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Pregnancy Diary Week 29

Discover your pregnancy journey

Pregnancy Diary Week 29

You are probably finding that baby is rather active at this stage. When you are feeling her kicks it doesn’t necessarily mean that baby is awake, as sometimes she will kick when sleeping. By now baby has developed the reflex to suck and is sucking her fingers or thumbs. Every baby and pregnancy is different, and like you, there will be days and nights when baby is feeling more energetic.

Discover

How your baby is growing

What you can expect  at this time

A beneficial food for your pregnancy nutrition

 

Pregnancy Diary Week 29: How Is Your Baby Growing?

Baby weighs around 2.2 lbs (1kg) by week 29 and the body length is around 15 inches (39cm) from head to toe. There are fine lanugo hairs covering her body by now, which many babies shed before birth, but on some, the lanugo hair is still visible. Towards the end of week 29 of pregnancy, most babies have started to react to light and sound. The head is becoming bigger in order to facilitate brain development.

Baby boys’ testicles, at this stage, should have descended close to the kidneys, via the groin as they are en route to his scrotum. If you are carrying a girl her clitoris will be prominent still as it is not covered as yet by her little labia. Currently on a daily basis around 200mg of calcium gets deposited in baby’s skeleton, and as well as calcium you’ll need to eat foods with lots of iron, folic acid and protein. The skeleton is hardening even more and baby’s lungs, muscles and brain are continually maturing.

What you can expect

 Leg cramps or restless leg syndrome may be affecting you at this time. Although we cannot be sure of the cause, it is possibly related to dopamine – one of the brain’s chemicals that functions as a neurotransmitter. Although dopamine is mostly associated in the press with addiction, it has numerous functions such as controlling attention and regulating movement. What it is affecting depends on which pathways it is active in.

For example, if it is active in the tuberoinfundibular pathway, its effect here is to regulate hormone release and it plays an important part in stimulating breast milk production. Your breasts are continually changing at this time, so ensuring that you have a supportive bra will make you more comfortable. Some women may have leaky breasts, which can happen sometimes for no obvious reason or because of breast massage or sexual stimulation. There’s no need to panic, however.

Additionally, weight gain which is happening quite quickly could start to cause stretch marks on your hips, tummy and thighs. These stretch marks often fade and become less obvious after birth. However, it will help you to feel better if you moisturise these areas, making the skin feel more supple. If you wear contact lenses you may find that your eyes’ moistness has changed and it could be more comfortable to stop wearing your lenses for now.

Calcium For Pregnancy Nutrition

1. Dried Herbs – A wonderful way to get more calcium to you and baby is to used dried herbs.

Why not make an easy, fresh and delicious pasta sauce and infuse it with lots of lovely dried oregano, rosemary and thyme? It’s easy and quick to make, just chop lots of lovely ripe tomatoes, garlic and dice an onion and put into the pan at medium heat to cook gradually. Put in the garlic and onion first for a minute or two to release the flavour, and next add the chopped ripe tomatoes and generous amounts of your chosen dried herbs. Once it has started to look like a sauce if need be, add a little water to thin if it is thick and then whizz it with the blender. Blend it as you like it, I like to leave some traces of real tomato, but some people like a very smooth sauce.

This base is also delicious with fresh basil – if you like basil, and this should be chopped roughly and put in at the same time as the dried herbs. Fresh Basil Benefits: The leaves of basil are a superb source of iron. They contain a fair amount of copper, magnesium, potassium, copper and manganese Vitamin K Anti-inflammatory essential oils Polyphenoic flavenoids such as vicenin and orientin Very low in calories Very high levels of vitamin A, beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin These are some of the numerous health benefits of fresh basil. This pasta sauce works wonderfully with roasted peppers, mushrooms, courgette just by itself. Or if you feel like chicken or minced beef it is equally delicious.

2. Cheese

Another excellent source of calcium is cheese.

3. Sesame Seeds

Roasted or dried sesame seeds provide the most amount of calcium. Why not make a healthy nutritious stir fry and sprinkle lots of sesame seeds on the top?

4. Tofu

Tofu is a great source of calcium. Go to your closest Oriental Food Emporium and buy vegetables like pak choi, which is known to help digestion, and make a stir fry with teriyaki sauce. Although some people don’t find tofu by itself that interesting, mixed in with ginger, garlic and pak choi and some sauce, it is tasty and healthy. Pak Choi Benefits: 70 grams of pak choi provides a very good amount of calcium, in fact just as much as a glass of full-fat milk of 125 ml. Pak Choi is packed with Vitamin K for healthy bones It has lots of vitamin C It provides quality dietary fibre aiding digestion wonderfully It has lots of phytonutrients and powerful antioxidants

5. Almonds

Almonds are rich in calcium and can be used in lots of different ways, and you can also make or buy almond butter. Other great sources of calcium are Brazil nuts, flax seeds, green leafy vegetables, herring, and of course dairy products. You can also find an assortment of calcium-rich recipes by clicking here.
pregnancy nutrition almonds

Pregnancy Diary Week 29

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DISCLAIMER

All articles on the blog and website are intended as information only. Please do not consider any of the information provided here as a substitute for medical advice. At all times seek medical advice directly with your own doctor and medical team.

ANNOUNCEMENT

This website was formerly Merrion Fetal Health. The clinic has undergone a rebrand and is now known as Merrion Ultrasound.