Week 25 – Baby Becomes a Bit of a Pain In the You-Know-What
Baby is getting ready to take their first real breath but you may find yourself swearing under yours quite a lot as their increasing size may literally become a real pain in the butt!
Your Baby in Week 25 of Pregnancy
Baby is really getting big now. He or she is now about 22 cms long and weighs about 0.6 kg (one and a half pounds and nine inches) Need a visual? Baby is about the size of a cauliflower.
Underneath their ever thickening skin, even more little capillaries are forming and rapidly filling up with blood, increasing the pinkish hue that their semi transparent skin has even more. Also forming rapidly this week however are the sir sacs in their growing lungs. Baby is certainly not ready to use these organs just yet but the lining that will help them function properly is forming now and baby’s little nostrils, which have been all plugged up until now, are slowly beginning to open up as well. To go along with all of these exciting developments their vocal cords are progressing nicely as well, getting them ready to let out that first big roar
when the enter the big world outside for the first time.
Your Body in Week 25 of Pregnancy
As baby gets bigger a problem you may already be dealing with – hemorrhoids – are likely to suddenly start getting much worse. Maintaining your healthy diet will help to a certain extent but some vein swelling down there, the cause of these painful piles, is unfortunately inevitable.
Matters are not helped a lot by the fact that the further along you get in your pregnancy the more likely it is you develop some constipation as well. Try not to strain when you go try to go to the bathroom though, as doing so will only make those pesky hemorrhoids worse. Instead up your water intake a little and do not give into the temptation to find relief from an over the counter laxative as they can dehydrate you and rob your body (and baby) of essential nutrients you really need. If things become unbearable give your OB a call and ask what they suggest for more effective relief of constipation.
Possible New Pregnancy Symptoms in Week 25 of Pregnancy
Around this time many Mums to be begin experiencing nasty twinges of pain and dull aches in their pelvic area. Most often these are caused by something called symphysis pubis dysfunction or SPD. Having SPD means that some of the ligaments that normally keep your pelvic bone nicely aligned during pregnancy become too relaxed and stretchy. This then leads to your pelvic joint — aka the symphysis pubis — becoming somewhat unstable, causing the pain.
Relaxin is the hormone to blame here (because by now you already know its one of those hormones causing all the trouble) and some of this new flexibility is a must for a less troublesome birth. Sometimes though a little bit too much relaxin is produced, resulting in SPD.
While I can honestly promise that in this situation your legs will not actually fall off, it may occasionally feel like it as you may feel somewhat unstable in that region, especially when exercising. Keeping up with those Kegels will help a lot but if the pain is getting a little too much, go see your OB as occasionally SPD gets so bad that a regular vaginal delivery becomes impossible and a c section has to become the plan. There is rarely a danger to Baby, but it may be advised for Mum’s safety.
For most women however it is not that much of a problem and the condition goes away a few weeks after giving birth.
Tips for the Twenty Fifth Week of Your Pregnancy – Get Back on the Straight and Narrow
It is not too surprising that your normally good posture takes a hit when you are at this stage of your pregnancy. There are a couple of big reasons for this; first, Baby’s increasing weight makes your lower back to sway as your center of gravity shifts forward; second, your abdominal muscles stretch as baby grows, so it is harder to contract them and keep yourself straight.
This can lead to increased back pain though so you should make an effort to sit (and stand) up as straight as you can. Simple exercises like a standing pelvic tilt (watch the proper form for the exercise in the video below) can help a lot though.
For Dads to Be, Listen Carefully
By now a Dad to be will have heard Baby’s heartbeat both via a stethoscope at the doctors office and at sonograms. However, from Week 25 or so on, if the room is nice and quiet Daddies to be may very well be able to hear to boom boom of Baby’s rapidly growing heart just by pressing an ear to his partner’s tummy.
Some men are a little disconcerted about this, as they are about touching ‘the bump’ in general, often out of a fear that they might hurt the baby, their partner or both. There is very little chance of that though, Baby is very, very well protected from this kind of thing. A kick to the ear for Dad? Yes, that is a possibility (and quite a funny one if you think about it) but some hands on tummy time is a great bonding experience for all three of you and it really help’s a Mum to Be’s insecurities that their baby bump is unattractive to their partner, which is something that even the most confident of women feel from time to time.
