapidly in your chest. Palpitations are very common during pregnancy, due to the extra workload on the heart pumping up to 50% more blood volume around your body. Palpitations can be felt for no apparent reason, but may be associated with exercising, being stressed, feeling anxious or excited. They usually subside on their own after a few minutes or less. Palpitations may also be associated with feeling breathless.
NOTE: Occasionally palpitations can indicate a heart condition. If you are concerned that they are not going away and you are feeling unwell, contact your caregiver.
Emotional reactions
Many women have vivid or scary dreams during their pregnancy. These may involve being abandoned or losing their partner, giving birth to a baby who has an abnormality, having a 'painless' birth and discovering the gender of their child or experiencing an out of control situation. The things that you dream about are not likely to merge into reality when the time comes, but they may reflect some unconscious concerns you have.
Other considerations
Water birth
In recent years water births have become more mainstream. Many hospitals now have baths installed for women to use warm water for pain relief during labour, with a few hospitals accommodating water births. If you are keen to have your baby in water, ask your caregiver about the possibility of doing this.
Lying on your back
During the later months of pregnancy (after about 24 to 28 weeks), a few women find that if they lie flat on their back for a few minutes or more, they start to feel light-headed, dizzy and possibly breathless and nauseated. This can happen because the growing baby is placing pressure on one of the major blood vessels called the vena cava. However, not every pregnant woman experiences this. Usually lying on your right or left side, sitting in an upright position, or even in a semi-upright position you can avoid vena-caval compression.
Natural therapies in pregnancy
Hydrotherapy is the therapeutic use of water to relieve stress and tension, it also increases urine production and reduces swelling as well as being a gentle medium to exercise in. Hydrotherapy is generally regarded as safe during pregnancy, with some pools offering specialised classes for pregnant women and new babies.
What to do this week
- Book a meeting with your manager: It’s time to tell your employer that you’re pregnant, if they don't know already. This is known as the notification week, or the 15th week prior to the week your baby is due. You’ll probably have told your line manager before this point, especially if you’ve been taking time off for antenatal appointments, but in case you haven’t, now’s the time to mention it!
How big should my bump be at 24 weeks pregnant?
At 24 weeks pregnant you can expect to have gained around 14 to 16 pounds.
How many months is 24 weeks pregnant?
Learning how to do the pregnancy math can be complicated, but at 24 weeks pregnant, you're around five months and one week into your pregnancy.
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