Week 29

Week 29 pregnant

Your baby has gained 300-400 grams this week. This is one of the reasons why so much time is spent sleeping - they are conserving energy and laying down fat stores.

Your belly is leading the way from now on and it has probably become difficult for you to ignore it. Even if you aren’t particularly big, you’ll certainly be feeling the effects of your pregnancy on your legs, your bladder, your belly and even your brain.

This is especially true if you have toddlers to care for as well. Bending down to them is getting more difficult and you could worry they’ll “squash” the baby as they sit on top of your bump. Try not to be concerned. Nature has been very kind in terms of the protective mechanisms in place to insulate your baby while it is in your womb.

In fact, at 29 weeks of pregnancy, your baby is likely to give a swift kick in response to too much pushing. Consider this an early form of sibling rivalry, something that will become all too familiar in the years to come.

Oh, my aching back!

One of the greatest areas of risk of strain is to your back. To counter-balance the weight and bulk that is out in your front, your back is likely to automatically sway inwards from now on. In addition, your feet will be placed further apart as you walk. This will give you the all too familiar pregnancy waddle, something you may have sworn you’d never succumb to.

Watch your weight, wear flat shoes, take your time getting from a standing or lying position to being upright and do some back-strengthening exercises. The abdominal muscles also work on supporting the back so don’t ignore their important role.

What pelvic floor?

Talking of exercises, try to squeeze in a few pelvic floor ones while you’re at it. Think about your muscles as a sling, supporting all those vital organs and tissues in your pelvic region. Your bladder, rectum, vagina, cervix and womb will need all the help they can get to stay upright, well supported and secure in all their correct positions. Coughing and sneezing can place undue strain on your pelvic floor so check with your doctor if you have a cold.

Your physical changes this week

• You could find yourself becoming more swollen and puffy, simply because you have so much extra circulating blood and fluid volume within your body. Your legs, feet and even your fingers may look bigger than they usually do. If your rings are getting tight, consider taking them off now, in case you have problems removing them in the weeks to come. Many women wear their wedding and engagement rings on a chain around their neck in the last months of their pregnancy.
• Feeling the heat? The third trimester is a time when many women notice a real shift in their body’s temperature. You could find yourself having hot flushes, turning down the air conditioning when everyone else is almost shivering or just complaining about how hot it is. Your body is designed to cool off when it gets too hot and there is a risk of overheating. Avoid spicy foods, alcohol and stress, which will only make you feel worse.
• Your breasts could be feeling increasingly heavy and dense. Dilated veins are becoming obvious and your nipples will continue to darken. All of these changes are necessary to prepare your breasts to produce milk for your baby. Don’t use drying soaps and avoid general skin irritation.
• Bending over will be getting more difficult. Now is the time to cut your toe-nails, shave your legs and go shopping for shoes that only need to be slipped on. As the next few weeks progress you’ll find yourself groaning as you bend, something you probably thought you’d never do! Welcome to the third trimester.

Your emotional changes this week

• You may be feeling yourself relax a little, knowing that if you went into premature labour now, your baby’s chances of survival are very good. If you’ve had a pre-term baby before, this will undoubtedly cause you to feel concerned and anxious that it may happen again.
• Start to prioritise about what is really important and what isn’t. Think in terms of what you have to get done and what you want to get done before baby is born. Be realistic about what will be more difficult to achieve, when there is someone who is totally dependent on you for its care. Now is not the time to start a major renovation, plan a house move or start a new job. Try to avoid excess stress and aim for a simple life.
• Try not to place too much value on your body image or how you look. You may need to change your ideas on what you perceive to be attractive and beautiful. Pregnant women’s bodies are unique and have their own inherent beauty.
• Mood swings are common in the third trimester. You could find yourself almost delirious with happiness one minute and in tears the next. Keep a box of tissues handy and be kind to yourself. Blame those hormones that can depress your nervous system and cause symptoms similar to pre-menstrual tension.

Your baby’s changes this week

• Your baby weighs around 1.4 kg this week but is still less than half the weight it will be at birth. If you were to give birth now, your baby would look very thin with long limbs as there is lots of fat still being accumulated under baby’s skin.
• Your baby’s movements will probably peak in the month between weeks 26-30. There is still room for complete body movements and changes of position now, before it gets too cramped inside your womb.
• Your baby’s airways are further maturing, with the little bronchioles and alveoli increasing in number. It takes up to 8 years for a child’s respiratory system to mature fully, so these are still early days.
• Your baby’s chances of survival, if it were born early are increasing with every week that passes. It may not even need respiratory support if you delivered this week.
• It may be difficult for your midwife or doctor to say what position your baby is lying in this week. The top of the head can easily be confused with a round bottom and your baby may be very mobile, making it hard to say with certainty which way baby is facing.

Hints for the week

• Ask your midwife or doctor about the need to check your iron count. You will need a blood test to determine what level it is and whether you need iron supplements. You may also need your blood group checked and an antibody screen done. If you are a Rhesus negative blood group, it is important to make sure you have not developed any antibodies.
• Make a list of baby names that can be further refined if you can’t ultimately decide. Many parents leave the final decision for when they actually meet their baby and can see what name suits them. This is not as strange as it seems. In a moment of absolute clarity, most parents can look at their little one’s face and know exactly what they need to be named. Sometimes, it’s a name that hasn’t even occurred to them before.
• No matter how much you believe in weight-bearing exercise, put those weights down if you have haemorrhoids. They will just enlarge further by the increase in your intra-abdominal and rectal pressure. Instead, go for low impact exercise, such as Yoga or swimming.

30 weeks next.