Use our pregnancy calendar to see what’s happening in your pregnancy each week.

Eating for two? Here’s what you can expect from week thirty of your pregnancy.

Your Baby:

Is about 40cm tall and 3lbs in weight

Will start to move to a head down position around now

You:

Are gaining weight at around a pound a week

Might be more gassy from now on. Blame that slow digestive system!

Week Thirty

Yup, still pregnant. It’s around week thirty that I find the pregnancy frustration kicks in. You’re far enough in that it feels like you’ve been pregnant forever (and you have!). Yet the thought of ten more weeks seems like an eternity. Not only that but by now you’ve probably got a fairly substantial bump and we’re really entering the ‘packing on weight’ stretch. In fact, I could stop this now and just put weight gain for the next ten weeks to make it easier for all of us.

Weight gain in pregnancy is one of those unavoidable things for many of us. Whilst many of us (hello first pregnancy me!) think of it as a time to eat for two, it’s important that you don’t go over the top and keep things healthy. At this stage you should be gaining just under a pound a week if your weight is on track The NHS recommends a weight gain for those within a ‘normal’ BMI of 25 to 35lb (11.5kg to 16kg). This is made up of the following averages according to Babycentre:

• 7.3lb (3.3kg) of baby
• 1.5lb (0.7kg) of placenta
• 1.8lb (0.8kg) of amniotic fluid
• 2lb (0.9kg) of extra muscle around your uterus
• 2.6lb (1.2kg) of extra blood in your body
• 2.6lb (1.2kg) of extra fluid in your body
• 0.9lb (0.4kg) of extra boob
• 8.8lb (4kg) of extra fat stores

As with all things diet, it’s all about balance. It’s important you’re providing your body with the right nutrients to support both of you, and whilst it’s tempting to live off of chocolate, it’s probably not going to be the best option and could lead to complications such as gestational diabetes. First pregnancy me went blindly into things under the belief that all the weight would just drop off breastfeeding, which was a bit of a surprise when I didn’t drop that three stone gained overnight (at all). I found that it affected my confidence at a time when I was already doubting the majority of my parenting abilities. This time I’ve been far more aware of trying to keep moving from as early as the first trimester as well as limiting my chocolate intake to reasonable levels aka. one bar a night (ish). You only need 300 calories extra than normal at this stage per day… although that sounds pretty boring if you ask me!

In other news, your baby’s growth means things are starting to get a little tighter in there. Most babies will start to settle into a head down position from now on, particularly if this is your first pregnancy so you may notice a change in the placement of their kicks and punches! As they continue to grow, your levels of amniotic fluid will decrease slightly to accommodate them so don’t worry, it’s not ALL going to be stomach stretching!

Other fun things this week: Is it just me that’s panicking?! From this point on we’re in single digits for weeks. Single. Digits. How can time go so slowly and yet so quickly!?

Missed a week? Catch up on week twenty nine

Fancy sneaking ahead? Here’s week thirty one