What is the course of the 24th week of pregnancy (23.1-24 weeks)? Is the sex of the baby clearly visible on ultrasound in the 24th week of pregnancy? What are the symptoms of gestational diabetes and is it dangerous for the fetus? Should the baby's movements during the 24th week of pregnancy be regular and what if I do not feel the fetus active for a long time? And finally: 24 weeks of pregnancy - which trimester is it? Is there a long time until delivery? We invite you to read the most interesting information on the XNUMXth week of pregnancy.
Pregnancy Math: What is the Month of the 24th Week of Pregnancy?
People in the immediate vicinity of the pregnant woman often cannot understand why the course of pregnancy is given in weeks. Therefore, when a woman reports that she is 24 weeks pregnant, they wonder what month it is?
She is currently pregnant in the 6th month of pregnancy, and there are just over 3 months left until the physiological delivery. The precise division into individual weeks allows you to better reflect the dynamic nature of pregnancy, in which many important changes occur at short intervals. What's more, pregnancy is also divided into three-month periods, the so-called trimesters. No wonder the family and friends of the pregnant woman get lost in calculations and medical terminology.
We are here to help, answering the question: 24 weeks of pregnancy, which trimester is it?
The sixth month means that the woman is just finishing the second trimester of pregnancy, slowly entering the last stage of preparation for childbirth. During this time, it is worth supporting her not only in household chores and preparing a layette for the child, but also to take care of her mental well-being. The abdomen at 24 weeks of pregnancy is already large enough to cause bothersome ailments for a woman. It is these, along with the "hormone storm", greater fatigue and fear of childbirth, that may contribute to a significant loss of mood in a pregnant woman.
Ailments and weight in the 24th week of pregnancy: is how much weight gain affects the health of the baby?
A pregnant woman's body weight is constantly increasing, especially during the second and third trimesters, when the baby begins to grow intensively and accumulate fat tissue. Future mothers - how much weight you gained in the 24th week of pregnancy depends both on the weight of the baby itself, the uterus and amniotic fluid, as well as your starting weight before pregnancy.
In the book, a woman in the second trimester of pregnancy should gain about 1000-2000 grams per month, but this is an individual matter for each pregnant woman. Weight gain in overweight and obese women should fall within the lower limit of this range (with significant obesity of the patient, her weight during pregnancy sometimes decreases or remains at the same level, and this is a normal symptom). On the other hand, in women who had a BMI below the norm before pregnancy, kilograms should be added in the second trimester a little more, even about 2 kg per month.
At the follow-up visit at 24 weeks of pregnancy, your doctor or midwife will tell you if your weight is increasing at an optimal pace after weighing the patient. How much you put on at 24 weeks of pregnancy is important not only for your faster recovery after delivery, but also for the health of the developing fetus.
Excessive weight gainand it increases the risk of:
- speeches diabetes i hypertension pregnancy-induced;
- future obesity i insulin resistance in a child;
- and in some cases it can lead to premature birth i perinatal complications.
Testing at 24 weeks of pregnancy: what is a glucose load test?
Fasting blood glucose should be tested in every pregnant woman in the first trimester of pregnancy. If the woman is in the risk group GDM incl. because of overweight and obesity, age over 35 or a family history of type 2 diabetes, the glucose load test (OGTT) is performed at the beginning of the first trimester.
If no previous abnormalities are found, the OGTT test (also known as the sugar curve) is performed in every pregnant woman between 24 and 26 weekstherefore, you can submit for this important examination already in the 24th week of pregnancy. It lasts about 2 hours, during which you should not leave the clinic / laboratory area, so it is worth taking something to read with you.
The first measurement of blood glucose is when the patient is fasting. Then the pregnant woman drinks a glucose solution of 75 grams and waits 1 hour for the next blood glucose measurement. The third and last measurement is made 2 hours after drinking the glucose solution. During the examination, you should not walk or exercise. Thanks to this test, gestational diabetes can be detected in patients from the 24th week of pregnancy.
What is gestational diabetes and what complications can it cause for the pregnant woman and the fetus?
Gestational diabetes it is diagnosed in about 5% of pregnant women who did not suffer from diabetes before becoming pregnant. It is caused by increased levels of prolactin, estrogens, progesterone and placental lactogen. These are hormones which act opposite (antagonist) to insulin. In some pregnant women, they reduce the sensitivity of cells to insulin, leading to the production of insulin resistance.
If in 24 weeks pregnant the doctor diagnosed the patient with gestational diabetes, will recommend a diet with a low glycemic index and regular, moderate physical activity (if there are no health contraindications for exercise). In some cases, gestational diabetes requires medical treatment.
Controlled and treated gestational diabetes does not pose a risk to the fetus, but if not diagnosed it may lead to, inter alia, down:
- the development of birth defects;
- too high a child's birth weight;
- or preterm labor.
Gestational diabetes usually resolves spontaneously for up to a few weeks after birth. In women with gestational diabetes, OGTT should be repeated approximately 8 weeks after delivery. This group is more likely to suffer from metabolic disorders in the future.
Ultrasound at 24 weeks of pregnancy: what is the appearance and position of the baby?
During this period of pregnancy, many mothers-to-be decide to perform ultrasound in the 3D or 4D technique. It is not a mandatory diagnostic test, however, it allows you to see quite clearly what the baby looks like in the 24th week of pregnancy. Such a unique photo of the fetus will be a great memento in a family album.
During the ultrasound examination in the 24th week of pregnancy, the doctor will be able to confirm with a high degree of probability whether the parents are expecting a boy or a girl, because the genitals are already shaped and clearly visible.
Many future mothers are also very curious about the position and arrangement of the baby in the 24th week of pregnancy, i.e. whether it has already turned its head down, assuming the optimal position for natural childbirth. In medical nomenclature, however, we are not talking about the arrangement, but - in this case - with a longitudinal, head or pelvic position.
The abdomen at 24 weeks of pregnancy is already quite large, but the fetus still has a lot of space in the uterus, which is why she may turn around and change the position of her body many times before she gives birth.
The weight of the child at 24 weeks of pregnancy
The fetus gains weight intensively with each week of the second trimester. The process of organogenesis has ended, and all acquired energy is directed to:
- numerous metabolic processes;
- maturation of individual organs;
- development of the nervous system;
- and the accumulation of adipose tissue.
This is a heavy burden on the child's body, so it sleeps most of the day, swayed by the movements of its mother's body to calm it down.
Child's weight at 24 pregnancy is approx. 600 grams, and the length of his body, measured from head to toe, is approx. 30 cm. These values are determined by your doctor, based on the measurements of the fetus taken during an ultrasound examination. The specialist compares the obtained data with the population norms included in the percentile grids. On this basis, it is able to determine if the baby in the womb is developing at the correct pace.
Should my baby's movements be felt every hour during the 24th week of pregnancy?
As we wrote above, the fetus sleeps most of the day, so its physical activity lasts only about 5 hours throughout the day. The expectant mother in the 24th week of pregnancy can clearly sense all the baby's kicks and flips, especially after eating a meal or while resting. It is the decent dose of calories and the mother's immobility that makes the baby more active in the uterus.
We start regular monitoring of the child's movements from the 28th week, but now it is possible to stimulate the fetus to be more active for example, eating sweet fruit or lying on your left side. If a pregnant woman, in the 24th week of pregnancy, has no sense of fetal movements for many hours, is accompanied by anxiety, abdominal pain or unusual vaginal spotting, she should go to the hospital as soon as possible.
Consultation:
Ph.D. n. med. prof. IMID Tadeusz Issat - Head of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic at the Institute of Mother and Child;
Maria Krowicka-Wasyl - resident physician in the course of specialization in gynecology and obstetrics, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Institute of Mother and Child.
