24th week of pregnancy – what happens to a woman’s body and how a baby develops

Proven content

The 24th week of pregnancy is already 6 months old! A baby is actually a baby. It measures about 30 cm from head to toe and weighs 600 g. If you are doing an ultrasound at this stage, don’t worry if your baby’s size is slightly different. It is normal for babies to be different in size during the 24th week of pregnancy. Now his weight gain will be more or less constant. Every week the baby will gain around 80-100 g to speed up a bit towards the end of pregnancy.

The expectant mother should focus in the 24th week of pregnancy on recognizing the first symptoms of premature labor. This is important because the baby has a chance of survival if he reacts quickly.

24rd week of pregnancy – baby’s development

In the 24th week of pregnancy the nervous system of the baby it is growing very fast. The number of nerve cells and their connections increases. The central nervous system is more and more developed every day and takes on newer and newer functions.

The child already has a beautifully developed face. The eyelashes and eyebrows are clearly visible on it. Some argue that even in a premature baby born at 24 weeks of pregnancy, family resemblance can be recognized. At the end of this week, the child may even slightly open his eyes, although they will not have their final color for a long time. The iris discoloration after childbirth. The retina, on the other hand, is well developed and needs only about a month to fully “mature”.

Continued fetal fuzz and fetal fluid cover the baby’s skin. Thus, they protect it against maceration by the mineral salts contained in the amniotic fluid.

At the moment, the child’s lungs are developing intensively. The bronchioles form and the alveoli are slowly coated on the inside with the surfactant. It is a substance produced by pneumocytes, the cells of the respiratory epithelium. The surfactant reduces the surface tension of the bubbles so that they do not collapse.

While your baby may seem like a little acrobat at 24 weeks gestation, his movement system is still not completely ready. Ossification is still taking place. Ligaments also form. It is thanks to them that the bones are connected at the joints, which gives the skeleton stability.

Have you noticed that your child reacts vividly to all signals coming to him from outside? This is because his hearing has already developed well. So the child may get scared by a loud noise. But that’s not all. Sometimes a child reacts with anxiety to the mother’s fear itself, for example when she is watching a horror movie. Of course, it’s impossible to give your toddler one hundred percent peace, but keep that in mind and try to avoid strong negative emotions. The same goes for nervousness, which you should avoid as much as possible.

Also read: Rules of inheritance of eye color

24th week of pregnancy – changes in the female body

In the 24th week of pregnancy, your weight should be 5-6 kg more than before the pregnancy. The baby weighs more than half a kilo and is surrounded by half a liter of amniotic fluid. This in itself makes your overall body weight increase. If the weight gain is significantly greater, it means that your diet is not properly balanced. Think about what you can change in it. Too much weight during pregnancy can negatively affect your baby, and you will also struggle to lose weight after giving birth.

If you haven’t experienced it before, it may appear in the 24th week of pregnancy itchy skin on the abdomen. It is all the more troublesome as women who are expecting a baby are not advised to use any pharmacological agents unless necessary, and the drug is not completely safe for the baby. Therefore, it is better not to seek help from the pharmacy on your own. A cool shower can bring relief. Although the fetus is sensitive to cold and usually reacts to it with sudden movements, you do not have to worry that it will harm it in any way. If your stomach itching is really bad, talk to your doctor about it. He may recommend some mild pharmaceutical.

A cool shower can also help with the heat waves some pregnant women feel. It is also beneficial for the circulatory system, as it makes the blood flow a bit faster. It also helps to combat the swelling that often begins in the 24th week of pregnancy. In order to fight it, you also need to rest with your legs slightly elevated – for example, lying down, and put a pillow under the funeral.

At week 24, you may feel as well decreased vision. This is especially true for women who already have a defect. This is because the tear apparatus begins to work in a disturbed way due to the large amount of hormones in the body. The eye is dry and this causes irritation. Moreover, the pressure inside the eyeball increases, which causes the blurred vision effect. During pregnancy, you should not have any eye examinations to identify the defect, because the changes will go back into effect after pregnancy and new glasses will be completely useless.

You can also feel pins and needles in the hands, calves and feet. It is caused by the fact that the swelling puts pressure on some nerves, providing them with unusual stimuli. This is not dangerous, but if you start to lose feeling in the 24th week of pregnancy, you must see a doctor.

At this stage, most pregnant women experience frequent ones nose bleedsand their gums are tender, and even gentle brushing of teeth can cause red spots on the toothbrush. Unfortunately, it will continue to do so until the end of pregnancy. The only thing you can do is use delicate herbal toothpastes and the softest brush possible.

Due to the raging hormones, there may be discoloration and spots on the skin, a characteristic dark rim around the mouth and a dark line running vertically through the center of the abdomen. It is linea negra, resulting from the high level of melanin in the skin of a pregnant mother.

Women entering the 24th week of pregnancy should still remember about the appropriate one hydration of the body. It is especially important to drink water during this period! You should give up sweet drinks as they contain large amounts of sugar. During this time, you may already feel that you need to use the toilet more often. This is a natural condition as your baby may put pressure on the bladder. For this reason, under no circumstances should you give up on hydration. Dehydration can directly affect your developing baby and cause you to faint, cramps in your legs and even hemorrhoids.

Remember to stretch your muscles too, especially your legs. This will prevent calf cramps. If you have back pain in the lumbar region, rock your pelvis several times a day. This will take the pain away from it. If you were swimming before pregnancy, you can also go to the swimming pool during pregnancy, this will allow your muscles to relax properly. Also, remember to start exercising your Kegel muscles, their proper efficiency is invaluable during childbirth.

Also read: Weight management in pregnancy

Watch out for carpal tunnel syndrome!

Edema that occurs during pregnancy may cause stinging and numbness in the hands. This is due to compression of the median nerve that runs along a narrow channel in the forearm. The swollen tissue around the nerve causes an unpleasant tingling sensation. These are the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. To pain reduction, limit your work at the computer, massage your hands and give them warm compresses.

Read more here: Carpal tunnel syndrome

The size of the abdomen at 24 weeks of pregnancy

At 24 tc the belly is clearly visible. It is rounded, but it does not interfere with your daily activities yet. Your navel can become flat as your skin stretches.

Baby movements in the 24th week of pregnancy

During this stage of pregnancy, you should be able to feel the baby’s movements perfectly. Every day they become stronger and more intense. Sometimes, they can even be painful for you. But don’t worry, they will become more regular and slower over time.

Especially important in the 24st week of pregnancy

If it is delivered at 24 weeks of pregnancy, it is a premature birth, not a miscarriage. In practice, this means that the child has a chance of survival and specialists will do everything to save it. However, to make it possible for them to do so, as soon as labor begins, you must go to the hospital immediately. That is why it is so important to be able to recognize the symptoms of preterm labor.

First of all, you will feel strong uterine contractions that will occur more than four times an hour. The baby will press against the birth canal and the cervix will open up. There will be blood-stained spotting and sometimes even blood-stained spotting the plug comes out at firstthat clogged the cervix. He, too, will be stained with blood from broken vessels. In addition, there are severe spine pains, as well as palpitations, nausea, and even vomiting. A delivery on a normal term will be preceded by the same symptoms as in the 24th week of pregnancy.

If the baby was born in 24 weeks, it would be able to survive the delivery, because medicine has advanced enough to keep it alive, of course in the incubator. Unfortunately, the odds are only 25 percent. Mostly because that the baby’s respiratory and digestive systems are not yet sufficiently developed. Baby thermoregulation is also not stabilized – premature babies would not be able to maintain adequate body temperature.

Supplementation of vitamins and minerals may be necessary for your baby to develop properly. We recommend, for example, Pregnancy Complex – Viridian pregnant woman or LittleMe Day + LittleMe Night Health Labs – for the benefit of mother and baby.

See what a hard pregnant belly means.

Tests in the 24st week of pregnancy

From this week to 28, your gynecologist should order you to undergo an examination OGTT – Oral Glucose Load Test. It consists of an oral administration of 75 g of glucose and a three-point determination of the concentration: before glucose administration (fasting), after 1 and 2 hours. from the administration of glucose. It is a very important test for every pregnant woman to detect gestational diabetes. Undetected and untreated, it is very dangerous to the developing fetus and the health of the pregnant woman. In addition, this week of pregnancy should be done:

1. fetal heart rate test,
2. blood pressure measurement,
3. body weight measurement,
4. blood count,
5. general examination of urine with sediment,
6. determination of immune antibodies,
7. risk assessment of fetal growth disorders.

An interesting fact about the 24nd week of pregnancy

An artificial surfactant developed in the 80s. It is used in premature babies to improve the functioning of their immature lungs.

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