Week 30
In week 30, you’re midway through the eighth month of your pregnancy, and you’re in the third and final trimester. Your baby is now big enough to find things a bit cramped in your womb, so their movements will change.
Your baby is now around 40 cm in size and they weigh between 1300 and 1400 grams, so nearly 1.5 kilograms or a bag and a half of flour. They’re approaching the size and weight that they’ll be when they’re born.
Preparing for your new arrival
You’ve probably started collecting nursery equipment and buying some tiny outfits for your little one. (Baby clothes are hard to resist, aren’t they?) If you can, try to get prepared well in advance - going on a big shopping trip in the last few weeks of pregnancy is not much fun.
If you already have another child or children, you'll no doubt be getting them used to the idea of having a new baby in the family. It’s also a good idea to plan out who will look after the older child/ren if everything kicks off in the middle of the night, as it sometimes does!
If this is your first baby, enjoy the preparation – it won't be long now until you're bringing your baby home!
What it’s like for the mum-to-be in week 30
Right now your main focus will be on minimising or avoiding the symptoms such as back and leg pain which affect so many pregnant women. You’ll find it harder to get around, and even climbing the stairs at home may leave you short of breath. This is partly because your lungs, like all the organs in your belly and chest, are being squeezed by your womb, but also simply because you’re carrying a much heavier load. Pregnancy is like high-level sport for a woman’s body, and it demands high-level performance.
Itchiness and stretch marks
You may sometimes notice itchiness as your skin becomes stretched. Dermatologists have demonstrated (and experience from other mums confirms) that rubbing cream or oil on a daily basis into the areas affected by your pregnancy is the best way to minimise this itchiness and reduce stretch marks, both in terms of size and appearance. Minor stretch marks will quickly disappear after the birth without leaving any unsightly scars.
However, applying cream to your skin won’t guarantee that you won’t get stretch marks, as it depends on the type of skin you have and your genes.
More hair on your belly
You will have definitely noticed that your body has changed in lots of ways over the last few weeks. Your areolas (the areas around your nipples) may have got darker and there may now be a pregnancy line, called the linea nigra, running from your belly button down to your pubic bone. Other possible symptoms are patches of hair on your belly, caused by hormones your body is now producing. It’s thought that women expecting a boy are more likely to get this hair, and to get more of it, as it may be the result of the male sex hormone testosterone, which causes hair growth. Another theory is that this hair grows because your belly needs additional protection. We don’t know for certain.
