Posted in Pregnancy

Gestational Diabetes and how to control it

Posted on by Mirchi

All my test reports were mostly good throughout until I had my next set of blood tests at 25 weeks. I had CBC (complete blood count )test and GTT (Glucose tolerance test)

Tests were done taking blood sample and urine sample, but there is a process for GTT test. Note: Some doctors write GCT (Glucose challenge test). There is a slight difference in process of taking the test but purpose is more or less similar.

GTT process:  Doctor will prescribe a glucose powder which has to be consumed first thing in the morning. You need to dissolve the glucose powder in certain amount of water (For me it was 75gm of powder in 300ml water) and the drink it empty stomach. We are not supposed to move around or do much physical activity till blood sample is taken. I had give blood sample in 2 hours. So, I consumed glucose water and slept back again for 2 hours.

I was surprised to see my blood sugar level. It was too high.

I had iron deficiency as well. Low haemoglobin.

Even doctor was disappointed, as until now everything was going well, my weight, blood count wbc rbc haemoglobin etc. Sudddenly everything was disturbed. I was losing weight in 1st trimester (I didnt vomit in 1st trimester) and suddenly gained 8 kgs in a span of less than 2 months. I gained 1 kg per week on average.

Actually, I got tensed as I was losing weight and everyone around was telling me that I am not consuming enough food. Even I thought gaining weight would be better. So, I started eating everything which I used to avoid- Potatoes( Aloo ki sabzi, aloo toast etc,) Puris (fried indian bread), lots of sweets (my favs were rasagulla, rasmalai), bananas and everything that would help me gain weight.

I was strictly advised to control weight and follow diabetic diet. I was given 1 week’s deadline by doctor to bring my sugar level back to normal ; else I had to see a endocrinologist and start medication.

FYI normal sugar levels for pregnancy is below 90 at fasting and below 120 postprandial. (as my advised by my doctor)

I was quite worried yet determined to not take additional medicines and visit any other specialist doctor. I strongly believed that I can bring my blood sugar level back to normal.

Did I get success in it and what did I do is in the next post. !!

Take away pointers 

  • Its OK to lose weight in 1st Trimester
  • Dont listen to everyone around.
  • Stick to eating healthy. It helps mom and well as proper growth of Baby.
  • It is very common to have gestational diabetes.
  • If you have family history of Diabetics then you are more likely to get gestational diabetes.
  • Most important * having diabetes can have effects on baby also.
  • Keep check on your weight.
  • Dont gain too much. Till end of third trimester you must gain 10-12 kgs.
  • if possible monitor blood sugar from 2nd trimester onwards at home.
  • Dont miss iron calcium tablets.

 

Hope this helps

 

 

 

Posted in Pregnancy

28th Week Doppler Scan

Posted on by Mirchi

My last scan was in early February. That was the last time I saw my baby on screen. Since last 2 months, I was eagerly waiting for the next scan day to come. I so much wanted to see whats going on within. What the baby is actually doing when I am so much happening in the tummy- kicks, turns, shocks, hardening on one side , one part of tummy swelling, something constantly knocking my belly, so so much. All this was really exciting as well as troubling sometimes.

16th April 2019, I booked an appointment for Doppler Scan (as recommended by my doctor ) and a subsequent consultation from treating obstetrician. I went to the Hospital and couldnt wait to complete the formalities. I asked the nurse to take me inside the sonography room, and that my husband will complete the documentation. I was in a Hurry to see the baby (also it was office time, husband was getting late too).

The scan started and Radiologist showed me something round and oval shape. I was wondering what is it, then the Doc said its the Head. Then in another image, she showed me Stomach (another round thing), then the heart. Then from some angle we got to see hands and later legs. After a minute doctor showed something and said this is the face and here is nose.  I felt why everything is so zoomed in. So I said Radiologist, “Can’t I see my full baby in single image.”. To which she replied negative. 😦

She said “now the baby is too big to be seen in a single image” Then I got to know that my baby was over 1 kg now.  Grown more than 3 times since I last saw. Her/His current size of just the head would the size of baby in February. .

Still,  I could see nose at least and shut eyelids. Nose looked like baby’s dad’s nose.

I was happy, that everything was normal- Water in the womb, baby’s growth, heartbeat and everything else.

Doctor Consultation 

Last time I visited, doctor was concerned about my fast growing weight and increased blood sugar levels. First trimester, I didnt gain any weight, rather I lost a kg. While in the second trimester I had already gained 9kgs by 21st week.

This time my weight was same (actually a few hundred grams lesser than last time), thanks to yoga and walk which I started plus a diet control. Blood Sugar levels had also dropped, but it wasnt upto doctor’s satisfaction. She wanted before breakfast reading to be below 90, mine was 95, post lunch reading to be below 120, mine was 104.

Still I was suggested to strictly follow a healthy and diabetic diet, so that my blood sugar levels are below 90. So I had to stopp eating mangoes now, which are a favorite in the summer season, but cravings becomes secondary when it comes to health and primarily when the is a Life growing inside.

Posted in AnteNatal Yoga

My Pregnancy Yoga.

Posted on by Mirchi

I started practicing yoga when I was around five and half months pregnant. I saw some videos online regarding what Yogasana and Yog Pranayaamas are safe in Pregnancy. I started with some pranayam which I felt were really safe. Then I also hired a Yoga instructor.

Here is how we start :

(Disclaimer: This is completely based on what I am practicing, I am not a professional instructor or doctor, just a pregnant mother. These are my experiences only)

First we started with prayers.

Sit on yoga mat in Sukhasana or Padmasana. Keep back straight and chin parallel to the ground. Close eyes and take deep breath. Then we start with three Omkar Chants. Take a deep breath and say Om. There will be a longer sound of Ooooo and shorter duration of mmmm. This is repeated 3 times. (I think we can chant this as many times as comfortable. 5 , 7 or 11). Then we say Gayatri Mantra, and 2 other shanti mantras. These mantras and Omkar chant are believed to have positive vibrations.

Then we did some pranayams and then exercises to loosen up the joints and all parts of the body.

This was followed by certain Yogasana or Yoga poses. My instructor has recommended me to practice Butterfly pose and Cat pose Daily.

Posted in Pregnancy

Baby Kicks- in the Tummy

Posted on by Mirchi

While we lovely ladies develop a new human inside us, there are lot of changes that happen in our body and the baby’s anatomy. These changes bring in lots of discomfort for us. We face all of those to grow a  healthy baby, whom we cant even see (except for the days of Ultrasound scan. We dont know whats going on there inside actually. Some of us do not even feel much difference in the first trimester. But then second trimester comes with surprises for the First time mommies.

Around 18-22 weeks we start noticing some flutters, some poking, some bubbles in lower abdomen. And then, suddenly we realize its neither gas or any any stomach disorder. Its the human inside us who is learning to do different things.

I dont remember the exact day when I first noticed my baby kick. Its my first pregnancy and I had no idea whether the feeling in tummy is due to the food or the baby. Sometimes, in the 19th week I thought these must be baby movements, but then again I thought , that might be gas bubbles. Its just my mind which is saying its baby movements, coz i have been reading on internet that we start feeling movements by 18th week.

At my 21st week I had doctor visit. Then the gynaec asked me whether, I have started feeling movements. To that I responded “probably no”. “you should start feeling in next few weeks. Observe those” The doc said.

Next day morning I felt something in my stomach. I told my husband that I could feel baby move. To that he laughed off and said its all in your mind, because yesterday doc said baby must be moving. After sometime baby moved again and I asked him to feel it. But my naughty baby didnt respond. This continued till almost a week. Baby wouldnt respond whenever his/her Dad would be around to feel. Then once I recorded a video of my tummy and sent him the movements, for him to believe and enjoy.

Since then, baby movements are increasing and getting harder. I could really feel hard sometimes. My lil one gets very active at night (not sure if its same with everyone). Sometimes its really difficult to sleep. He/She has started waking me up at midnight with kicks. Although with all the difficulties, everytime my baby move, I smile from within.

This is the next most amazing feeling. I feel connected with my baby and now I have started talking more to my baby.

Nowadays, what I feel is baby responds quite a lot to his Dads voice. He/She would definitely make some movement when her dad is talking.

As I go through this journey of pregnancy, my love for baby is growing with each day. Each day makes me realize, the behind the special bond of a mother and child. Now I understand my mother much better, I am understanding why a mom can go out of the way to do anything for her child.

Love and Salute to all the Moms and Parents ❤

Posted in AnteNatal Yoga, Pregnancy

AnteNatal Classes (Yoga vs Physiotherapy)

Posted on by Mirchi

During my last visit to Doctor, that’s around when I was 20 weeks pregnant, she suggested me to start with Antenatal Classes. We didnt have much idea about. Many of us wouldnt know about it in First Pregnancy. So, I started doing some research about it to gather more information.

Before that, what do we mean by Antenatal Classes?

The word ‘antenatal’ means ‘before birth’ relating to pregnancy mostly. If we break the word into ante and natal. Ante means- before or in front of . Natal means relating to birth( nay be a time or place as well). So antenatal care is complete care required during pregnancy period. Antenatal is also know as Prenatal.

Antenatal classes basically prepares the couple/ or just the mother for the journey of pregnancy. It focuses on labour and birth. There are classes to prepare mind and body of the mother to prepare her for the labour and to ensure smooth journey of birthing. Then there are some couple workshops which prepare the couple to take care of the baby pre and post birth. Workshops  guided towards nutrition both post and pre-birth, lactation classes, workshops for imparting spirituality in the unborn baby are also there. To be parents can choose from the workshops as per their convenience.

I decided to go for classes which would prepare me for labour and birthing. This is most important for a smoother pregnancy. I had 3 options with me :

  1. Get entire prenatal consultation at the Hospital where I was seeing my Gynaecologist
  2. Just Physiotherapy classes somewhere outside
  3. Yoga classes.

The Hospital consultation  included many things- Dietitian/ Nutritionist consultation, physiotherapy consultation(just consultation), lactation sessions, Lamaze classes in last month (breathing exercises),  managing baby affairs etc. It also included post natal classes, like consultation on pregnancy weight loss,lactation etc. I found this option to be bit costly and not of primary requirement for me. I wanted some exercises or yoga to prepare me for delivery.

I started exploring Physiotherapy classes and Yoga classes for Moms-to-be. Unfortunately, I couldnt find any group classes. Yes that was unfortunate, because I mostly stay indoors since the time I am pregnant and classes would be a nice way to meet new people and exchange vibes.

After much inquiry,  I cut down on one Physiotherapy and one yoga centre. Both were one-on-one sessions. Before choosing one of these, I decided to opt for 1 day trial class for both.

My physiotherapy class was done at the centre. There I met a Doctor graduated in Physiotherapy. She assessed my entire file to understand if there are any complications in pregnancy, and whether and what kind of exercises would be safe and useful for me. There was nothing much to assess with my pregnancy. I found the assessment session to be a waste of money. I realised the session was mostly for a Yes or no to go ahead with Physio. The exercises in the trial class were though good. Simple ones for 1st class.

Then was the turn to try out yoga. Infact after my physio session, I had decided to go ahead with Yoga, before the try out session of yoga. Yoga session was at home, as per my time and convenience. My instructor was a post graduate and diploma holder in Yoga, power yoga and naturotherapy and 5yrs experienced. We started with some discussion on benefits and safety of Yoga. We did some prayers, then breathing exercises and then warm-up, and some asanas.

Yoga was definitely the choice I had to make. What I felt is,

Physio trains the body, but yoga is for entire mind, body and soul. I believe, regular practice of Yoga would also help in calming the mind of the baby.

 

Posted in Pregnancy

Visit to Fetal Medicine Doctor

Posted on by Mirchi

5th Jan 2019 (Saturday)

Finally, on this day, we decided to visit to fetal medicine doctor for consultation. Both of us were actually not very clear about what fetal doctor would do. I was of the Opinion that the doctor would perform a better NT scan, because at our last NT scan the radiologist had difficulty in getting right position of the baby. My husband thought that Trisomy 21 (down’s syndrome) if detected at early stage can be cured. I knew it was a chromosomal disorder and cannot be cured, but I was hoping that in this NT scan result will be negative for Trisomy 21. Moreover the major reason to visit was that it was our gynaec’s recommendation and we cant visit her again without seeing Fetal doc.

With all doubts we reached the specialized clinic and submitted our file. After waiting for about half an hour we met the doctor. Doctor explained us all about the syndrome- how does it happen, what is the probability, what is NT scan and what is double marker.

The chances of baby having the disorder was 0.2% which is as good as nil. The double marker tests give no confirmation of disorder. We could do further tests if we wanted to confirm. He gave us following options:

1: Do nothing about it

2: Opt for a genetic sonogram. This can be done along with anomaly scan, but this is again a 93% accurate marker.

3: Opt for an invasive test. This test inserts a needle in the fetus to get the DNA of baby. This is 100% accurate marker but this had risk of abortion. Moreover its an expensive test

4: Go for NIPT. In this blood sample of mother is taken. This is safe to do but again not a 100% one. Its 99.2% accurate, and is super expensive.

Doctor left the decision on us. My husband got a clarity about the disorder. We got to know, this cannot be cured. I knew I want the baby. For me there was no point in going for any test, giving birth to the baby and hoping for the healthiest child was the only option. I couldnt control my emotions while returning back and saying all this to my husband. I didnt want to go for any other tests. He calmed me down and said even he doesnt want, as there is no point in getting tests done. Moreover the risk was mere 0.2% which is almost nil.

We decided we will visit the gynaec and say, we decided to do nothing about the double marker test and believe ALL IS WELL. 🙂

 

Posted in Pregnancy, Uncategorized

Past Happenings in 2nd Trimester

Posted on by Mirchi

Its been a long time since I posted anything. I really regret that. I have been bit busy with my brother’s marriage, and settling and relaxing after that.

Dont Worry!. I am gonna cover it all in this and the upcoming posts.

A lot has happened in Last 2 months: My visit to the doctor, travelling via flight ,Anomaly scan, brother’s marriage, me dancing while in pregnancy and some sleep deprived nights. I am sure you can imagine how much I have to cover up. Most important of all the topics is feeling the first kick and movement of Baby.

Now, I have decided to take out time and post daily to cover each event and my experiences.

Pregnancy is a beautiful journey. Its different everytime and for everyone. So everyone should enjoy and cherish their experiences.

Posted in Pregnancy, Uncategorized

The New Year Bash 2019

Posted on by Mirchi

My first vacation in pregnancy. (A late post. This was in draft since a long time)

We had booked a 5-star resort for the New year eve. Our package included all meals and a gala dinner at the New Year Eve.

I was all excited for all this. Moreover, it was our leisure trip, though a very short one, but after a very long time. Almost a year. We had been on a couple of other vacations during the year, but none was just for leisure. The best part of this year was that, there were just two of us. (yes, sometimes I do like to spend a lot of time with my other half). The added plus to this was that there wouldnt be any unwanted crowd. We selected a family resort, and the party was only for the in-house guests. So, No huligan crowd, no eve teasing, not too much of drinks and drunken people.

(yet to update )

 

Posted in Pregnancy, Uncategorized

Office Office (After Long)

Posted on by Mirchi

4th Jan 2019. Friday

Its around 1:20 PM and I am feeling fresh and more energetic. Since last 2 months this time I would be preparing my lunch eating and then take a post lunch nap. But today its different. I was in office before 11.30 AM. I logged in to emails. Checked, read and deleted few. Replied to and wrote some fresh emails. Replied to pending messages on Linkedin and accepted more than 10 new invites. Now its time for my lunch. After that I am planning to start with pending assignments. I will be back in the evening and update the post again with how was my rest of the day. Till now loving today ❤

Its 7.30PM, and I am back with more from today.

While I went to wash my hands before lunch, returning back from washroom I saw a coworker from distance so I pretended to be busy and overlook him. I didnt want to meet many people today. But I couldnt avoid myself from his eyesight. He came to my desk, we went to common area and then  chatted for almost an hour. Mostly regarding business growth, payroll strategies, hiring trends, colleges,etc.

It was almost 3 when I came back to my seat. My lunch time was over. Luckily, I had salad before getting up for lunch. So I wasnt that hungry. I immediately opened my lunch box and finished my small meal. Then fruits after half an hour. Around 4.15 PM, I thought of walking down and having fresh coconut water or lassi. Again, as I was waiting for the lift to reach my floor and get into it, I saw another coworker coming from the same lift. Another half an hour gone. (sigh). Then finally I went to have coconut water, but nothing fresh was available. I returned with a packet of biscuit to support in emergency.

The coworker meeting was not over. While entering the office again I met a coworker cum client. I cant avoid this one. I certainly wanted to interact with him and get updates on projects. Suddenly I realized it was 5.30 PM . I had decided, I would leave early today and reach home by 6PM maximum. So I rushed to desk, shut my laptop and came back.

Some small things happened in between. My husband called me to check if everything was fine with me, as it was 1st day of my office. I was really mesmerized and happy because normally he was too busy at work cant make out time to call.

Spoke to mom about silly things, baby’s age in womb, her activities inside, my feelings. Talking about the baby itself makes me feel like in another world :* ❤

Posted in Pregnancy

Office Office (Prior Mood)

Posted on by Mirchi

4th January 2019, Friday.

1st Day of my office.

No, its now a new office, neither that I changed my job. I am resuming to office exactly after 2 months break. Its also the first day at office in this new year 2019. I have my own startup, so I had given myself the Maternity break. Being on this leave was not so easy for me. I am so much used to leaving home in the morning (rather afternoon) and returning back in the evening. The routine was so set. Things were peacefully organised and properly set in my mind and minds of everyone in the family as well.

Suddenly this break, just because I had some spotting and everyone, including me, wanted to be more careful about the baby in womb. It had changed everything. Initial few days at home were good. I got enough sleep, not much of daily chores to do. But slowly I started feeling something was wrong. I was just eating monitoring the house-help we had hired for pregnancy, the eat sleep, talk to mom or some friends on phone again eat, watch some telly series etc. I couldnt even gather the energy and mood to start my work from home. I was going into loss. Suddenly losing all my clients and work and on the verge of getting back to ZERO.

Since last three weeks, I was deciding almost everyday that, today I am going to go to office and resume my work, but it didnt happen for some or the other reason: be it family, be it husband being reluctant in dropping me to office or worries about my diet or my low energy level. My decision everyday to start work from home at least also didnt happen. I always thought of taking a nap first or call someone for a chat or watch some series for a while.

Today, finally I decided. I would leave everything behind and care about my babies- The one in womb and the one which is startup. The baby in womb also needs to meet other people, feel happier as the MOM feels better, feel different emotions and much more.

(contd:….)