By the time you are 25 weeks pregnant, you feel as if you are carrying around a soccer ball all the time. There is more to come and you will get bigger. One of the common experiences of women in the 25th week is leg cramps. These can be extremely painful and wake you from your sleep. Most of the time the cause is that you are not getting enough calcium in your diet, which is why you do have to ensure that you drink plenty of milk. if you are lactose intolerant, almonds, broccoli and fish are good sources of calcium that you should include in your diet. Soaking your legs in warm water and having leg massages really helps you avoid this pain.

You can find out whether you are having a boy or girl by the 25th week either through an ultrasound or a test called an amniocentisis. This test involves inserting a needle into the uterus to draw off some amniotic fluid and is also helpful in determining the health of the baby.  It is only done in cases where there may be complications in the pregnancy and an ultrasound is the normal route of determining the gender of the baby.

The baby at this point is about 13 inches long, which accounts for you feeling that you have a swollen belly. It doesn’t weigh a lot though usually less than 2 pounds. The babys skin, while still looking somewhat wrinkled, is starting to fill out with baby fat. If you have a 3D ultrasound done at this point, you may be able to see the color of the babys hair and eyes. The color usually changes, though, after the baby is born.

The babys arms and legs are about the same length they will be at birth in the 25th week. He/She can also breathe through the nose. The structures of the ligaments, bones and tissues are in place in the spine and the capillaries are forming in the circulatory system. This is what gives the baby a pinkish glow at this stage. The blood vessels are also starting to take shape in the lungs, which haven’tyet developed to allow the baby to breathe on its own.

Since the baby is able to hear, and has been able to do so for some weeks, you can read and talk to the baby. Entertaining it with music is a good idea as well, which you will notice in the increase of movement when you play music.

Even though you are taking folic acid supplements as recommended by your health care provider, you can increase the amount in your body through the foods you eat.  Broccoli is an excellent source of this mineral as well as calcium, but it will produce a large amount of gas in your digestive system. Maybe you might want to keep this food for eating at home when there are no guests around when your body makes embarrassing sounds.