29 Weeks Pregnant

Your baby is the size of a Butternut squash 🎃

🥗 Nutrition Tips

• Eat light dinner early to reduce heartburn at night
• Iron for blood production
• Potassium for leg cramps

🏃‍♀️ Exercise Tips

• Supported sleeping with pregnancy pillow
• Pelvic floor exercises critical
• Short walks several times daily better than one long walk

Welcome to week 29 — the first week of the third and final trimester. Your baby is roughly the size of a butternut squash, weighing around 2.6 pounds and measuring about 15 inches long, and will now pack on weight at an impressive pace through the final stretch. This week marks a turning point: your baby’s brain is forming deep grooves and folds, and the lungs keep practicing breathing movements as they prepare for air. For you, the third trimester often means the return of fatigue, more noticeable kicks and rolls, and prenatal visits stepping up to every two weeks. It is a good moment to start thinking about your birth plan and packing preparations while energy still allows.

👶Baby Development at Week 29

The biggest story this week is the brain. The surface of your baby’s brain is developing the characteristic grooves and folds (called sulci and gyri) that increase its surface area, allowing more brain tissue to fit inside the skull. This wrinkling supports rapidly maturing gray matter, and by now your baby can regulate body temperature better than ever before. Muscle tissue and fat layers keep building underneath the skin, which is growing smoother and plumper by the day.

Your baby’s lungs are still maturing but are practicing rhythmic breathing movements, moving amniotic fluid in and out in preparation for the first real breath. The eyes can now open and close, and your baby can tell the difference between light and dark — many can even follow a bright light shone on the belly. Kicks, punches, and stretches are strong and regular now, and most providers recommend starting formal kick counts this week: aim for 10 movements in two hours.

Bone marrow has taken over red blood cell production, and your baby’s bones are fully formed but still soft and pliable. Vernix, the waxy white coating that protects the skin, continues to thicken, and a layer of fine hair called lanugo still covers much of the body. There is less room to move now, so movements may feel more like rolls and jabs than full flips.

Your baby is developing more regular sleep and wake cycles — and you may notice certain times of day when they are predictably active. Many babies have already settled into a head-down position, though there is still plenty of time (and room) to turn. Hearing is well developed, so talking, reading, and singing to your baby are all wonderful ways to bond this week.

🩺Your Body: Common Symptoms at Week 29

▸ Heartburn and Acid Reflux

Your growing uterus is pressing upward on your stomach while progesterone relaxes the valve between your esophagus and stomach. Smaller, more frequent meals and avoiding spicy or fried foods can help.

▸ Lower Back Pain

Your shifting center of gravity and loosening ligaments strain the muscles of your lower back. Good posture, supportive shoes, and gentle pelvic tilts can ease the ache.

▸ Leg Cramps

Painful calf cramps often strike at night in the third trimester, possibly linked to mineral shifts and circulation. Stretching your calves before bed and staying hydrated may reduce them.

▸ Frequent Urination

With your baby pressing on your bladder again, bathroom trips increase — especially at night. This is normal, so don’t cut back on fluids; just avoid drinking large amounts right before bed.

▸ Trouble Sleeping

A growing belly, leg cramps, heartburn, and an active baby can all make restful sleep harder to find. Sleeping on your left side with pillows tucked between your knees and under your belly often helps most.

▸ Shortness of Breath

Your uterus is pushing up against your diaphragm, making deep breaths harder. This usually eases in the final weeks when the baby drops lower — until then, slow down and sit upright when you need air.

🏥Medical Tests & Checkups at Week 29

Starting around now, your prenatal visits typically switch from monthly to every two weeks. At each appointment your provider will check your blood pressure and urine (screening for preeclampsia), measure your fundal height to track growth, and listen to your baby’s heartbeat.

If you are Rh-negative, you likely received your Rh immunoglobulin (RhoGAM) shot around week 28 to prevent your body from making antibodies against your baby’s blood. If you missed the glucose screening test for gestational diabetes at week 28, your provider may still order it this week. There are no new major screenings scheduled specifically for week 29 — the focus is on steady monitoring of you and your baby through the final trimester.

🥗Nutrition & Movement Tips

Eat smaller, more frequent meals to keep heartburn and blood sugar steady.

Aim for 1,000 mg of calcium daily — yogurt, milk, fortified OJ, or leafy greens.

Keep iron intake up with lean meats, beans, lentils, and vitamin C-rich foods.

Walk 20–30 minutes most days; it eases back pain, constipation, and mood.

Do daily pelvic tilts and gentle cat-cow stretches to support your lower back.

Practice sleeping on your left side now — it improves blood flow to the placenta.

✅Week 29 Checklist

📌When to Call Your Doctor

Most third-trimester discomforts are normal, but some symptoms need prompt attention. Trust your instincts — if something feels wrong, call your provider or labor and delivery.

Fewer than 10 kicks in two hours, or a sudden drop in your baby’s usual activity.

Severe or sudden headache, vision changes, or swelling of the face and hands.

Regular, painful contractions before 37 weeks, or fluid leaking from the vagina.

Vaginal bleeding, severe abdominal pain, or pain when urinating with fever.

Persistent vomiting, or signs of dehydration such as very dark urine.