Week 24: Breathe baby, breathe!
Fetal development in pregnancy week 24:
fetus in sixth month This is another big week for your magical growing baby! Just take a look at the checklist for this week: 1) ears: done; 2) fingernails: done; 3) (if you have a boy) testicles: taking their 3-4 day trip from the abdominal wall to the scrotum; and 4) lungs walls: secreting “surfactant”. What’s that? Well, surfactant is sort of what it sounds like: a surface-activated fat whose main purpose is to assist the your baby's little lungs during inflation (as in, filling with air, not getting more expensive). Just in case you’re curious, your submerged baby is still breathing in amniotic fluid, preparing and rehearsing the lungs an oxygen-filled life outside the womb. By the end of this week, your child will be weighing around 2 lbs and 14 inches long. Your cutie-patootie may even be a little more plump, but isn't anywhere near their full baby-fatted cute-self. Most of the “filling out” is coming up in that long awaited (and slightly dreaded?) third trimester. Woo-hoo! Get ready!
And how's mom doing? Your little one is moving (spinning, kicking, pirouetting, shimmying, and maybe even doing a bit of the Can-Can) so much these days that if you invite your friends and/or family to touch your belly there’s a good chance they’ll get a milder sample of what you’ve been experiencing . You’ve may have We recommend taking the belly-touching calmly and if it really offends you, just say something like: “I just fell in a large vat of anthrax.” experienced the oddity that is strangers who feel a protruding pregnant belly is public property and a silent invitation for belly touching. We recommend taking the belly-touching calmly and if it really offends you, just say something like: “I just fell in a large vat of anthrax.” Or perhaps something a little less aggressive, like, “Please, at the very least, ask me before touching my body.” Still, there are many women who enjoy sharing this touching ritual with others. Find your comfort zone and good luck with the rest.
Scary stuff you should be aware of: The danger of getting preeclampsia (a.k.a. Toxemia) during pregnancy is significantly higher and is characterized by significant swelling of the hands and face, excessive weight gain, blurry vision with severe headaches or abdominal pain. Obviously, swelling is common during pregnancy, but should be monitored closely, and sudden ongoing swelling to the hands and face could be a concern. Talk with your physician for more information. Preeclampsia can also be diagnosed by high blood pressure and the presence of certain proteins in your urine. Again, high blood pressure alone does not mean you are affected, but it might be something you and your physician will want to/need to monitor throughout your pregnancy. Preeclampsia can prevent the placenta from receiving enough blood, thus depriving your baby of essential nutrients and lower oxygen levels, possibly resulting in low birth weights and other problems. There are several websites dedicated to preeclampsia education such as: http://www.preeclampsia.org/.
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