24 Weeks Pregnant 🤰 What to Expect: Changes for You & Baby Development

In the 24th week of pregnancy, we have some symptoms and body changes to cover, including one that I found really challenging when I was pregnant. Of course, we're going to also cover baby developments and we want to go through what you might be wanting to add to your think and do list this week. Of course, we're going to check in with the three mamas that are now part of our expecting crew as well. Welcome to the Birth Toolbox Classroom. I'm Alice, a doula and Sounds like it's time for class. What's happening with baby's development this week? At 24 weeks of development, the fetus is between 11.8 and 13.6 inches or 30 to 39 centimeters, which is similar to the length of an English cucumber. The weight of the fetus is about 1.3 to 1.5 pounds, which means that the baby weighs about the same as a loaf of bread. This week, there's more maturing and growth happening with the vital organs. The bones are continuing to grow and harden even more as they have in previous weeks. Now, have you noticed that your baby has developed those regular sleep and wake cycles yet? By the 24th week of pregnancy, people have also noticed that their baby has experienced hiccups. Drop me a comment and let me know if you have felt this. Week 24 is the sixth month of pregnancy and by this time, the growth of your uterus could be starting to really put some strain on your back. Spoiler alert, this is happening with our expecting group. Now, back aches are common in pregnancy and there are a few ways that people can find some relief. Stretching regularly like a prenatal yoga class may help the back aches. Also, wearing a belly band could help as well. Let's check in with our expecting crew and see how week 24 is going for them. I am 24 weeks pregnant and my name is Emmy. Things are going well still. This week, I've noticed a little bit more back pain. Specifically, right when I wake up, I feel like I need to stretch almost immediately to relieve it and I feel a ton better, but the back pain has definitely, you know, arrived this week. I guess as my belly is growing and getting larger. Thankfully, I haven't had any cramps in my calves this pregnancy. I had that last time with my first son. I think it's because I've been trying to drink more electrolytes and I know magnesium is a big cure for that. So, I think I've been just more aware of it this time. So, that is something I'm thankful for and again, I still feel really good and I mean most times. I'm definitely getting larger, but again, no major complaints. Things are going well and I'm just really grateful to be pregnant and be carrying this child. Hi, I'm 24 weeks pregnant and this week I was not feeling great. I was just having a lot of like lower back or hip pain, but I've taken it easy the past couple days and started to do better. I think I was just pushing myself a little too hard, mainly just driving around a lot of places in the car. Gotta remember I can't do all the things this pregnant. I did have one appointment this week. It was very uneventful. They pretty much just like, you know, measured me, listened to the baby, said everything looks good. My next appointment will be the gestational diabetes test. So, they gave me the instructions for that and I am actually kind of looking forward to it, even though it's a really crappy test to take. It's not fun because if I do well on it and I have no reason to suspect that I won't, it'll be, you know, another box checked off, making it more likely that I'll be able to have a home birth like I'm hoping for. I am 24 weeks pregnant and this week I'm feeling achy and tired. Yeah, I'm definitely getting to the point that like all the little aches and pains and things are ramping up a bit and getting more noticeable and kind of persistent through the day. They're not kind of as sporadic as they have been for the last several weeks. So, it's uh, yeah, it's getting a bit tiring. Most recently I've been dealing with a lot more kind of muscle tension and cramps in my legs, in my feet, and in my belly, especially while I'm sleeping, which is quite frustrating because it's definitely affecting my sleep now. So, I've been using magnesium to try and help alleviate that and try to drink more water and it is helping, but yeah, it's not totally going away. And yeah, I'm still finding that I'm getting quite tired towards the end of the day. So, I feel like I had a few weeks of reprieve from the fatigue of the first trimester, but it's uh, yeah, it's kind of coming back. It's, I usually start the day all right and then just as it goes on, especially once we get into the evening, you know, kind of run around with my toddler and burn off a lot of her energy before her bedtime. It uh, it really kind of, yeah, I crash pretty fast in the evenings now. So, yeah, the days are getting a bit, a bit long, a bit achy. It's time for our Think and Do board, and this week it's all about self-care. Now, on the Think side of the board, I'm going to put prenatal massage. A massage during pregnancy can actually have a lot of benefits, in addition to just feeling really good. Massage can help reduce swelling and pain. It can also improve circulation and can sometimes help improve sleep as well. Now, prenatal massage is sometimes covered under health insurance or can be covered by a health savings account too. A massage also makes a great gift, so if you have anyone who would like to treat you in that way, maybe give them a little recommendation. Another way to reduce stress, aches, and pains in pregnancy is to take a warm bath with epsom salts. Soaking in the salts can also reduce the end of day swelling that can occur in pregnancy. So, I'm going to put this on the Do side of the board. Now, some people are afraid to take baths while pregnant and worry about the temperature, but as long as it's under 100 degrees Fahrenheit, you should be fine. And if you're wondering, how do I know that my bath temperature is up below 100 degrees, it's a great time to grab a bath thermometer because they're also helpful when it's time for baby's bath. I'm going to drop a link to a favorite of mine that you can pop onto your registry down below. Hey, before you go, make sure you're getting our weekly newsletter. I'll drop the link in the description down below, but you can also find it at birthtoolbox.com forward slash newsletter. I hope your 24th week of pregnancy is an amazing one. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button so that you can follow along through the many weeks ahead. See you next week.