25-28 Weeks

25 Weeks Pregnant

Your baby is about 34.6 cms in length from head to heal (13.62 inches) and weighs about 660grams (1.46 lbs).

The baby is moving about vigorously and responds to touch and sound. A very loud noise may make him or her jump and kick, and you'll be able to feel this. However, your baby is constantly surrounded by sound. The internal noises of your body, your heart, digestive system, circulation and respiratory noises are the soundtrack to your baby’s world. Your baby can also hear the voices of people talking in close proximity coming through your abdominal wall. The rhythm and melody of speech will be clearly audible if not the individual words. Foremost amongst these melodies is the song of your voice, and newborn babies show a preference for their mother’s voice after birth. This has been tested by studies which offered newborn babies a reward for altering their sucking rhythm with a rubber nipple. These babies were played a recording of a friendly greeting in their mother’s voice and one in another woman’s voice. The babies could listen to a specific recording by changing their sucking rhythm and they significantly preferred the taped voice of their mother.  It is the voice they know best and it is a reference point in their new world, when everything else has changed.

26 Weeks Pregnant

Your baby is about 35.6 cms in length from head to heal (14.02 inches) and weighs about 760grams (1.68 lbs).

During this month the amniotic fluid level around the baby reduces. This is a necessary adjustment since the baby needs additional space to grow into, but at the same time there is a reduction in their buoyant freedom. As a result of this change, you might start to feel the baby’s movements in a more pronounced way. They may even start to become visible from the outside!

Your midwife, GP or obstetrician will probably be able to hear your baby’s heartbeat using the Pinnard stethoscope from this point onwards. The Pinnard stethoscope looks like a little trumpet for the ear and is an alternative to the ultrasound beam of the electronic Doppler. Your baby’s heart rate could be beating at anywhere from110 to 170 beats per minute. If you partner puts their ear against your belly, they might be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat from now onwards.

27 Weeks Pregnant

Your baby is about 36.6 cms in length from head to heal (14.41 inches) and weighs about 875 grams (1.93 lbs).

All your baby’s major organs are now fully formed though not mature. There is still a further trimester of work to do to ensure that they are ready for use on your baby’s birthday.

Your baby's taste buds are very developed now and they actually have more taste buds at birth then they will have later in life. Aromatic flavours such as garlic or curry spices, reach the baby via the amniotic fluid. These tastes become familiar to the baby and newborn babies have been shown prefer the tastes in the breastmilk that they have become accustomed to after birth. The baby’s experience of your meal comes about two hours after your own and some babies might respond by hiccupping. 

28 Weeks Pregnant

Your baby is about 37.6 cms in length from head to heal (14.80 inches) and weighs about 1.005 kgs (2.22 lbs).

Around about now your baby will open their eyes and scan the darkness. The colour of your baby’s eyes will depend upon how much melanin pigmentation is there in the genetic code. Babies with an African, Hispanic or Asian genetic heritage will probably have very dark eyes at birth. Caucasian babies with only a little melanin present, will have blue eyes at birth and as the sunlight streams in, melanin may make the irises darker depending upon how much melanin is present.

At this point, their visual system is by no means mature, but they can have experiences of dimly diffuse light through the wall of your body, shadowy silohouettes of their surroundings in the uterus and they can track light as it moves in front of your body. Your baby may even respond with movements if you shine a bright light such as a torch, onto your belly.

The baby's heartbeat can now be heard through a stethoscope. Your partner may even be able to hear it by putting an ear to your abdomen, but it can be difficult to find the right place.

Your baby continues to put on weight as more and more fat appears under the skin.