Pregnant, out of breath and shuffling

[Velvetscrunchy]

Hi
This has happened to me three times in the last week, more so yesterday and I wondered if anyone else had experienced it, and what it is.
I am approx 24 weeks.
Sometimes I walk absolutely fine with no issues. Yesterday I would walk a few steps and be out of breath. I’d feel hot and nauseated and have to rest for a bit. It was a slightly uphill part of town I was in but it wasn’t that steep. The times before, I’ve walked longer but then suddenly felt my bump feel heavier and felt nauseated/slightly light headed. I learnt that putting my hands under to lift my bump helped me feel better sooner. My bump isn’t that big yet. Plus lifting it to walk makes me look a little daft!

Any clues as to what this is? I assume the baby moves and presses on a nerve or vessel which causes this but wanted to hear some first hand experience. I’ll be letting my midwife know at my next appt.

If you’re having difficulty breathing I would call your midwife/hospital/triage today personally, don’t wait till your next appointment.

Better to be safe than sorry, don’t worry about wasting their time if it turns out it’s nothing to worry about… that’s what they’re there for.

It could be anemia but you need to call you midwife asap

It’s only happened when I’m walking, no other time. I’m fine at home moving around. Fine popping to the shops etc.

Okay... But what have you got to loose by getting it checked out?

I get this - kind of. Not really a difficulty breathing but I get out of breath just walking. Like I can't hold a conversation without pausing to take a breath.

Not hot/nauseated though.

From what I gather it's normal - your organs are moving to make room for expanding uterus.

If it feels unusual though speak to midwife.

Completely normal. Is it your first pregnancy? My first - I never had any difficulties. My second - I pretty much cannot function since about 20 weeks. I’m huge, out of breath, can’t walk more than 100 meter on my own, get painful stitches - all completely normal. Do tell your midwife of course but she will just tell you to take it easy and look after yourself. This pregnancy after 20 weeks if I walked or got tired my bump would get so hard I’d almost faint

I felt like a heffer and out of breath on and off from about 16 weeks. But as others have said best mention to midwife who can check for anaemia.

Could also maybe be spells of low blood pressure which I’ve been having on and off, they make me feel nauseous, light headed and hard to catch a breath.

Hi OP, I am 27 weeks and have been breathless from about 21 weeks, as well as super tired. I asked GP for full blood count which showed that my iron levels were quite low. I was prescribed iron tablets. To be honest I haven't seen a huge improvement yet, but maybe a slight one. I found it easier requesting this through my GP, rather than MW, but it probably depends on how your care is being managed

Thank you everyone. I’m seeing my midwife on Monday.
Today it went up a notch. I have been keeping a note of the symptoms, and whenever this comes on, I feel as though I need to have a bowel movement, become hot, then feel sick and need to stop to take the pressure off. I usually find a wall to semi-sit against and this helps everything calm down except today - today the world suddenly went brighter, I felt light headed and it took a bit longer to feel back to normal. I am absolutely fine as long as I don’t cross this walking threshold that’s appeared. I used to walk miles!