Breathing Difficulty anyone?

[laurabelle1317]

Anyone else having breathing difficulty? I'm 20 wks and it has started for me, but I didn't have breathing issues when pg with DS. It kind of makes my head feel wierd too, even when just sitting.

[~Mamaterra~]

A pregnant womans' hemodynamics increase greatly and as a result causes your heart to work harded. This could be related to your shortness of breath.

You may want to have your bp checked standing and then sitting. The reason being is that you may be cutting off blood supply to your heart by putting pressure on your inferior vena cava making your head feel weird/nauseous.

[biffer]

I actually made an appointment this morning to see a Dr because it is getting hard for me to catch my breath after just going up a single flight of stairs.

I'll let you know what she says.

[biffer]

So my Dr said exactly what mamaterra said. So it is normal and ok just as long as you have no wheezing and you can catch your breath in a reasonable amount of time (she said less than a hour but that seems crazy long to me). Aren't hormones amazing? :eyesroll

[kalamos23]

I would get your iron checked as well - one quick and easy way to check is to pull your lower eye lid down and see if it is red or white. Also, if your lips are white - both will be paler if you are running anemic. Anemia can make you feel out of breath and fatigued more often and pregnancy will often make you run anemic.

[lwuertz]

Yeah the shortness of breath is a sign of the low iron thing... Also things are just getting squashed in there so that is part of it. My iron is fine, but if I try to go on a hike or anything too vigorous I get completely out of breath pretty quickly.

[rocknrollmama]

I only get shortness of breath when I am in the shower. It's really wierd, but the water hitting my back makes me pant! We have insanely intense water pressure, though. It's like being sprayed by a fire hydrant!

[maizy]

I have this too and had it with #1 too. I am 36 weeks and have had the light-headed-ness for at least 6 weeks. My bp is good. I think it is due to how much I go to the bathroom.... all day long, every ten minutes! I think I get dehydrated. Its a vicious cycle because I have to drink water to feel ok and I hate getting up to pee 100 times during the night!

[kayleesmom]

i just started having trouble breathing after going up a flight of stairs and am 19 wks

[RubyJi]

I'm 22 weeks now and I've been short of breath for the past month or so. The midwife said it's mainly a factor of my short torso meaning all my guts are already starting to be squished into my lungs. This has monthly just been an inconvenience, but I'm scared of how bad this will feel 3 - 4 months from now.

However, in the past week, at night I can't even take a normal full breath without coughing. It's making it hard to get to sleep! So it's actually a real problem right now. :(