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At 25 weeks pregnant , you have already passed the halfway mark of your pregnancy week by week and it's time to start planning for maternity leave. Since your boss and your workplace already know that you're expecting (they can see by that round belly of yours), it's time to discuss the details of your upcoming maternity leave.
Although you are only in the second trimester of pregnancy, it's important to get these details fleshed out early. You never know when you will go into labor in the third trimester. Only around five percent of babies actually arrive on their due dates. At 25 weeks pregnant, you want to be prepared for the event that your little one comes a little early.
Maternity Leave Guidelines
Different companies have different guidelines on maternity leave. Some companies allow their employees to take up to six weeks away from work after the arrival of a new baby. Your company may offer paid maternity leave, or it may offer unpaid leave. Talk to your human resources officer to discuss your individual company's policy at pregnancy week 25.
If your company doesn’t offer you maternity leave, you may be able to use a
combination of short-term disability, personal days, vacation time, and sick leave
to take care of your baby.
Learning about maternity leave at 25 weeks pregnant is a smart idea, because if your company does not completely cover your salary (most states only cover about 1/2 or 2/3rds of your salary), you can start some financial planning while you're still working.
Start Saving for Baby
During pregnancy week 25 and throughout your pregnancy week by week, you may want to start putting aside a small amount each month from your paycheck as a little cushion to help you out financially after the baby comes.
Pregnancy Weight Gain at 25 Weeks Pregnant
You continue to grow larger this week, as your baby packs on the pounds. Although your baby puts on a bulk of his weight in the third trimester, you are steadily gaining about a pound a week as your pregnancy week by week progresses. Your pregnancy weight gain at 25 weeks pregnant may be around 16 or 17 pounds, if you are a normal-sized woman.
Sciatica During Pregnancy
At 25 weeks pregnant, as your baby grows larger and the uterus expands to accommodate, you may start to experience pain, pressure, numbness, and/or tingling that starts in your buttocks and radiates down your leg. Sometimes the pain may feel very sharp and intense that it can feel unbearable. Doctors describe this pain as "sciatica."
For some women, sciatica during pregnancy is not a problem, because the pain is mild and doesn't last long. However, for other women, this pain can be excruciatingly painful.
What Causes Pregnancy Sciatica?
Sciatica in pregnancy during pregnancy week 25 may be caused by your baby's head resting on the sciatic nerve, located in the lower part of your spine. Once your baby changes position, the sciatica will disappear.
Hip Pain in Pregnancy
At 25 weeks pregnant, you may also experience general hip pain, due to the softening of your pelvic bones ligaments and the pressure of a rapidly expanding uterus.
Although hip pain and sciatica shouldn't cause you any concern, you may want to mention these symptoms at your next doctor's appointment.
Tips to Relieve Sciatica Hip Pain
When sciatica or hip pain strikes you during pregnancy week 25, you may want to try the following techniques to help get some relief:
- To reduce the pressure in your leg, sit back and prop your feet up. Try to prop your feet above your heart to reduce discomfort.
- Use a heating pad to the affected muscles.
- Sleep on a firm mattress.
- Avoid rapid movements, or lots of bending, because these can place extra pressure on the nerves in your body.
- When sleeping, make sure to side sleep and use a full body pillow, such as the Snoozer Pregnancy Pillow, so that you can rest comfortably.
Though sciatica and hip pain is uncomfortable at pregnancy week 25, these symptoms will subside shortly after your deliver your baby.
At 25 weeks pregnant, your baby weighs around 1.5 pounds and is around 13.7 inches long. From this point onward in your pregnancy week by week, your baby's weight and length will vary. Each baby is different. Your little one may be 7 pounds when he or she is born, or he or she may be 10 pounds!
Your baby's head is still slightly larger than his body at pregnancy week 25, but overall he is becoming more proportional as the weeks pass.
Fat continues to be laid down in your baby's body at 25 weeks pregnant, and his arms and legs look more rounded than in previous weeks of your pregnancy!
Be careful of loud noises this week. Your little one's hearing is acute at pregnancy week 25, and loud noises may startle him.
At 25 weeks pregnant, your baby is often yawning. Although researchers are not sure why babies yawn so much in utero, they hypothesize that yawning may help regulate the amount of fluid or blood flow in the baby's lungs.
At this point in your pregnancy, your baby's temperature is well regulated by the blood flow through the umbilical cord and placenta.
Between 24 and 28 weeks pregnant, you will undergo a routine glucose screening test for gestational diabetes - a high blood sugar condition that occurs during pregnancy. It's estimated that between 3 and 5 percent of pregnant women will develop this condition.
Complications from Gestational Diabetes
Doctors recommend that all pregnant women get screened for gestational diabetes so that you can reduce your risk of complications. Gestational diabetes puts you at increased risk of:
- Delivering a large baby (a baby that weighs over 9 pounds)
- Pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure and protein in the urine)
- Physical trauma to mom or baby during delivery, due to the larger size of the baby
- An increased risk of delivering via c-section
You may undergo a glucose screening test at 25 weeks pregnant, or anytime between 24 and 28 weeks. However, in some cases, you may be screened earlier in your pregnancy week by week if you are at risk of developing the condition. (Women who have a pre-existing diabetes condition, prior to pregnancy, do not need to undergo screening.)
Risk Factors for Gestational Diabetes
You may be at risk for getting gestational diabetes if you have a history of gestational diabetes in previous pregnancies, you are obese, you have levels of glucose (blood sugar) in your urine, or if you have a family history of diabetes.
Glucose Screening Tests
During pregnancy week 25, a glucose screening test will not diagnose you with gestational diabetes. It only identifies whether or not you may have a problem with your blood sugar levels. A positive result doesn't mean that you have the condition. In fact, only about one-third of women who receive a positive result actually have the disorder.
During a glucose screening test, you will be asked to drink 50 grams of a glucose solution, which often tastes like a special orange or cola drink. You must drink all of the solution within several minutes. Afterwards, you wait around for an hour. Then, your blood will be drawn to measure your blood sugar level. If your blood sugar levels are considered high (over 130 to 140 mg/dL), you will undergo further testing to see if you have gestational diabetes.
What Happens if You Get an Abnormal Result?
If you receive an abnormal result at your 25 weeks pregnant glucose screening test, you will have to take another test, called an oral glucose tolerance test. You will be required to fast (abstain from eating) for this test, which takes three hours to complete.
During an oral glucose tolerance test, you will drink 100 grams of a glucose solution, and your blood will be taken after one hour, two hours, and three hours. If your doctor diagnoses you with gestational diabetes at pregnancy week 25 or beyond, he or she will give you recommendations on how to manage your condition to avoid complications.
Gestational Diabetes Recurrence in Future Prenancies
Pregnant women with gestational diabetes have a one-third to two-third risk of getting the condition again in future pregnancies. You are also at increased risk of getting type 2 diabetes later in your life.
The American Diabetes Association recommends that women with a history of gestational diabetes undergo testing for type 2 diabetes every three years after pregnancy.
Read About Your Pregnancy Week by Week - 26 Weeks Pregnant
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