Getting Bigger at 24 Weeks

I’m on the 24th week, yay!!! I am  much bigger and heavier now. We’ll probably know our baby’s sex before the end of this month.

Here’s the details of fetal development at week 24 or 6th month:

• The child is now gaining around 3 ounces (90 grams) a week.
• Baby weighs about 1.3 pounds and is 12 inches long.
• Baby weighs about 600 grams and is 30cm (crown to heel) long.
• The eyelids can be seen very clearly.
• If born at this stage is officially considered viable, they may well be able to survive.

At this stage, my baby is already producing surfactant. This is stuff that keeps the small air sacs in our lungs from collapsing. The unborn baby is covered with a fine, downy hair and the skin is protected by a waxy substance. Some of this substance may still be on the child’s skin at birth at which time it will be quickly absorbed. The baby practices breathing by inhaling amniotic fluid into developing lungs.

Baby gains about 3 ounces this week. The weight is in muscle, bone mass and organs. The body begins to fill out with his appearance increasingly becoming more like a newborn. Taste buds begin to form. If mom drinks something strange or bitter, baby may be observed showing his or her distaste.

Little creases have appeared on his palms. The muscular coordination of the hands has improved as they sucks their thumb. Over the next week or so, the sweat glands will be forming in the skin. The lungs are developing branches of the respiratory tree and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.

Source: http://www.baby2see.com