Week 19: Butterfly movements

As I sat at my desk today crunching numbers in a spreadsheet to come up with resource utilization for the quarter, I felt a slight tap on the surface of my tummy. It happened in 10 min gaps about two or three times. I didn't give it too much of thought and felt it was just my imagination until I felt it again. Mild movements that seemed more like the wings of a butterfly fluttering. Here it was the firt movements of the baby that I had felt and it felt GOOD.

The movements of a baby can be felt as early as 17 weeks however they do not become pronounced until 23-24 weeks.

Week 17: heartburn/Indigestion - what worked?

Since week 17, I have been suffering from heartburn and indigestion after lunch and dinner. At about midnight every night, I wake up because there is a burning sensation that starts at the throat and goes all the way to the stomach. And strangely, the condition worsens if I have a glass of water. This irritating feeling disturbs my sleep. I tried antacids like Gelusil, Eno but nothing helped.

For the past 2-3 days, I have been having cold milk/curd/yoghurt with a little sugar in the night before going to bed. This has worked wonders. I sleep without getting disturbed at a stretch.

Travel by auto during pregnancy...

With The Seniol away to Bangalore today for a College reunion, I am going to spend the weekend with mom. I'm way past the first trimester but have avoided traveling by auto so far. Today, being a Friday and nothing much to do at work, I decided to get back home early rather than the usual 7:00 p.m. The problem with where I work like IT parks is there is no proper public conveyance other than the company transportation which only operates at fixed times and routes. So, if one has to go to the city midday than it is an adventure if you don't have your own car.
So, anyway, I set off from office at 4:00 p.m. hoping to get the public bus by 4:15 p.m. As it turned out, the bus didn't turn up today and there were atleast a dozen more people waiting for the bus. Slowly, people started dispersing losing hope to find some other means such as taking the shared auto or tum tum as it is known here. I didn't want to risk the auto so i waited another 15 minutes until I lost patience and was tired by the standing.
Finally, mulling over walking back to office versus taking the tum-tum half way, I chose the later all the way worried about the consequences. What the heck, I thought! More than half of our pregnant women in this country can't even afford this and they go on to have safe deliveries.
It was funny how I sat in the tum-tum through the roller coaster ride to avoid the bumps causing fellow passengers to stare at me as if I was from another planet who has never been on a shared auto (which is true BTW). So, here I was with my bum lifted all the way whenever there was a hole in the road. My tummy doesn't show yet for one to figure out that I am pregnant. The 10 Km ride was horrible - I bet the some of the rural roads are better..and this one leads to the IT corridor of Pune.
Well, an hour later I reached home and mom was shocked to see me at that hour and the means of transport I had taken to be there. I am just hoping, all goes well.

Natural Remedies to control Nausea : Process of Elimination

Nausea or Morning Sickness as is commonly known is one of the most common symptoms of pregnancy. It all started one evening when we were visiting a friend's place and I felt so tired that I couldn't explain and excused myself back home. The evening tea churned itself before finding its way to the wash basin. When the same episode repeated next morning, I knew what was happening...

I'm so glad that the first trimester is officially over and the signs of irritability are waning..I'm told some people experience morning Sickness throughout the term of their pregnancy accompanied by tiredness and lethargy and inability to get up from bed every morning. Morning sickness occurs due to hormonal changes, changes in blood pressure etc..I've been lucky so far as not to experience severe Morning Sickness.

It was tough to determine what caused my mood swings initially so I followed the process of elimination. What suits one person and does not suit one varies from one woman to another. Sense of smell and taste is very high now. Some of the things that caused me irritiation were:

1. Milk


2. The smell of making chappathi


3. Grinding masala and deep fryng

Natural Remedies to control Nausea:

1. Having identified what causes nausea by the process of elimination over a few weeks, I satyed away from them until I was totally sure the phase is over. When dinner was made, i would take a stroll in the terrace to be away from the masala frying and making of rotis. If you have to cook your dinner, then I suggest cook something that suits you for the others as well. Your health is of prime importance now.


2. Pomogranate is know to have medicinal qualities in controlling nausea. So have it any form you like - as seeds, as juice or mixed with honey.


3. Deep breathing. For 12 weeks now, I have been practising deep breathing as and when I can. Inhale and exhale deeply concentrating on the breathing with eyes closed.


4. Consume iron rich foods. I started having salads instead of cooked food for lunch everyday. That did wonders.


5. Try herbal tea or crackers.

Low Haemoglobin count ?

Haemoglobin levels are tested for every trimester during the pregnancy. While the normal range for men is between 13-18, for women it should be anywhere between 11-16 (unit of mesurement is GM %).

If you are low on blood count, here are a few tips to increase the same through your diet:

1. Beetroot, carrot salad


2. Pomogranates


3. Food that is rich in Iron such as spinach leaves, dates, raisins. Follow this iron rich diet with some citrus rich food that makes absorbing iron easier.


4. Lots of dark green leafy vegetables


5. Refrain from coffee and tea as this makes it difficult for the body to absorb iron


6. Finally an iron supplement prescribed by the doctor

Week 15 : Blood test

I went in for my first blood test today. Blood test usually done at the end of teh first trimester is done for the following per my doctor:

1. HIV


2. Haemoglobin


3. Blood group and Rh factor


4. Iron Levels


5. Hepatitis B


6. Random Blood Sugar and Urine Sugar


7. Routine Urine Test

For the blood sugar test, one need not fast.