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Your baby's progress - Week 29
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Baby’s brain, organs and body fat continue to develop this week, and he probably weighs around 1.25kg or so and will be longer than a 30cm ruler from head to toe. In fact, his brain is growing so fast that the soft skull bones around the brain are being pressed and pushed into different shapes as he wriggles around.
The brain of a developing foetus is usually soft and smooth in the early weeks of pregnancy – nothing like the grey and loopy walnut that adult human brains look like – but from this week on, baby’s brain will become more wrinkled and complex as it becomes more powerful.
Baby’s bone marrow has also become a major construction site for blood cells and the growing sophistication of baby’s organs mean his adrenal glands are actually producing androgen and estrogen — which will stimulate your body to begin milk production.
As baby grows fatter, it means his wrinkled skin is being ironed out and all that extra brown fat could be contributing to around 3.5% of baby’s overall body weight. This is important because despite baby’s brain power, his brain won’t be strong enough to regulate basal temperature once baby is in the big wide world outside of your womb.
Just like adults, all babies are different and develop at varying rates in the womb. This information gives a general idea of your baby's development and progress.
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This article was written by Alex Brooks for Kidspot, Australia's best pregnancy resource.
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