Pregnant after 35

Breathlessness during early pregnancy

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.

Re: Breathlessness during early pregnancy

  • 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. 

  • 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.
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  • Sporty1216Sporty1216 member
    edited 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!
  • This happened to me. I started getting short of breath in my first trimester, but apparently it's normal. 
  • 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...


    Tried for DS for 1 year; one dose clomid Nov 2011 = DS born on 8/10/12
    BFP 6/30/15  MMC 7wks 5 days  D/E 8/9/15
    BFP 1/8/16 EDD 9/9/16
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  • lickasticklickastick member
    edited 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. 
  • 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.
    TTC#1 since Jan 2015
    BFP 2/19/15  •  MMC found at 9 wks  •  D&E at 11 wks (age 36)
    BFP 8/29/15
      •  CP (age 37)
    BFP 11/18/15  •  DD born at 41 weeks <3(age 37/38)

    TTC#2 since May 2017
    BFP 10/18/17  •  MMC found at 8 wks  •  Misoprostal at 10.5 wks (age 39)

    BFP 2/16/18
      •  CP (age 39)
    BFP 4/13/18
      •  CP (age 39)
    BFP 5/07/18  •  MMC found at 10.5 wks  •  D&E at 11.5 wks 
    •  Testing showed it was a girl with Trisomy 22. (age 39/40)
    9/5/18 Diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve (4-5 follicles, one ovary had none and was very atrophied)

    RE says the low egg count is likely causing my recurrent pregnancy loss. Less eggs results in more aneuploidy.

    BFP 9/24/18  • 
    CP (age 40)
    BFP 5/11/19  •  Fraternal twins  •  MMC found at 10w5d (Baby A 6w, Baby B 10w)  •  Misoprostal at 11 weeks (age 41)













  • @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! 
    ME: 36 (PCOS), DH: excellent SA
    NTNP since 11/12, actively trying since 8/14
    m/c @ 7w (4/22/14), m/c @ 6w (11/19/14)
    11/15: Letrozole, Ovidrel, TI = BFP!!!
    Beta #1(14dpo)=349, Beta #2(18dpo)=2,805
    12/17/15: Got to see the heartbeat (105bpm)!
    1/25/16: NT scan = normal (HB=163bpm)
    EDD: 8/10/16 
    8/8/16: Baby boy born @ 12:25am, 8lbs, 20.5 inches
    5/18/17: BFP!!! (11dpo)
    Beta #1(12dpo)=176.4, Beta #2(15dpo)=607.1
  • 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. ;)
  • 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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