The Inside Story: Your Baby in Week Thirty

Your baby weighs close to 3 pounds. He's growing so fast now that if he kept up this rate, he'd weigh more than 200 pounds by his first birthday! In order to accomplish his final growth phase during the 3rd trimester, he will continue to absorb nutrients from your body: calcium for his skeleton, protein for his muscle growth, and iron for his red blood cell production. You might feel more tired or suffer from anemia as a result.

Like most babies, yours probably has blue eyes right now. Once he's born, his eyes may turn brown after being exposed to the natural sunlight that will finalize pigments in the iris. The hair on his head may start to grow in now as he finishes losing that covering of fine, downy lanugo hair on his body.

Even though your baby is already about as long as he'll be at birth, he will continue to gain weight rapidly as he adds a layer of fat to his lanky limbs. His brain is almost as advanced as a newborn's at full term. However, your baby's brain will keep growing quickly as his brain cells continue to make connections that will allow him to develop speech, memory, and maybe even the ability to remember the Pythagorean theorem.

Originally published in You & Your Baby: Pregnancy.

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