Breathlessness during early pregnancy

Glow360 · February 2016

I feel like I'm carrying ten children, no joke. It's the only way to describe it even tho that's not true. I can't breath and last night I felt like I was six months pregnant, I have to sleep propped up because I'm so winded lying flat or either side. I can't eat full meals because I feel so full. This has to be bloat, its miserable. Never had this symptom with my son. I just can't breath. When I'm talking I have to take extra breath and people notice I'm winded. It scares me.a walk to my car feels like a ran a lap. I'm not generally out of shape, before pregnancy I frequented gym spinning classes and swimming, now I jus walk or did....I can't walk a half a mile without dying.I'm only five weeks pregnant. Anyone have this?? How can I deal with bloat naturally, I'm thinking my fullness feeling is because of this.

lickastick · February 2016

I have been feeling breathless throughout pregnancy so far. However, if this is having a huge impact on your life it is probably best to bring it up with your doctor.

But I will say- In pregnancy we loose space for our lungs to expand downwards as the baby grows into our belly. To compensate for that the ribs literally get wider as pregnancy progresses, so that we can get expansion by breathing "outwards" instead of "downwards." (this is why the circumference of our torso grows and we have to buy a bra size up. ie... we used to be 34 D, but now we are 36 D. Make sure your bra isn't too tight around your ribs so you have space to expand.

A possible way to help you breath better is to be aware of your posture. If your shoulders roll forward (like when looking down at a phone in our hands, or typing on a computer at a desk) we loose space in the lungs, and we already have less space to begin with! Roll the shoulders up back and down, puff the chest out and have a nice tall spine. See if that changes your ability to take a deep breath. Also Lateral stretching opens up the side body and the side ribs to help us breath better.

Glow360 · February 2016

Thank you, that's great advice! I didn't even think about rib cage expanding and bra tightness and now that you mention it, I'm fairly certain that contributes a great deal To my breathlessness. I think new bra shopping is an order, thank you I will give it a try.

Sporty1216 · February 2016

Thanks for the tips, @createillumination ! I've been dealing with this too and it is so frustrating. Nice to have some tools to implement to help out!

mthoomom · February 2016

This happened to me. I started getting short of breath in my first trimester, but apparently it's normal.

tiffanyhr · February 2016

Glad I'm not the only one! I'm only 9 wks and feeling so grossly out of shape because I'm
out of breath all the time. Maybe I'll have to go bra shopping too...

lickastick · February 2016

Oh and ladies if you don't want to buy new bras they have cheap bra extenders you can buy on amazon! I know i'll probably go up in cup size so i'll buy new ones eventually, but it's a good fix in the meantime.

carrieandr · February 2016

Strangely, I felt breathless around 4 weeks, but was fine after that. (15 weeks now.) I got nursing bras at 10 weeks because I was uncomfortable. They are Motherhood brand. Soft, no underwire. They are like sports bras, but they don't flatten you into a uniboob. They look fine under shirts. They have multiple clasp settings on the back, like a normal bra. I'll add an extender later if I need it.

jilligan14 · February 2016

@createillumination thanks for the info about the expanding rib cage. I haven't been able to fit my bras for about two weeks now but when I measure myself, I'm not quite ready for the next cup size. It didn't occur to me that it could just be the band that needs expanding. I've just been living in sports bras but I'll check out @carrieandroy's suggestion of the Motherhood nursing bras so I can break away from the uniboob!

Sporty1216 · February 2016

I have some of those nursing bras from motherhood maternity from the last go around and they are nice. And the adjustable band is key. If they are the same ones I have, they also came in a tank top option, which I liked for wearing under maternity tops since it gave a nice smooth layer to help blend in the band from my pants panel.

br0co1ii · February 2016

I've been experiencing a lot of breathlessness too! I wasn't sure if it was from the pregnancy, or because I ran out of my Singulair a couple weeks ago. I'll bring it up with my doctor when I go in next week for sure!

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