At week 29 of pregnancy, you are experiencing an increased number of foetal kicks, signifying that the baby is growing active and is gradually making sense of the world. The foetus is now the size of a butternut squash that is about 15.2 inches long and weighs approximately 2.5 pounds. The size of the baby will become triple of this at the time of birth.
Read More: Week 27 of Pregnancy – Pregnancy Week by Week
29 Weeks Pregnant Symptoms
Headaches
Due to the changing formulae of your hormones, you are likely to experience increased levels of headache at 29 weeks pregnant. Low blood pressure during pregnancy can be another reason behind increased headaches. Make sure that you eat at regular intervals throughout the day. Eat sugar to fill in the void, but restrict it to the minimum required quantity.
Read More:11 Home Remedies to Get Rid of a Headache During Pregnancy
Itchy belly
As the skin around your belly is stretching to accommodate the baby, it becomes thinner and dry. Dryness causes the skin to become itchy and flaky. Apply moisturisers to keep the area hydrated and flake-free.
Read More:Itchy Skin During Pregnancy: Do I need to be worried?
Haemorrhoids
As the abdomen is constantly growing, it is putting extra pressure on your intestines and causing fissures while passing stool. Drink lots of water and eat leafy green vegetables to keep the organs of your digestive system hydrated.
Read More:21 Early Signs or Indicators of Pregnancy
Back, leg, and hip pain
Blame the growing uterus again! At 29 weeks pregnant, the uterus is putting pressure on almost all your internal organs situated near the abdominal area. Apart from that, your joints and ligaments are gradually getting softer to help make way for the baby. These factors result in lower back aches, hip aches, and leg cramps. Dehydration can be another reason behind leg cramps. Drink lots of water to avoid these cramps as much as possible.
Read More:11 Successful Ways to Relieve Hip Pain During Pregnancy
Trouble sleeping
The raging pregnancy hormones are now even more active as you are 29 weeks pregnant! The hormonal changes make you sleepless at night while at the same time they make you dizzy during the day. Make sure you take power naps throughout the day.
Read More:11 Natural Remedies for Sleeping Pains During Pregnancy
Frequent urination
At 29 weeks, your womb expands rapidly and compresses the bladder. Naturally, you feel like peeing more often. However, never hold back your urine or reduce drinking water, to avoid visiting the washroom too often. You may experience unnatural contractions.
Pregnant Belly
A typical 29 weeks pregnant belly entails that the top of your uterus is about 3.5 to 4 inches above your navel. By now you should have gained about 19 to 25 pounds if you’re carrying a single child and about 23 to 38 pounds if you’re pregnant with twins. You feel more kicks during this week, as the baby is becoming more active. There may be occasional stomach cramps due to the constant kicks. On an average, the baby moves about 10 times in 2 hours.
Pregnancy Ultrasound
During the 29 weeks ultrasound you can see that your baby is getting crammed in there due to its rapid growth. The kicks are getting stronger. The cute little thing is also hiccupping in there, due to which you feel occasional twitches! The 29 week foetus is gradually developing white fat deposits under its skin, which provides all the energy the baby has suddenly garnered! If you are pregnant with twins, by this time a thin membrane has formed between the babies. Your uterus is beginning to get crowded from now on. In the 30th week, you will have another major ultrasound to make sure everything is on track.
Dos and Don’ts During Week 29 of Pregnancy
Dos –
Eat calcium-rich food: Calcium is vital for the 29 week foetus’ bone structure and bone density development. Foods like milk, cheese, banana, yogurt, kale, almonds, and green spinach are great sources of calcium. Moreover, calcium is also required for your own bone health as you face painful conditions in the joints and lower back way too often nowadays.
Stack on your potassium intake: Potassium is one of the minerals that keep your body fit and active on a regular basis. A lack of potassium can result in vomiting, nausea, weakness, fatigue, muscle cramps, constipation, and abnormal heartbeats. At 29 weeks pregnant, you are already at a risk of facing the aforementioned health issues. Make sure that you don’t miss out on potassium-rich foods like beans, chickpeas, sweet potato, fat-free yogurt, tomato, banana, apricot, and salmon.
Exercise: Even at 29 weeks pregnant, make sure that you don’t miss out on exercising regularly. Focus on walking, stretching, doing yoga poses, and performing some light pelvic moves. These help reduce cramps by keeping the muscles active, and prepare for the later stages nearing delivery.
Read More:11 Must Do Exercises For a Fitter Pregnancy
Attend Lamaze classes: If you haven’t started already, do start. These classes will train you to understand the mechanism of childbirth and coping with the labour pain. The main exercises taught in Lamaze classes involve deep breathing in and out in a rhythmic pattern. This method helps divert the mind from the excruciating pain during delivery.
Don’ts –
Bend down too much: At 29 weeks pregnant, you should avoid bending over often. Due to the bulging belly, you will face difficulty in bending down. If you force yourself down, you might end up experiencing contractions and untimely labour due to extra pressure on the uterus. In extreme cases, your amniotic sac may even break.
Eat lots of sweet foods: Restrict your sugar intake to the bare minimum that is recommended by your doctor. Extra glucose might give rise to gestational diabetes, affecting both you and the baby.
Commute regularly: By now, you have obviously availed of your maternity leave. However, do not commute regularly to other places as well. The central point of a maternity leave is to stay indoors, rest, and prepare for motherhood. Occasional trips to the baby store and maternity store are okay, but keep them as less as possible. Bumpy roads can cause the amniotic fluid to move and cause early breakage of the sac.
Sit for too long: Sitting and relaxing is probably what you’re doing the whole day nowadays! However, don’t keep sitting for too long as your legs need some exercise to enhance air circulation in the veins and stretching of the muscles, and thereby to avoid varicose veins and cramps. Walk around for a few minutes and then rest again. This way, you can keep doing your walking exercises too!
Read More:7 Must Know Prenatal Yoga Poses
It is needless to say that you are nearing the delivery period. By now you have a firm idea of pregnancy. Keep in mind the dos and don’ts, and keep your fingers crossed for the new life ahead!
