Week 29 is breathless and short on sleep. The bump is pressing upward on the lungs and downward on the bladder, and the sleep-wake pattern inside rarely matches yours. It is also the week people start guessing the sex from the shape of your bump, which is worth taking exactly as seriously as it deserves.
Your body this week
Breathlessness comes from the pregnancy pushing against your lungs, and carrying extra weight adds to it. Leg cramps are common, and pressure on the bladder means more trips to the bathroom overnight.
Sleeping on your side with a pillow under the bump and another between the legs is what most women find helps. Resting during the day is the other half of the answer, and the NHS says plainly that if you feel unable to cope because you are too tired, that is something to tell a midwife or doctor.
Feeling excited and nervous at once is the emotional shape of this stretch. Naming it out loud to someone is more useful than resolving it.
What you may notice
Sleep problems, sore gums, round ligament pains, piles, headaches, backache, indigestion and heartburn, bloating and constipation, leg cramps, feeling hot, dizziness, swollen hands and feet, urine infections, vaginal infections, and skin and hair changes.
Balance is unreliable now. If you do fall, tell your midwife even if you feel fine.
Your baby this week
Around week 29, the length quoted is about 38.6cm from head to heel — the NHS compares it to a butternut squash. These are population averages and nothing more.
Development is largely complete in structure now; the remaining weeks are about maturing organs and gaining fat. The greasy vernix layer and the downy lanugo hair both start to disappear from around here.
What care usually happens around now
Nothing is routinely scheduled for most women in the UK this week. The whooping cough vaccination is best given before week 33 for the protection to reach a baby, and the RSV vaccination can be given from around week 28 up until labour.
The NHS also lists what cannot tell you the sex of a baby, which is worth reading before someone at work insists otherwise: the position or shape of the bump, the heart rate, home prediction kits, and a wedding ring on a string. Bump shape reflects your height, your muscles, how many babies you have had, and what you have eaten.
This week's tip
Put a pillow under the bump as well as between your knees. Most women use one and stop there, and it is the second pillow — supporting the weight of the bump so the lower back is not holding it — that changes side sleeping from tolerable to actually restful.
When to see a doctor
Contact your maternity service the same day for reduced or changed movements, leaking fluid, regular tightenings, or bleeding. Breathlessness that comes on suddenly, or with chest pain, needs emergency care. Pregnancy warning signs has the full list.
Seek care now: Contact your local emergency services or go to your nearest emergency department if you have heavy bleeding, severe or one-sided tummy pain, a severe headache with vision changes, sudden swelling of the face or hands, a fever, fluid leaking from the vagina, chest pain, trouble breathing, fainting, or a seizure. Contact your maternity service the same day for any reduction in your baby's usual pattern of movement. Femio cannot assess a pregnancy.
Frequently asked questions
Can the shape of my bump tell me the sex?
No. Bump shape depends on your height, your muscles and how many pregnancies you have had, and none of those relate to the sex of the baby.
I am short of breath on the stairs. Is that expected?
Gradual breathlessness with effort is very common in the third trimester. Week 30 covers the next stretch, and week 28 covers the appointment behind you. Sudden breathlessness or chest pain is different and needs care now.