For the 35 plus first time mothers to be!

A little warning or a piece of advice, look at it the way you want to. Chances of a premature delivery is very high for the 35 plus first time mothers to be. I hate stereo typing and I chose not to read that particular page from my pregnancy guide book which discusses this problem. I had a premature delivery. The good thing was that it was detected early and my baby was only under weight. She was kept at the NICU, Neonatal ICU, just to ensure that everything was fine and that she gains weight; and she did.

Around the seventh month of my pregnancy my blood pressure started shooting up. That is an indication which I realised after my child's birth. Though I was taking pills to control BP, it was not coming down. And, 1 month and 5 days before the scheduled delivery day I had a C Section; fortunately, there was no complication. A friend had a similar situation but her water bag broke and dried up before the delivery. Poor thing, she and her son suffered quite a bit. By God's grace, both of them are doing fine now.

My darling Aanya is almost 2 months old and she is doing fine. I have been extremely careful with her from the time she came home, but now I have started treating her like any other normal baby.

When to have a baby...

In India, having a baby within a couple of years after getting married is normal. In case the period goes beyond that, thousands of questions are asked by family members, relatives, nosy neighbours, and friends. Some will ask you if there is a problem, some will suggest remedies without even asking if there is a problem or not! Those who cannot ask questions directly would normally discuss you when you are not around and jump to conclusions.

Eight years of marriage and not a baby yet, there has to be at least one problem. Yes, I am talking about myself. I wouldn't say that too many people have asked me why don't I have a kid, but some have asked my mother and also suggested that she should convince me to have a baby. To that my mother completely shut them up by saying that she does not like to interfere in anybody's personal life. Thank God, that I have such a supportive mother to shut those stupid people up! Almost all my trainees have asked if I had a kid after knowing that I was married. Wonder is it compulsory to have a kid?! An ex-colleague once called me a DINK (double income no kid) couple with a hideous grin. What was itching her I don't know, chose not be rude so I did not respond. A couple of so called friends (read acquaintance) asked if I had a problem... well I didn't even know if I had a problem... I didn't care to find out because my husband and I did not want a child then.

What always bothered me was the mental set up of people. Why is it that that a couple needs to answer to questions asked by almost inconsequential people about plans of having a child. Why is it anybody else's business when it is supposed to be only the couple's business?

It's not always about a career, it's sometimes about the maturity of the couple that delays them to plan a baby. My husband and I did not want to rush into bringing a life into this world when we ourselves were not good enough to take care of each other. We just didn't want to have a decent career and have a baby. We wanted more time for each other, we wanted to travel a fair bit. We did not want to struggle all our lives and give up our aspirations just to please the society.

I am 3 months pregnant now, and I am thoroughly enjoying my break from work after 13 years. I am sure many people who know me have assumed that I have had major problems and I had to go through treatment to get pregnant. God and life have been kind... I had things happening very smoothly so far. And I know that with all the love and blessings I have got from those who care, nothing will go wrong in the future too.

Whether to have a baby or not have one should be a couple's decision and nobody else's. And, how and when they want to time it should again be absolutely the couple's business.

Why hypothyroidism worries women!

I was detected with Hypothyroidism quite accidentally. I was suffering from a throat infection for a long time and I had to get well as I had a gig lined up in a month’s time, and I was supposed to sing. My friend, who was also a part of the band, was so tired of my sore throat, that she took me to her doctor friend to get a check up done. The doctor prescribed a course of Azythral and a set of vitamins. I had them for a week but nothing happened. I went back to the doctor again and she asked me to repeat the course. While talking to her I casually mentioned to her that lately I feel very tired and sleepy without doing much work. On hearing that she asked me to get Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) blood test, along with T4, T3 tests done. I used to be so scared of the needle and the pin prick that I just ignored her advice and did not get the blood tests done. The day of the gig was nearing and my throat still felt terrible. I was not worried about my health; all I cared was that I had to get fine to be able to sing. Therefore, I popped in a few more Azythrals; this was the third round though.

The gig went off well but the throat irritation would not go. And I knew that continuing with such strong antibiotics would not be a good idea at all. With no choice left I went to get my blood tests done, and as expected, my TSH level was high, which meant I had Hypothyroid.

I have Hypothyroid for six years now. All I need to do is take a pill of Thyronorm everyday in the morning. I live a very normal life. I haven’t bloated. The little fat that has accumulated around my tummy is just the result of eating unhealthy and not exercising. Besides that, I am 34 years old, and it’s ok to have a little tummy; this is just my way of consoling me for the tummy that just doesn’t seem to go in!

The only thing I suffer from is periodical bouts of cough and cold. But in India, who doesn’t? Thanks to the pollution and poor eating habits we all suffer, don’t we? The degree of suffering may vary from one person to another but the suffering is very much a part of normal living.

Some doctors say that Hypothyroid slows down the system slowly. Initially, when I heard this it did scare me a little, but it didn’t affect me too much as my mother has it for about 25 years, and she is just fine. I am sure there are some negative effects of Hypothyroid on the body, but it varies from one person to another. I very strongly believe that a lot of pain and suffering can be reduced by staying active and happy. My body ache may have gone up a little because of Hypothyroid. I am not sure about the body pain bit as it was told by one doctor I consulted once. Many doctors in India tend to shift the focus onto something else when they realise that they cannot help their patients heal from an ailment. So instead of going back to understanding the symptoms as common sense would suggest, they recommend a different course of treatment. As far as I am concerned I still jump about all the time; a mere body ache cannot stop me from doing what I want to do!

It is also believed that memory gets affected because of Hypothyroid. When did I have good memory power anyway? I used to forget almost everything as a 10 year old; I am sure I did not have Hypothyroid then! Coming to think of it, I forget many important things, but I do remember a whole lot of things, even those things I would rather forget.

My suggestion to all the women with Hypothyroidism is to stay calm as there is nothing to worry about. Eat healthy, exercise a little, get blood tests done once in three to four months, take the tablet regularly, and stay active and happy.

The noble profession is not so noble!

It’s sad to know there aren’t too many competent and dedicated doctors in India anymore. I am not sure how many were actually there earlier but I know for a fact that I don’t have much faith in the Indian doctors for innumerable reasons. I have seen my grandmother suffering till her death because of many doctors’ callousness and over confidence. I suffer from acute body pain from the age of 19. In spite of visiting a dozen doctors in Kolkata and Hyderabad my pain hasn’t reduced in 15 years!

My father-in-law went to a Diabetologist recently as he is diabetic and is suffering from a kind of nervous disorder. The moment he walked to the doctor’s cabin the first thing she told my father-in-law that the small lump on his nose can be dangerous and cancerous. Now, how the hell did she know what the lump was all about, without even conducting any test! That was not all. She reassured my father-in-law that cancer can be treated if detected at the early stage, and she went on to getting him an appointment with one of her colleagues who specialized in such type of cancer… what type??? This Diabetologist works in a renowned hospital in Kolkata.

Now coming to my terrible experience, a family friend who is a doctor (read quack) saw thick hair on my chin. I didn’t get time to go to a parlour for threading. He said that I probably had Polycystic Ovary (PCO). He immediately got the blood tests done, and according to him I did have PCO.

He prescribed me to take Glyciphage and Crimson 35 everyday for four months. Glyciphage is a tablet used to treat diabetes, and Crimson 35 is used as a birth control pill. These two tablets are also used for women suffering from PCO.

Those four months were nothing but the most horrific time of my life. Within a month I broke into rashes on my arms. I went to a couple of skin specialists, they gave me some anti fungal cream; they were no good. One day I just decided to stop taking Crimson 35 as I wasn’t sure whether I should take birth control pills, and the rashes disappeared!

That’s not all. During this period I also suffered from acute stomach disorder. Now that was embarrassing! I would have to run to the toilet at any odd moment, and that was so difficult, especially while I was training. I kept on thinking whether it was because of my bad food habit or something else that I was suffering. When the problem continued for four months I decided to consult a doctor. I spoke to our family doctor about this but he could not figure out anything.


The other doctor I went to suggested a few tests and a few medicines for a week. After a week he couldn't figure out what was wrong and suggested that I go to a specialist. The specialist also suggested a few more tests and a tablet called Metrogyl, thrice a day, for twenty days. At the end of the twenty days I was left with a metallic tongue, lost my sense of taste, the doctor said that nothing was wrong with me, and the problem persisted. I can’t express how frustrating it was to be in situation like that!

It was on one of the days during a very hectic work schedule that I realized that I had exhausted the Glyciphage tablets. I thought of taking a break from the tablet for a couple of days, out of sheer laziness. After two days I suddenly realised that in the past two days I did not feel any discomfort and did not have to rush to the toilet while at work. I stopped taking the tablet and realized I was fine, the four months of suffering was all gone!

I called the family doctor to tell him what happened, but he did not take any responsibility for his ignorance. I later visited a few sites on Google and found that there are women who suffer for taking Glyciphage.

What I have been talking about till now are all common things that happen in our day to day lives, and no one talks about them. Life is bad enough already and enough number of bad things will anyway happen along the way. I don’t know whether there is a way to handle these situations. The least we can do is talk to people and spread the word around, rather than hiding things because of silly shyness; we Indians are great at that! At least by this way many people can be saved from unnecessary suffering. I am doing my little bit by posting my experiences through this channel.