24 Weeks...

Around 24 weeks, your babies enter the stage of viability. This means that if they were born today, there is a 90 percent chance they would survive with medical intervention. This will no doubt cause you to breathe at least a little sigh of relief. Your babies each weigh about 1.2 pounds and are a little less than 12 inches from head to heel. Their lungs have started secreting surfactant, the substance that keeps the moist, interior surface of the lungs from sticking together; and they are practicing breathing. Now that their eyelids are unfused, you may see them opening and closing their eyes on an ultrasound. They are watching for light and their ears are listening to your heart beat and your stomach growl.









*Bring on the bulk! Baby gains about 6 ounces this week. The weight is in muscle, bone mass and organs.
*Her body begins to fill out with her appearance increasingly becoming more like a newborn.
*Taste buds begin to form. If mom drinks something strange or bitter, baby may be observed showing his distaste.
*Little creases have appeared on her palms. The muscular coordination of her hands has improved as she sucks her thumb.
*Over the next seven days the sweat glands will be forming in the skin.
*Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.
*This week your baby is officially considered viable.
*Baby weighs 1.3 pound (600gm) and is 11.8 inches (30cm) long -- almost the length of a ruler!