24 weeks pregnant

Your Child starts to interact more with noise and may blink when you clap your hands. Your belly grows every day, and, as a result, the skin gets stretched and can become itchy. 

Your Child’s development
Your Child now weighs about 600g and measures about 33cm — the size of a corn. The skin looks a bit pinkish, as a result of the developing blood vessels. Whitish eyelashes, eyebrows, and hair have appeared; the color will soon come when the hair receives pigments. 

Voice sensitivity: At this time, the internal ears reach the adult size and shape. So, Your Child can hear better and is more sensitive to sound. As a result, you may notice that Your Child is now moving and kicking more frequently, mostly in response to your voice. 

The lungs: Your Child’s lungs are beginning to produce surfactant, a film-like substance that stays on the wall of the air sacs to them to inflate and keeps them from collapsing and sticking together when they deflate. At this point, it’s present only in small amounts, which may not be enough for the little one to survive if born this week. In just a few weeks, that will have changed. 

The blink-startle response: When Your Child gets scared or terrified by hearing sudden loud noises, the eyes blink in response. This is known as the blink-startle response, a reflex that typically develops earlier in girls. Note that noises that are too loud may affect the Your Child’s health by causing an increase in heart rate and excessive swallowing.

Your development
You may be experiencing a lot of skin changes this period, including itchy tummy, linea nigra, and stretch marks.

Swelling: You may have swelling of the ankles and fingers as a result of fluid retention and obstruction of your large veins by your enlarging womb. Besides, you may experience some tingling sensations in the hands. This is often as a result of fluid buildup which causes swelling and increased pressure in the carpal tunnel. 

The kidneys: Your kidneys are working hard by filtering the maximum amount of blood volume to support Your Child’s development. 

Your skin gets stretched: Your belly grows every day, and, as a result, the skin gets stretched and can become itchy. Here are three things you can do to reduce itchiness: 

• Shower cold or lukewarm — hot water can lead to skin dryness and further itchiness
• Use unscented soaps 
• Apply urea cream or mild lotions
• Apply ice  packs

What you can do
Even though a certain level of noise is no problem and probably helps Your Child to fall asleep, excessive noise is not good as it can stress you and increase Your Child’s heart rate and lead to excessive swallowing. If you live or work close to a loud train station, street, or other sources of loud noise, you might want to consider making home improvements or changes in your lifestyle to reduce the noise levels.