You have reached the 26th week of pregnancy and you are even more excited about your baby's growth and feeling it. So how big is the baby in the 26th week of pregnancy? How Does Baby Development Progress in the 26th Week of Pregnancy? What are the Changes in the Mother? What is the 26-Week Baby Image?

Yeditepe University Hospitals Gynecology and Obstetrics Department Head and IVF Specialist Prof. Dr. Erkut Attar answered these questions about the 26th week of pregnancy. 

How Many Grams Is a 26-Week Baby?

Your baby now weighs close to 760 grams and is about 35.6 centimeters long.

Its growing body is supported by a spine made up of 150 joints, 33 bones, and 1,000 ligaments. Your baby's senses continue to develop.

Baby Development at 26 Weeks of Pregnancy

Its hearing becomes clearer and it can distinguish between your voice and your partner's voice. This early awareness will help its bond with you after birth; it will be calmed by your voice, which it recognizes.

Your baby's lungs continue to develop, branching into new airways with tiny air sacs (alveoli) at their ends. This network of airways is also known as the respiratory tree. Inside your baby's lungs, a fat-protein complex known as surfactant is developing. This is a substance that coats the inside of the air sacs and allows them to inflate and deflate efficiently, but your baby's lungs are still not ready to breathe. When your baby takes its first breath after birth, the air sacs are full. The oxygen from its breath passes into the network of tiny blood vessels that are now developing.

Your baby's taste buds are now fully developed. The tooth buds in the gums, which will later develop into adult incisors and canines, are still taking shape.

If you are expecting a boy, your baby's testicles will continue to descend from the lower abdomen to the scrotum. Although the testicles usually reach the scrotum in the last trimester of pregnancy, in some baby boys this can happen in the first 3 months after birth.

Changes in the Mother at 26 Weeks of Pregnancy

If you feel hot flashes, you should know that this is a common symptom during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Hormonal changes during pregnancy and increased blood flow to your skin can make you feel hot flashes, especially at night. Your body may sweat as it tries to cool down. Your face, neck, and chest may look especially red. Hot flushes usually last no more than a few minutes. Choosing cotton or linen clothes and cooling your face with water can help with hot flashes.

Especially in pregnant women whose weight is above normal limits and increases, there may be a possibility of developing high blood pressure disease (gestational hypertension) during pregnancy. Hypertension usually causes no symptoms. Your doctor or nurse may notice it during routine prenatal check-ups. High blood pressure can be a sign of a serious condition called pre-eclampsia, which prevents the placenta from working. If you experience severe headaches, visual disturbances, or swelling in various parts of your body, you should consult your doctor.