Mother's body and baby developments in 27-31 weeks

At 28 weeks, your baby is 25 cm tall and weighs around 1 kg some babies prefer the breech position(if your baby is lying bottom or feet first) during this time but most will turn and twist till the final weeks. The baby’s immune system, eyelashes are developing with the testicles lowering into his scrotum for a baby boy. Babies born at this time need specialized care and have a 75-80% chance of making it to life if they get specialized care.

At 29 weeks, lying in bed begins to become increasingly difficult, this can be helped by lying on your side and putting a pillow underneath your stomach. You can also try the side-lying pose where you keep a pillow between your legs. It will be helpful to know at this stage that side sleeping reduces the risk of stillbirth.

At 29 weeks the baby is around 26 cm tall and is 1.15 kg in weight, the baby starts putting a lot of weight from this point up to 38 weeks. With almost fully functioning organs, it is now practicing breathing in a regular pattern.

At 30 weeks, checking your blood pressure at every antenatal appointment will be good practice. Heartburn and reflux may have become a real problem at this point because the baby is taking more and more space in your body. Sleep cycles start to become more problematic at this stage and waking up in the night becomes a common problem.

This is normal for you even though it maybe tiresome, just remember to sleep on your side even if you wake up during the night. At 30 weeks, your baby measures 27 cm tall and weighs around 1.3 kg, the baby is depositing fat under the skin and this makes the skin look smoother and lanugo has started to decrease gradually. Some babies can such their thumbs at this stage.

At 31 weeks a lot of women start noticing stretch marks and start to notice a lot of weight gain rapidly. Stretch marks are permanent but their color gradually fades out with time. The ligaments around your pelvis are stretching up and you might have started to subconsciously walk in a different way but this is normal. Try switching to more comfortable shoes and give up on wearing those heels for the time being.

Your baby is about 27.5 cm tall and weighs around 1.5 kg. Your baby’s eyes are open now and the pupils have started to respond to light, with their brain developing rapidly, this is helping make them innumerous connections and send a lot of signals.