Second trimester
25 weeks pregnant
The fetus is around the size of a cauliflower and responding more clearly to the outside world. Sleep is often becoming the main daily challenge for you.
Size of
rutabaga
Length
34 cm
Weight
660 g
Your baby at 25 weeks
The fetus responds to familiar voices and may react to bright light shone on the abdomen. Startle responses to sudden loud noise are common.
Fat continues accumulating and the skin is smoothing out. Hair is growing and developing colour.
The structures of the spine — vertebrae, joints and ligaments — are forming and strengthening.
How you may be feeling
Sleep is frequently disrupted now, between the bump, needing to urinate, heartburn and general discomfort. Many people find this the most persistent complaint of late pregnancy.
Haemorrhoids and constipation are common and under-discussed. Both are driven by hormonal effects on the bowel plus pressure from the uterus.
Common symptoms around week 25
- Disrupted sleep
- Haemorrhoids
- Constipation
- Heartburn
- Frequent urination returning as the uterus presses on the bladder again
Appointments and tests around now
If glucose screening has not happened yet, it is usually arranged in the next few weeks. Blood may also be rechecked for anaemia around this stage.
What is normal, and what varies
Haemorrhoids are extremely common in pregnancy and nothing to be embarrassed about raising. There are safe treatments, and your provider will have discussed them many times that week alone.
Worth doing this week
Treat constipation properly
It is the main driver of haemorrhoids. Fluids, fibre and movement first; ask before using any medication.
Nap without guilt
Night sleep is genuinely harder now. Short daytime rest is a reasonable adaptation, not an indulgence.
Raise the head of the bed for heartburn
Even a slight incline helps considerably more than extra pillows under your head, which tend to bend you at the waist and make it worse.
Looking ahead
Next week the eyes open for the first time.
Nearby weeks
Not sure which week you are in? The week tracker works it out from the first day of your last period, and the due date calculator gives you an estimated due date.