3rd trimester: Week 29

© The Anatomical Travelogue

Your Baby

Every day, your little one is looking more like a full-grown baby than a fetus. By the end of this week, he'll weigh about 2 3/4 pounds. For the rest of the trimester, he'll be bulking up and gaining approximately half a pound a week; between now and his birthday, he'll double or even triple in weight. His kicks and jabs are more vigorous now, and you feel like he's moving all the time.

Your Body

The top of your uterus is four inches above your belly button, crowding your ribs and diaphragm and leaving you breathless. It's also pressing against your bladder, which is why you're making so many trips to the bathroom once again. The placenta, which is flat and round like a cake and delivers oxygen and nutrients to the baby, is also getting bigger; next week, it will weigh 15 ounces. Your baby may be in a head-down position already, prepared for birth. Even if he's in a bottom-down position (called breech), there's still time for him to turn. When he does, he'll drop lower in your abdomen, his head engaging within the pelvic bones at the birth canal.

Do's and Don'ts

Do feast on fatty foods, just not the ice-cream-and-greasy-bacon type. A "good" type of fat, called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), helps brain and nerve cells develop. DHA can be found in canola, flaxseed, and walnut oils--and in fatty fish like salmon. Try using walnut oil in your salad dressing.

Health

Although you're months away from giving birth, read as much as you can about labor and delivery. Studies show that if you understand how labor works, you may feel you have more control over the process. In turn, you'll be less fearful and may not feel the pain as strongly as you would if you were feeling vulnerable and uninformed. Knowledge truly is power. So get the Real Poop on Labor. Sorry, Mama. Someone has to tell you the truth about childbirth. (Hint: it's messy.)