Your uterus is now around 3.5 to 4 inches above your navel. The baby is getting more and more viable for existence outside the womb but hang in there, mum, since he needs to remain inside for a few more weeks. If you are still constipated, irregular bowel movements, hard stools and abdominal pain may be bothering you. Keep eating fibre-rich food, drinking water and exercising! Right now, having iron and calcium is so important. Iron helps your body maintain and replenish red blood cells, which transport oxygen throughout the body and prevent anemia. You might want to take your rings off now before your fingers get more swollen!

Garbha Vriddhi

सप्तमे मासि गर्भः सर्वैर्भावैराप्याय्यते , तस्मात्तदा गर्भिणी सर्वाकारैः क्लान्ततमा भवति । (चरक शारीरस्थान)

Ayurveda says growth and development of all aspects of garbha take place so pregnant women become exceedingly deficient in all aspects of her health.

Your Baby's Development

Hic-hic hiccups

You can spot them from the top of your belly.. They feel like light, rhythmic taps to you. Don’t worry, they aren’t uncomfortable for the baby.

Fewer wrinkles, more fat

Nice quantities of fat are getting deposited under the skin surface making his wrinkled skin smoother. This white fat, as it's called, is different from the earlier brown fat your developing baby accumulated. Brown fat is necessary for body temperature regulation, while white fat — similar to mum’s — is a good source of energy.

Brain weight tripling

In the third trimester, your baby's brain triples in weight, and deep grooves develop to allow more surface area for neurons. Are you talking to baby, reading her stories?

Active and kicking

All that kicking has peaked during weeks 26-30. This week, the baby can still move her entire body inside the uterus. As space decreases in the coming week, this will stop. It may be difficult for your or even your doctor to determine in what position your baby is this week. The head can easily be confused with the little bottom and all that turning around makes it almost impossible to predict.

Your Pregnancy Symptoms

Varicose veins

The good news is that only 20 percent of mums-to-be develop varicose veins. If you are noticing  swollen blood vessels, don’t worry: they are harmless. They appear because your blood volume increases during pregnancy, your growing uterus is putting pressure on the pelvic veins and hormones are making your veins relax. They  can also occur in your rectum (as hemorrhoids) or even your vulva, but don't confuse them with purplish-red spider veins.

To prevent or manage them, please keep your circulation going by avoiding standing or sitting for a long time. They will recede within a few months after delivery.

Leg Cramps

Painful cramps in your calves can sometimes strike at night, interrupting your sleep. Do some stretching exercises or asanas before sleep. If a cramp does strike, flex your foot upward and then point it back down a few times. A gentle calf massage can also help.

Migraines

This is a blinding kind of headache that may make you cry out in pain. Lie down in a quiet, dark room with a cold compress on your neck or forehead. If unbearable, ask your doctor for safe medication.

Foggy brain

Your pregnancy hormones will be messing with your memory. Did you know that your brain cell volume actually decreases during the third trimester? The relief is that it's totally normal and will go away.

Nails or claws?

Your nails may be growing faster and not only that, pregnancy hormones may also be making them dry and brittle. Trim them regularly.

Heartburn or indigestion

Some women experience heartburn in this trimester, and it strikes at night. Stay away from spicy foods and chocolate in the evening and make Yog Nidra a habit.

Fatigue

If you’re feeling wiped out lately, know that this is not uncommon at this stage of your pregnancy. Your body is continuously working to nourish and support your baby at 29 weeks pregnant, which takes quite a bit of energy. You might also be finding it difficult to get a good night’s sleep. Take advantage of any opportunity to rest, even if it’s just 15 minutes of shut-eye here and there. At 29 weeks pregnant, you may want to try sleeping with a pillow under your belly for support. Keep exercising, if you can, because this will help keep your energy levels up.

Constipation

Pregnancy hormones relax your muscles, including those in your bowels, which can cause slower digestion. If it is getting worse, know that this is normal in the final stages of pregnancy. Have 10-12 glasses of water and 2-3 servings of fiber-rich foods daily. Exercise for 1 hour everyday. It sets the intestines into motion. If constipated, do not strain to pass motion. This only exerts unnecessary pressure on your uterus and rectal veins, leading to piles.

iMumz Wellness Tip

The tailbone, or coccyx, sits at the bottom of your spine, above your bottom and behind your uterus. It helps stabilize you when sitting and serves as an attachment point for the pelvic floor muscles that support your bladder, bowel, and uterus. Tailbone pain is caused because of the pelvic ligaments getting looser because of the hormone, Relaxin. Also, since your centre of gravity has shifted because of your expanding belly, there is more pressure on this bone which isn’t really meant to bear all this extra load.

While approximately 70% of women experience low-back pain at some point in their lives, 50% - 80% report back pain in pregnancy. For nearly 10% of them, the pain can be very bad.

Here are some tips to manage it.

*Put a soft and folded quilt beneath your buttocks whenever you sit.

*Avoid sitting on hard surfaces.

*Use donut shaped pillows.

*Ask daddy to give you a  warm massage on your lower back. Take a hot shower after that or just apply local hot fomentation.

* Do Yoga Asanas like cat pose, child pose, back and side stretches .

*Put a pillow between your thighs while sleeping.

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Your Pregnancy check-ups

At 29 weeks, an NST(Foetal Non-Stress Test) may be performed if:

• the baby is not moving as frequently as usual (less than 10 movements in whole day)
• any earlier findings to suspect the placenta is not functioning adequately
• high risk for any other reason

The test is named “non-stress” because no stress is placed on the fetus during the test.

The nurse will strap a belt around your abdomen to measure foetal heart rate and another belt to measure contractions. Movement, heart rate and “reactivity” of heart rate to movement will be measured for 20-30 minutes. If movement is slow because the baby is being lazy, she may use a small “buzzer” to wake him for the remainder of the test. A cup of chilled water and moving the belly may help.

A ‘reactive’ non-stress result indicates that blood flow (and oxygen) to the foetus is adequate. A ‘nonreactive’ non-stress result requires additional testing to determine whether the result is truly due to poor oxygenation, or whether there are other reasons for foetal non-reactivity (i.e. sleep patterns, any medication that mum is taking).

What should you eat in this week of pregnancy?

Sugar! A craving that may get more intense for some in pregnancy! But, consuming too much of it isn’t good, as we know. One study found that too much sugar-consumption can affect the child's cognition later in life. Then, there are risks of gestational diabetes, tooth decay and cavities. If you are overweight, or are tending towards it, you also carry a risk of neural tube defects like spina bifida for the baby. Let’s look at a sweet treat for this week that skips processed sugar.

Gur Papdi or Gol Papdi is a popular dessert from Gujarat and is made especially in winters to increase the body heat. It is an easy dessert to make in under 20 minutes.

While, traditionally, it is made with just ghee, wheat flour and jaggery, for this pregnancy treat, we suggest adding two more flours: Ragi (Red millet) and Soya flour.

Ingredients

• Wheat+Ragi+Soya flour - 1 cup
• Ghee / clarified butter - 3/4 cup
• Jaggery - ¾ cup cup (powdered)
• Cardamom powder - Half tsp
• Sliced almonds - 1 tbsp

Method

• Put a nonstick pan on the stove on medium heat. Once the ghee is hot, add flour mixture and fry it low flame.
• Keep roasting it until a nice aroma releases and the flour mixture becomes darker.
• Add the cardamom powder and mix well.
• Turn off the flame and place the pan on the counter top on a trivet.
• Add the measured jaggery and mix well to combine. Since the pan is still hot, the jaggery will melt and combine well.
• Pour the mixture immediately on to the greased pan and sprinkle the chopped almonds.
• Press it down with a spatula to even out to flatten it.
• Let it cool down a bit and then cut squares. Cut them when they are still a little warm, as they will crumble if you attempt to cut them when they have cooled completely.
• Let it cool completely and then store it in an airtight container.