Week 29: I'm spleen-tastic!

Fetal development in pregnancy week 29

~length
15.3 in | 38.8 cm

~weight
2.5 lbs | 1.1 kg

If you’ve been feeling weird little fluttering butterflies in your belly, it’s not just your run-of-the-mill pre-birth performance anxiety.
Actually, it's your amazing baby with a case of the hiccups: a fairly common occurrence at this point, due to them practicing breathing for their big birthday.
In addition to getting a round of butterfly-like hiccups, your little swimmer has arduously managed to accumulate enough baby fat to account for nearly 3.5% of their overall body weight.
Yeah, compared to we lardy adults, it’s not very impressive, but considering they used to have NO fat, it’s certainly a healthy (and body-warming) accomplishment in its way.
Another fantastic life-critical accomplishment: your baby's spleen is now in charge of hematopoiesis — the 10 dollar name for the process involved in building up certain important blood components.


And how's mom doing?

If you just got back from the restroom, we're sure you're aware that you’ve finally reached that infamous “live-on-the-toilet” phase of pregnancy where everything's bigger (boobs, butt, baby, belly) but your bladder.
Your best strategy is to accept the fact you’re going to need to pee every 15 minutes or so. If you manage to go for over an hour without running to the restroom, count yourself amongst the lucky iron-bladdered few.
In other annoying symptoms, many women experience jittery legs during the second half of pregnancy, which is a common condition known as Restless Leg Syndrome. This is caused by circulation issues due to the increased blood volume that has your heart working harder than it's ever had to before.
Less than three months till your wee babe's birthday and the return of your body to normal human proportions!