Did you feel like you couldn't breathe late in pregnancy?

[geek96]

I swear I feel like I am going to have a heart attack on a daily basis.  I have such a hard time catching my breath.  I don't remember being like this last time.  My doctor says it's all normal but I start feeling light headed and struggling for air.  It usually passes after 30 minutes but I have these episodes a few times a day.

[Deleted]

Yes, I remember that awful feeling.

[jeaniebueller]

Yes, I spent a good part of the day in my last tri leaning forward to get the pressure off of my midsection.

[Ashley&Scott]

Yes

[Deleted]

Yes. It got better when the baby dropped.

[grosnl19]

Yes, but I think it was my asthma. I had to go to the ER for treatment in the second trimester. I had to go on preventive meds in the third because it was so bad. Prior to getting pregnant my asthma was only excercise or allergy induced. After giving birth I am still on my preventive meds daily.

[dancingirl21]

Yep, definitely. His foot or something was wedged up in my ribs for a long time. It got much better when he dropped.

[pippa]

Yes. Constantly. I'm 38 weeks and it's awful.

It then makes me anxious, which makes it worse. I try to relax and wear nothing with that stupid elastic band near my rib cage. However, I don't think that much will help except delivery.

[boxerdog]

Yes. It will get better when the baby drops.

[Willis Jackson]

Oh yes.

[lishie]

In my last month with both pregnancies I had a hard time catching my breath. It was like an elephant was sitting on my lungs.

[geek96]

All of you have stated exactly what I am experiencing. I have avoided going out in public because I start getting anxiety attacks when I am not able to breathe. I feel like a mess and keep crying because I want this pregnancy to be over. I am not caring for my house or child the way I should be and keep relying on my husband to do more than his share while working and doing all the errands.

[karinothing]

Yes, has to do with baby position, more blood in body, and higher resting pulse rate. It sucks.

[rbp]

Yeah. I was lying down all the time starting around 30 weeks. I carried so high that it felt like my lungs couldn't expand. 

[t]

Yes. It was the biggest feeling of relief when I delivered and could instantly breathe again.

[halfpint]

Kind of. It helped when I felt like he "dropped" at the very end (but then none of my maternity shirts covered my belly).

H said I would stop breathing for a second at night sometimes, like sleep apnea or something. Yikes!

[granthamite]

I did with my first. His feet were pressing right up/under my lungs. I did a lot of stretching and pushing down on his feet with my hands.

[Deleted]

Yes, I went to the store for 20 minutes yesterday and almost passed out. I cannot breathe. It's terrible. Hang in there.

[carolinagirl831]

yes with my second. Also I felt like my hear would beat really fast. It freaked me out a little. It went away as soon as i gave birth.

[Velar Fricative]

Confession - At 36 weeks with DD, I woke up with chest pains and freaked the fuck out that I was having a heart attack so I called my OB. He said it's probably not a heart attack but just go to the ER anyway. It was heartburn.   And I really only had it bad after that for a couple of days, but yeah, I hope that feeling goes away for you soon.

[ringstrue]

I wanted to recommend to make sure you are sitting up enough to give your lungs space. Also when you breathe in, you might have to push your diaphragm out against the baby to get enough space.

And don't hyperventilate. Let your lungs naturally pause for a sec in between breaths for as long as feels fine.

[ringstrue]

It was also worse with BH contrax. What helped me the most was making sure I was breathing deep enough- again pushing my belly muscles out against baby if needed.

[biscoffcookies]

I've been having this since the beginning of the third trimester. I hate it, but my OB was like, "it's normal, KOKO!"

[soxin2]

Yup. I'm short torso-ed and all my babies are long.



And I have mild asthma.

[gibbinator]

Ds1 was right in my lungs and I could barely inhale by the end. I couldn't sit straight up (like to drive a car) and had to keep my torso stretched out just to take deep breaths. Miserable. He'd usually kick me in my poor mangled ribs just to add insult to injury.

[pooh8402]

Yep! It's only stopped recently because the baby dropped.

[Deleted]

Oh yeah absolutely. It was worse with DD (kid#2). Between the constant tight lungs, pelvic floor pressure (I got it from both sides of my uterus!), and the heartburn, I was a hot hot mess. Hang in there!