Welcome to the beginning of your seventh month of pregnancy! These next weeks and months are when your baby does most of the growing. Your already-round tummy will continue to stretch until your uterus fills from your pubic bone to your rib cage, wow! Here’s what’s going on with your baby and your body when you're 25 weeks pregnant.

Baby at 25 weeks pregnant

Your baby is more than a pound and a half in weight, and over 13 inches long. By the end of this week, your baby’s tiny lungs will contain air sacs lined with capillaries, getting them ready for breathing air. Although they’re still too underdeveloped to send oxygen into the bloodstream, the lungs of your baby have begun to develop surfactant, which will help them expand after birth and breathe. Also helping your baby’s future breathing skills: previously plugged nostrils starting to open this week to let your little take practice breaths. And newly functional vocal cords can cause your baby to have occasional hiccups, which you might be feeling.

In brain development news, its smooth surface begins to wrinkle this week as the cerebral cortex continues to develop. Meanwhile, your baby’s skin is starting getting less wrinkly and take on some color as fat plumps it out. Tiny fingernails dot fully formed hands. Although the nerve connections to those hands aren’t developed yet, your baby is able to clench them into a fist.

Your body at 25 weeks pregnant

At 25 weeks pregnant, you’re adding about a pound a week, but it’s not fat you’re packing. Most of what you’re adding is a mix of the baby’s weight, the heft of the growing placenta, additional amniotic fluid, and fluid accumulation in your body’s tissues. 

Down in your nether regions, some issues might be swirling. You’re likely experiencing a sluggish digestive system if you weren’t already – everything from constipation to indigestion and heartburn. Your urine flow is slow and not going to pick up anytime, what with all that pressure from your uterus on your bladder. This puts you at risk of getting a urinary tract infection, so talk to your doctor if you experience any symptoms like burning, fever, pain, and change in the color or smell of your urine.

25 weeks pregnant ultrasound

When you have your prenatal visit this month, your doctor may perform the normal urine and blood pressure checks, as well as tracking fetal growth. Your practitioner may also tell you what position your baby is in: head first or feet first (breech). Your baby still has plenty of time to change position and probably will, so don’t worry if your baby is in the breech position right now.

How big is my baby at 25 weeks?

At 25 weeks pregnant, your baby is the size of a cauliflower, measuring 13.5 inches long and weighing 1.5 pounds on average.

25 weeks is how many months pregnant? 

At this stage in your pregnancy, you're six months 1 weeks (6m1w) months pregnant. 

Common symptoms at 25 weeks pregnant

These are some of the most commonly-reported symptoms at 25 weeks pregnant.

• Rising blood pressure: After months of lowered blood pressure, yours is likely now beginning to increase and will gradually return to where it was before you were pregnant.

• Heart palpitations: Your growing uterus isn’t just crowding your internal organs, it’s also impeding the return of blood to your heart. As a result, you might experience some flutterings or pounding in your chest. It doesn’t signify anything serious and it usually eases up later in pregnancy, but let your doctor know anyway.
• Continued breathlessness and shortness of breath: Stimulated by the hormone progesterone, your lung capacity continues to expand, leading to deeper breathing. But you’ll likely still breathing faster and continuing to experience shortness of breath.
• Bumps on your breasts: Now happening on your areolas: the development of tiny skin glands. These bump-like glands will secrete oils to keep your nipples moisturized and soft during breastfeeding.
• Braxton-Hicks contractions: These false labor contractions feel like a squeezing sensation at the top of your uterus, or down in your lower abdomen or groin, as your uterus exercises its muscle and building strength in anticipation of labor. Braxton-Hicks contractions are different from true labor because they are irregular in their frequency and vary in length and intensity.
• Clumsiness: As your body prepares for childbirth, it’s loosening up the ligaments supporting your pelvic bones. While this is beneficial for helping your baby squeeze out of a tight spot, all these relaxed ligaments can leave you feeling a bit clumsy.
• Leg cramps: Commonly occurring at night, spasms in the leg muscles can wake you up with their painful, annoying cramping. When leg cramps happen, try gently flexing your foot or leg, and massaging the area. Drink a lot of water to stay hydrated and prevent leg cramps as much as possible.
• Wild dreams: Pregnant women often report having vivid, frequent dreams, another symptom courtesy of hormonal changes. Experts believe they occur because increased estrogen causes longer periods of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is the phase of sleep when dreams most often occur.
• More stable emotions: Now that your hormones are finally evening out, you might notice you’re no longer riding an emotional roller coaster.
• Feeling worried about labor: As your due date approaches, you might feel scared or worried about having the baby. Share your fears with your partner, and also your care provider, who can help you get a handle on what to expect and how you can best prepare for labor and delivery. 
• Nasal congestion, nosebleeds, and bleeding gums
• Sluggish digestion: Pregnancy hormones may continue to wreak havoc on your digestive system, resulting in constipation, heartburn, and indigestion.
• Waddling posture: By now your weight gain has changed your center of gravity. To help your posture, consider getting some gentle exercise, such as swimming or walking.
• Backaches
• Skin pigmentation: Skin pigmentation, such as the linea nigra on your belly, is a common side effect of pregnancy. Any pigmentation will fade and most likely completely disappear after pregnancy.
• Increased libido: Many women notice they feel “in the mood” more often during the second trimester. Unless your doctor says otherwise, sex is safe during pregnancy. 
• Increased appetite

Pregnancy checklist at 25 weeks pregnant 

Check out some of the tasks that might be on your calendar at 25 weeks pregnant.

• Get screened for GD: Gestational diabetes (GD) is diabetes that develops in pregnancy. Because there aren’t obvious symptoms of GD, it’s recommended that all pregnant women undergo a gestational diabetes screen between 24-28 weeks. This blood test checks your glucose level an hour after you’ve chugged a full serving of sugary solution. If your glucose level is abnormal, you’ll need to undergo a second, more involved test.

• Look Into doulas: If you’re feeling anxious about giving birth, you might want to look into hiring a doula, an experienced and empathetic labor coach. It’s good to meet and interview a few doulas before deciding which one to use. After all, this is a person who is going to be with you during the very intimate experience of having a baby. And because many doulas limit the number of women they work with who have due dates around the same time, it’s good to find one early. 
• Try to Sleep: Sleeping is probably becoming difficult when you're pregnant at 25 weeks. Lying on your side, rather than your back, is recommended. You might find it more comfortable to use a pregnancy pillow between your knees to help take pressure off your belly.

What to Expect at 26 Weeks Pregnant