From the minute my son was born, his body shook violently. There would be sessions of tremors when his hands/legs would shake violently. Until the end of day 1, we thought he was cold outside and covered him though it was warm. The a/c was turned off and the room kept warm too. Despite this, the tremors did not stop and on the second night he cried continuously. Nothing stopped his crying - feeding, comforting him on the shoulders. That's when we sought the help of the nurses at the hospital at about 4:00 a.m. who after observing him for 20 mins called the Paediatrician.
The Doc said he had to be shifted to a children's ICU ad kept under observation for a minimum of 24 hours. Diagnosis revealed that he had developed or rather was born with a condition known as Hypocalcemia - Calcium deficiency. A feeling of guilt engulfed me as I had skipped Calcium Sandoz tablets during the last fortnight of my pregnancy and my milk intake in the first trimester was very low.
The causes of Hypocalcemia extend beyond mother's itake of calcium during the pregnancy. Lack of adequate sunlight (vitamin D) - especially people confined to indoors through the day are more prone to this.
He was treated with intravenous doses of calcium for 2 days at the ICU. This was followed by a full course of antibiotics after which the tremors reduced considerably. A week later when it relapsed, he was prescribed 2ml of Ostocalcium syrup every night for 15 days.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
