Week 24

I know I usually do a regular blog entry and a fun one on Friday, but after doing my regular one, I realized it is quite lengthy. So, I decided the fun one can wait until later. Besides, us hitting Week 24 this weekend is fun and exciting news! Here is the info I got in my weekly email updates:

Your baby is now 11 inches long and weighs 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds (Baby T just might weigh more than that!).

Your baby’s brain is growing rapidly at this time. Taste buds are also developing.

This week heralds one of the most important thresholds in pregnancy: Your baby is considered “viable”. That means that he now weighs well over 1 pound and has a better than 50% chance of surviving with intensive care if you deliver prematurely. This is due in large to the final development of airway passages and air sacs in his lungs. (We are definitely hoping that our little one doesn’t come early, but it sure does feel good to know that he has a greater chance of survival each week incase that were to happen.)

His ears are now extremely sensitive to sounds outside the womb, and he can recognize your voice. :)

Through ultrasound scientists have learned that even unborn babies love to play. (It feels like he has a good time in there!) Yours will continue to pedal around on the uterine walls, and he’ll try to grab everything around him with his increasingly strong grip. His favorite toy – well, his only toy, really – is the umbilical cord, which he might yank or swing or pull on for entertainment. (Isn’t that funny?!) Don’t worry, though. This thick bundle of blood vessels is remarkably strong, and the force of blood rushing through it keeps the cord extended and prevents kinking.

As your baby grows bigger, you may notice that he’s lying on your sciatic nerve. (Yeah, Baby T got a week jump on this one! I think he’s been resting his big noggin on it! It’s a nerve – not a pillow, boy!) Ouch! This nerve is the largest and longest one in your body. About the width of your thumb, the nerve originates at the lower end of your spinal cord. It splits there to run down each buttock and thigh, and along each leg to each foot. Sciatica is the name for any pain associated with the sciatic nerve. Some people describe sciatica as intense pain that radiates from one buttock down the back of that leg. (That’s me.) Others feel it is more in their hips. Descriptions of sciatica include tingling, burning, prickling, or stabbing pain that may be there all the time or come and go. In any case, sciatica can make you truly miserable. (Yes, it can.)


I found a few pictures of a baby at Week 24 (NOT Baby T). I think they’re neat. Check them out!


























Lanugo: Fine hairs present on the body of a fetus.

Vernix: A white, waxy substance that covers the fetus in the uterus.


Happy Friday!

~T.T.