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Day 162 of 280 · 23 weeks + 1 day

Out of breath on the stairs

Last reviewed · 2 min read · 6 sources · Plain-text version

Twenty-three weeks and one day. Your baby is pressing up toward your lungs. Today you learn to pause on the landing, and when breathless means call.

Size this week
about the size of a large mango
Length this week
around 28.9 cm from head to heel
An East Asian woman in a loose t-shirt and leggings with a clear bump pausing halfway up a sunlit stairwell, one hand on the rail, the other on her side, smiling a little.

Twenty-three weeks and one day. If a flight of stairs has started to feel like a hill, there's a reason, and it's growing.

Your baby

One large ripe mango on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around 28.9cm long from head to heel, about the size of a large mango (NHS). Your baby is practising breathing, and developing sleep and wake patterns (NHS). It's rehearsal for a job that starts at birth.

Your body

Breathlessness may increase around now because the baby presses on your lungs, and rib pain may come as your rib cage expands (NHS). It tends to build: the NHS's week 30 page says walking up stairs may leave you breathless for the same reason (NHS), and shortness of breath is on the list of common third-trimester discomforts (OWH).

None of this means stop moving. The NHS still suggests 150 minutes of exercise a week, starting with 10 minutes a day (NHS). It means slower, with stops.

Try today

  1. The stair pause

    Time: 30 seconds, every flight

    1. On every flight of stairs today, stop at the landing or halfway, on purpose, before you need to.

    2. Stand with a hand on the rail and take three slow breaths before you go on.

    3. Carry less. Make two trips with the laundry, or hand the heavy bag to whoever is behind you.

    4. Notice how quickly your breath comes back. That recovery is your baseline, and it's what the Watch for list below is measured against.

    Make it work:

    Breathlessness from the baby pressing on your lungs is expected (NHS); being unable to catch your breath at rest is not. Know which one you have.

Watch for

  • Normal

    getting winded on stairs and recovering after a short rest (NHS).

    Seek care immediately

    for trouble breathing, or for chest pain or a fast-beating heart; both are on the CDC's list of urgent maternal warning signs (CDC).

  • Normal

    an ache along your ribs as your rib cage expands (NHS).

    Call 911

    or go to an emergency room right away for severe chest pain or shortness of breath that does not go away (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    a passing moment of dizziness, which is on this stage's symptom list (NHS).

    Call your provider

    for dizziness or fainting (CDC).

For you

Here is the line between the two, in plain words. Winded is when you're puffing at the top of the stairs and, a minute later, you're talking normally again. "Can't catch my breath" is when it doesn't come back with rest, or comes with chest pain or a racing heart, and that is a call, not a wait (CDC).

If you're the partner: walk a step behind her on the stairs this month, and carry the heavy thing without being asked. If she stops on the landing, stop too.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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