25 weeks pregnant

How big is my baby at 25 weeks?

At 25 weeks into your pregnancy, your baby will be approximately 33cm in length and have their own little routine going on in your womb! They will play (turning somersaults, wriggling around!) and then have a little nap to recover! They will also enjoy hearing your voice at this stage, and may move around in response to it. 

They might get excited by other noises too, and you may well feel them having a bit of a boogie to certain sounds – could be as mundane as the Hoover or car engine, but music might get them into the groove, too! Talking and singing to your baby is as important as ever at this stage in your pregnancy, and you might even want to read to them, as well.

Facts to know about your baby in week 25

• Your baby can feel, see and hear so spend time stroking your bump and talking to your baby
• Most of the amniotic fluid is actually sterile urine

You at 25 weeks pregnant

If you haven't yet written up your birth plan and put a copy of it in your maternity notes folder, now could be the time to do it, although many maternity notes are now kept electronically so speak to your midwife if you're unsure.

You don’t have to stick to it, but it also gives the healthcare team looking after your labour and birth an idea of how you would (in an ideal world!) like your labour and birth to be managed. Be prepared for your birth not to stick to your plan. A lot can happen in labour and you may be faced with options you wouldn’t have ideally chosen. But, whilst you can’t prevent an unpredictable labour you can prepare for it. 

Here’s a list of things you might want to consider:

• Coping with pain – what do you plan to use and if your needs change what’s your back-up plan?
• Interventions – Include your thoughts about caesarean sections, episiotomies and assisted deliveries
• Comfort – say if you want to move around in labour.  Do you want to be able to use a birthing pool?
• Who you want as a birth partner
• How you would like to deliver your placenta
• Preferences about skin-to-skin-contact and delayed cord clamping.

Facts to know about you in week 25

• Ryan, Kian and Alex are the baby boys’ names that fell most in popularity last year
• It's a good idea to start thinking about your birth plan now, where to give birth, pain relief and who you want with you
• Before your milk comes in, in the first few days after birth, your breasts make a thick, sticky, yellowish fluid sometimes referred to as "liquid gold"
• Only a small proportion of babies are born on their actual due date (around 4%)
• To protect you from falling over on your face, your centre of gravity shifts, this change in posture and could cause backache so maintain good posture

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What to think about in week 25

One of the first pieces of equipment you are going to need for your baby is a car seat if you are having your baby in hospital as you have to have one if driving home from the hospital. It's a good idea to get this sorted as early as you can, so you feel confident about fitting it in your car, and getting it in and out – you could even have a practice of securing the harness with your fave teddy! Most stores will offer you lots of advice and make sure you have chosen the right seat for your car, and one that is suitable for a newborn. 

Many retailers will also have a fitting service, and will make sure you are completely up to speed with the correct position and attachment of your seat before you take it away.

Now you’re in your 25th week, that bump will be a good size now and growing by the day.

One of the first things you may notice is the slight struggle that is getting in and out of the car. This can become an ordeal with a growing bump. 

You may find yourself asking, why does the steering wheel have to be right there? You try getting in as you did before, fail, you try easing down sideways then slowly swinging round, another fail. You resort to having to push the seat back, but hang on, now your feet don’t reach the peddles. Sound familiar? 

As your bump does get bigger, you want to be mindful that you don’t put on too much extra weight than necessary. You don’t need to over analyse it though – as long as you’re eating a varied diet, avoiding too many high fat foods and preparing food safely you should be fine. 

Things do change slightly however as your pregnancy progresses, you will need a few extra calories in the third trimester, but even then the extra is 200 calories and in fact only equivalent to an extra slice of toast and spread.

Pelvic Girdle Pain or SPD in simple terms is pelvic pain and can be fairly uncomfortable for sufferers with everyday things such as walking up and downstairs, getting up from a chair and even getting out of bed becoming an effort. It’s a fairly common pregnancy symptom caused by your ligaments around your pelvis becoming softer and becoming more relaxed and stretchy. When this happens it can mean that the ligaments aren’t keeping your pelvis correctly aligned at this point. SPD specifically relates to the symphysis pubic joint in the front centre of your pubic bone. Some women may experience this specifically. SPD is not a condition that is in anyway harmful to your baby, but it can directly affect your ability to move around comfortably so do seek advice.

Restless leg syndrome (RSL)

A strange pregnancy symptom, this condition can give you an uncontrollable urge to move your legs around. Typically, this often occurs at night so can really affect your ability to sleep. Roughly 10-20% of mums-to-be experience RLS, which typically occurs in the third trimester of pregnancy but the condition usually disappears within a month after giving birth. Being tired and drinking caffeine can add to the symptoms of RSL so getting plenty of rest and cutting out caffeine can help manage the symptoms. 

Video 1: Preparing a birth plan 
Video 2: Pain relief options