24 weeks pregnant: what is happening this week

Thirty centimetres exactly, the length of a school ruler, and the week the word viable enters the vocabulary. The NHS describes a baby born from this point as potentially able to survive with medical support - neonatal care providing help with breathing, feeding, warmth and protection from infection. That is a threshold in a statute and a threshold in practice, and it is one of the few dates in the calendar that carries real emotional weight. It is also worth being careful with. Viability is not a switch that flips from impossible to fine; it is the beginning of a long gradient, and every week after this one improves the picture. Hunger is often noticeably up. Aches multiply - ribs, back, breasts, abdomen - as ligaments loosen further and everything is displaced by degrees. Gestational diabetes screening is offered from around now where there are risk factors, usually between 24 and 28 weeks. If it is offered, it is a test with a specific purpose and a specific protocol, and the appointment involves fasting first, which is worth knowing before the morning of it.