At 24 weeks pregnant, your baby is considered viable, that is it can decide it is time to come when it wants to! If this happens that baby’s chances of surviving is actually forty percent but it will require the help of neonatal intensive care in order to survive. The baby weighs a little more than a pound and is almost twelve inches long at 24 weeks pregnant.
The lungs are making progress in their development and are forming the bronchi for the trachea at 24 weeks pregnant. This is also the time when the cells in the lungs start to produce a substance called surfactant which inflates the air sacs when the baby is born. This substance is very important because the lack of it will mean the baby will require help to breathe when it is born.
The baby’s skin at 24 weeks pregnant is still ‘see-through’ although progress is taking place because fats continue to deposit below the skin over time. Another significant development at 24 weeks pregnant is that the amniotic fluid begins to increase from this time onwards until about week thirty six when it begins to reduce gradually.
The baby’s growth is also becoming more and more proportional and the internal body organs and systems such as the digestive, nervous and reproductive organs are maturing. The eye brows and eyelids of the baby are already formed at 24 weeks pregnant, but the eyes will not open until later on. They are usually tightly shut from the first three months of the pregnancy.
The ossification process, which is the formation of the bones from cartilage, is taking place at 24 weeks pregnant and will continue throughout the pregnancy. This is also the weeks when the baby’s soft hair that covers his body begins to trap vernix which is a covering that protects the baby’s skin from the amniotic fluid. This is what makes the baby’s skin not look wrinkled when it is born. The baby’s heart beat at 24 weeks pregnant has reduced but it is still at a safe rate.
You can listen in on your baby’s heart beat by using a prenatal heart monitor purchased from the baby store. As the weeks go by, your uterus will continue to move higher above the navel. Depending on your size, at 24 weeks pregnant, the uterus should be about one and a half to two inches above the navel. You have gained about eighteen kilos by now; although this may vary form woman to woman.
The size of your belly is restricting you from moving side to side at 24 weeks pregnant. The size of the baby has also increased therefore there is little space in the womb for it to move around; therefore you are likely to feel even the slightest movements he/she makes. You can also notice a lot of vaginal discharge at 24 weeks pregnant. This is normal during pregnancy and is usually caused by the increase level of hormones in the body as well as increased blood flow in the vagina.
