It seems like you would benefit from doing some really basic breathing/kicking drills. Take a kickboard and do a length of the pool. Put your head in the water and BLOW BUBBLES until you run out of breath, then pick your head up to breath. Really concentrate on blowing out your air. I think once you become more comfy doing this basic thing you can throw in some more complicated drills while doigmn the actual stroke. Also, you might want to try breathing every 2 strokes, the problem might be that you're taking too long to do your strokes and so feel the need to gasp for air once you bring your head out of water.

Good luck!

K.