25 Weeks Pregnant

Your baby's lungs are developing fast. Learn what's going on with you and your baby-to-be while 25 weeks pregnant.

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Read about...

• Your Baby
• You
• 7th Month of Pregnancy Video
• Diary of a Daughter

Your Baby

This week you entre the 7th month of pregnancy. Kind of cool, huh!?

This would be one of the busiest weeks for your baby since the spinal structures begin to form and a lot of lung developments are taking place. By this time, your baby has 33 rings, 150 joints, and 1000 ligaments.

Your baby will now measure approximately about 13 1/2 inches from head to heels- that's taller than two juice boxes piled on top of the other.

The weight would be around one pound to one and a half pounds- and that's as heavy as four of those juice boxes or is more than an average rutabaga.

The skin of your baby is now pinker and smoother than before. It is because the capillaries, which are small vessels filled with blood, are now beginning to develop under the skin. Hair growth is also taking place at this time.

During the later part of the week, blood vessels are starting to develop in the lungs- that's closer to the full maturity of the lungs.

There are a lot of things going on in the lungs, work is very much in progress. Although at this time, lung surfactants, which aid in lung expansion after the birth of the baby, is already present, but the lungs are still very immature to function properly like sending out oxygen to the bloodstream during inhalation and releasing carbon dioxide during exhalation.

Aside from lung developments, your baby's nostrils begin to open, though they are still plugged up with amniotic fluid.

You

At this point of time, your uterus will grow more like a soccer ball. Because of your growing uterus, it can place pressure on your back as well as on your pelvis. This is the reason why you will experience periodic shooting pains in areas like your lower back and legs.

If you experience this, you have to take a rest, warm bath, or you can apply cold compress to the area. You can also try using a maternity support belt, like this one, which provides good help for some pregnant women.

Common problems during this period are possible development of hemorrhoids, which are actually varicose veins.

The size can be as small as a raisin or it can go as large as a grape fruit (OK, that's not common, promise...).

Fifty percent of pregnant women experience it to some degree. It is due to the fact that the uterus is enlarging and there is an increase of blood flow to the pelvic area, which causes the veins of the rectal walls to swell.

Hemorrhoids are painful and itchy and can cause rectal bleeding. The best way to deal with hemorrhoids is to prevent constipation. Constipation can actually worsen the case. So you have to increase fiber in the diet and increase your fluid intake.

One of the management of hemorrhoids is to apply cold compress to the affected area for more than one time in a day. This is done to aid in decreasing the swelling and discomfort. Soaking in warm water or having a hot sitz bath can also do the trick. If these won't help at all, refer to your health care provider for some medical alternatives.

Aside from these, you may also experience activity intolerance. This is because of the many changes in your circulatory system such as increase in blood volume and increase in cardiac workload. So whenever you feel tired and dizzy, you should take a lot of rest.

Isn't it wonderful to be pregnant!?

All these weird things happening with your body! If you want to have a good laugh about it, read this hilarious book from someone who's definately "been there, done that".

7th Month of Pregnancy Video

Instructions: When watching the video clips, start the videos by clicking the small arrow down to the left, not the large one in the middle of the screen. If you're using Internet Explorer as your browser and the video doesn't start, try clicking twice on the small arrow.

Diary of a Daughter

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