Week 27 of Pregnancy (2024)

27 weeks pregnant is how many months?

If you're 27 weeks pregnant, you're in month 6 of your pregnancy. Only 3 months left to go! Still have questions? Here's some more information onhow weeks, months and trimesters are broken down in pregnancy.

How big is my baby at 27 weeks?

By the end of the second trimester, your baby is now measuring about 14½inches — more than a foot long. His weight is creeping up the charts too, coming in at around 2 pounds. That's double what it was four weeks ago.

Most babies this age, yours included, still like to snuggle in a slightly curled position inside the uterus, thus the term "fetal position."

Baby recognizes your voices

Big news: Your baby may recognize both your and your partner's voices by now.

His auditory development, or hearing, is progressing as the network of nerves to the ears matures — though the sounds he hears are muffled thanks to the creamy coating of vernix covering them.

So this might be a good time to read and even sing to your baby — or rather, your tummy — and a good chance to start memorizing those nursery rhymes and lullabies you'll need to be repeating (and repeating) pretty soon.

While you're at it, here's another way to have some family fun at 27 weeks pregnant: Your partner might be able to hear baby's heartbeat by pressing an ear to your stomach.

Baby’s tasting...and hiccupping

Your baby's taste buds are very developed now, too — more than he willever have outside the womb, actually. Need a taste test? If you eat some spicy food, your baby will be able to taste the difference in the amniotic fluid. Just keep in mind that you'll have different mealtimes, with his coming about two hours after yours.

Some babies will even respond to that spicy kick by hiccupping. And although hiccups, which feel like belly spasms to you, may seem like they're disturbing him, he isn't stressed at all. It's just one more sensation babies need to get used to.

Swelling and edema

Two weeks ago, your belly was a soccer ball — and by 27 weeks pregnant, your uterus has swelled to the size of a basketball. Unfortunately, that's not the only thing that's swelling.

Nearly 3 in 4 pregnant women experience mild swelling of the extremities — particularly the feet, ankles and hands— and it may kick into even higher gear around now.

Callededema, it occurs when fluids build up in your body tissuesthanks (or no thanks) to increased blood flow and uterine pressure on the inferior vena cava, the large vein on the right side of your body that returns blood from your lower limbs to the heart.

While the puff factor is completely normal and temporary, now might be a good time to take off your rings and kick off those too-tight shoes.

And if it seems to be excessive, talk to your practitioner since it can be one sign ofpreeclampsia, though when it is, it's accompanied by a variety of other symptoms like elevated blood pressure and protein in the urine. If you aren’t experiencing these symptoms, you have nothing to worry about.

To spell swell relief, avoid sitting or standing for a long time, try somepregnancy-appropriate exerciselike walking or swimming, if your practitioner okays it, and sit or sleep with your feet elevated. Hey, if anyone deserves to put those sore feet up, it's you!

Be sure, too, to drink enough each day; restricting fluid intake willnotdecrease swelling, but staying hydrated may. And try to look on the bright side: Edema is a temporary condition — you'll deflate completely soon after you give birth.

Soothe heat rash

Caused by the combination of an already overheated pregnant body, dampness from excessive perspiration and the friction of skin rubbing against itself or against clothing, as it tends to do when there’s more skin to rub, heat rash shows up as prickly, pimply, itchy, red patches on your skin.

It is most common in the crease between and beneath the breasts, in the crease where the bulge of the lower abdomen rubs against the top of the pubic area and on the inner thighs.

A cool, damp compress can take some of the heat out of your heat rash. A dab of calamine lotion can also be temporarily soothing and is safe to use. If any rash or irritation lasts longer than a couple of days, ask your practitioner about next steps.

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