Pregnancy Week 25
What to expect at 25 weeks pregnant
Baby development at 25 weeks pregnant
Welcome to the sixth month of your pregnancy! Your baby is making impressive developments every day with major organs steadily maturing, tiny muscles strengthening and, this week, a debut of your little one’s hair color.
At 25 weeks, your baby measures about 13 inches and weighs nearly 1.5 pounds. This is about the size of a rutabaga!
Pigment and even texture are now detectable in your baby’s hair. Your baby’s hands are fully developed, complete with fingernails and the ability to voluntarily curl those doll-like fingers into tiny fists. While they sleep, your baby spends most of the time in rapid eye movement (REM), just as you do when you dream. Their heartbeat ticks along at around 140 beats per minute, right in time with songs like Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” or The Killers’ “Somebody Told Me.”
Week 25 pregnant belly
Your fundal height — the distance from pelvic bone to the top of the uterus — likely measures between 23 and 27 centimeters this week. If you’ve gained between 15 and 18 pounds so far in your pregnancy, you’re right on track.
Common pregnancy symptoms at 25 weeks
Your baby’s ears are remarkably sensitive. Startling noises and familiar sounds to which your baby is becoming accustomed, such as your voice, may prompt some movement. At 25 weeks, dizziness may finally start to subside as your blood pressure returns to what it was before you were pregnant.
- Sciatica: Your uterus may put pressure on your sciatic nerves and cause significant pain from the low back through your buttocks and down the back of each leg and numbness and tingling in your feet. Rest can help relieve the pain. Applying ice to the area three times a day for 15 to 20 minutes at a time may also help. Consult your obstetrician if conservative pain management strategies aren’t effective.
- Constipation: Though this may be caused by your uterus putting pressure on your rectum, other culprits might include progesterone, iron supplements and a lack of dietary fiber through fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Exercise, increased fiber intake and proper hydration can all play a part in getting things moving — ahem — steadily along again.
- Braxton Hicks: Your uterus may be practicing labor and delivery movements and exercising to build strength for the work ahead. These Braxton Hicks contractions, also known as false labor, are occasional and usually painless. True labor contractions will follow a pattern, increase in length and intensity and grow closer together.
Pregnancy checklist at 25 weeks
Only three months to go now! As your pregnancy begins to take over an increasingly large share of your thoughts and daily life, you may want to consider some services that make life a little easier on you — like a meal delivery service to help with meal planning and save you trips to the grocery store.
Reminders for
Week 25
- Check your baby’s position. Your obstetrician may be able to tell whether your baby is in the breech position (feet-first or rump-first in your uterus). If your baby’s in breech, it’s not a cause for concern; most babies settle into a head-down position around week 32 to 34 in preparation to make their way into the world.
- Make time for you. In the midst of baby shower planning, relatives’ excitement and online articles that largely leave a mother-to-be out of the whole pregnancy picture, it’s common to feel entirely sidelined. Remember that you’re as central to this pregnancy as your baby. Take care of yourself — your whole self — for you, too!
- High-risk pregnancy tests. You may not have another prenatal appointment for a few weeks, but you may be going more often if your pregnancy is at high risk. Tests that may be conducted around this time include a contraction stress test and/or a fetal nonstress test.
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Week 24 | Week 26
