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

Dreaming of baby? They might be dreaming of you! Here’s what you can expect from week twenty nine of your pregnancy.

Your Baby:

Might be able to dream at this point – how amazing is that?!

Is about the size of a butternut squash

Is growing more and more brain folds, ready to become a little genius!

You:

May start leaking colostrum ready for baby’s first feeds

Are probably feeling increasing pressure on your bladder as your uterus is now sat on it (along with a baby!)

Week Twenty Nine

Let’s get a bit scientific. With your baby developing fast now (and still piling on those pounds), their adrenal glands will be producing chemicals which your placenta will make into a form of estrogen. It’s believed that this then triggers your body to produce prolactin which in turn starts to signal your body to produce milk. This means that from this point you may find you leak small amount of colostrum or ‘liquid gold’ as it’s sometimes termed. Packed full of nutrition and antibodies, it’s the yellow-y creamy substance than you produce for the first five days or so of your baby’s life prior to your normal milk coming in. Colostrum is often described as similar to giving your baby their first immunisation, hence the pressure to breastfeed if you can after birth. It’s quite normal for the first feed to be done by syringe if your baby won’t feed – for us that meant the midwife having a bit of a boob squish (I couldn’t manage it myself) before syringing off a couple of millilitres – apparently more than enough!

As your baby grows, their bones continue to harden which means they need plenty of calcium. As with all things baby, this comes from your diet so make sure you’re consuming extra to compensate. Around a glass of milk extra a day should provide enough to ensure there’s calcium for both baby and you. Just be wary of when you have this if you’re also on iron supplements. Calcium impedes iron absorption (whereas vitamin C increases it!) so be sure to leave it a good thirty minutes to an hour between the two.

Other fun things this week: Oh wow, how did I forget the bladder kicks?! Every so often those cute (fast becoming marginally painful) jabs and kicks land squarely against my bladder causing a desperate urge to wee. The good news is that the middle of the night bathroom trips are a thing of distant memory, for now. It’s only a matter of time until this little one takes up so much room that they’ll be back. Along with the inability to go back to sleep after. I guess it’s good newborn prep…

Missed a week? Catch up on week twenty eight

Fancy sneaking ahead? Here’s week thirty