Does anyone else get this (please read)?

[L0ngg0ne]

I'm 26 weeks and feel like I've been experiencing this for a good while now. Every now and then I'll get this sudden shortness of breath or tight/restricted feeling below my chest/breastbone. I think I've realised that it happens when the baby moves/changes position (in a sliding across my uterus kind of way), but I can't be sure that that's the only culprit. It can be quite frightening and usually lasts up to about a minute. It happens mostly at night, and sometimes I wake up in a panic to it happening. It's not exactly that I'm gasping for air, but something feels tight, restricted and cut off slightly. It's an odd sensation to describe. I can't even tell if it's my heart or my lungs that's affected (if any) - maybe it's just the baby squashing my organs temporarily, pushing them upwards?

Anyone else experience this? Just trying to understand if it's a benign pregnancy symptom or something a little more serious? I've been getting it a lot these past few days.

Thanks!

I’m so glad you and your baby are ok. I think the hypnobirthing is great. Pre- DC I had a phobia of the dentist but since having kids it’s just not there any more - I wonder if it’s linked!

I developed severe ocd after the birth of my son - thousands of tunes a day I’d have intrusive thoughts like ‘I have move that knife further back on the worktop or it could fall and kill him’ along with actually seeing it happen. I was perfectly aware that these thoughts were irrational. I knew logically that it was disordered thinking but I coukdnt stop it.

Cbt did nothing for me - a sort of integrative psychotherapy did help. It was very intensive though, and I’m not sure I’d have managed it with a newborn.

My point is that ocd can be exacerbated by postnatal hormones and exhaustion- consider getting some private therapy now before the birth? It’s not cheap but it was literally a life saver for me