Your Pregnancy: A Week-by-Week Guide

You are 25 Weeks Pregnant!

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH YOU
Itch, itch, and itch. Your abdominal skin, which is being drawn taut, may be driving you crazy. Try massaging your skin with olive oil or cocoa butter, if not allergic. If persistent itching continues, be sure to mention to your care provider. It could be "PUPP" (pruritic urticarial papules and placques of pregnancy); the most common of all pregnancy skin conditions, or rarely, associated with a serious liver condition.

Not really experiencing itchy skin. Maybe because I use lotion daily. Usually in the summer I don't use lotion so much but have kept up the "winter" routine even for the summer so hopefully this won't become a problem later on.

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH YOUR BABY
Your baby weighs one pound, nine ounces, and measures 22 centimeters crown-to-rump. Your baby's ears are fully functional now, and he or she may even blink in reaction to a loud noise. The brain is growing rapidly. If you could look inside your uterus, you'd see a well-proportioned head and body. Your baby's first meconium stool has been formed in the large intestine and will be excreted in the days following the birth. Some babies will pass some meconium in the amniotic fluid before the birth. This would require suctioning at the time of your baby's birth.

Our little one is definitely getting stronger, lol! I no longer feel little flutters in my tummy, but more like full blown kicks. I've also been starting to feel them from the outside over the last couple weeks. It's pretty sporadic but on occasion I'll be able to feel it. :)

FACT OF THE WEEK
If you are nursing, in the early days following your baby's birth, he or she will receive small, but potent, quantities of your colostrum, which is loaded with nutrients and antibodies. During the first six weeks of life, a baby won't produce many antibodies, making him or her more prone to infection. However, colostrum provides maternal antibodies, extending this special protection to the newest member of your family. Colostrum is the perfect food for your baby's first days of life.
Preceding more mature breast milk, colostrum also helps to clear meconium from your baby's intestines. This prevents it from being partially reabsorbed, which can lead to jaundice in your newborn.

I'm taking a breast feeding class in July. There's so much to learn that I figured it would be best to take the class the hospital offers. I hope I get a lot of good advice and info because this is one area that obviously is completely foreign to me and I really want to be successful at it.