Avial

Avial

Goes best with Adai. And has so many vegetables !! Full of nutrition, vitamins and Fibre. It is not necessary that you add all the vegetables mentioned below, any combination would work. You can add all your favorite vegetables. I generally do not like to miss Pooshnika as it gives avail its taste.

Ingredients

• 4 potatoes – cut them into big squares
• ½ Pooshnika – again cut them into big squares
• 15 beans
• Green peas – about ¼ cup
• 2 carrots
• 2 drumstick
• 2 cups thick curd

Preparation

• Cut all the vegetables into big squares. Beans, carrot should be cut as inch tubes.
• Pressure cook to boil all the vegetables. Make sure that you do not overcook, as the vegetables will get mashed.
• Grind Jeera ( Jeeragam), Green chillies, coconut and soaked chana daal. As most of us in the family are diabetic, I usually miss coconut.
• Take curd, add the ground mix, curry leaves and the vegetables. Do not keep in the stove. Add salt and mix well.
• Keep in stove for just about 2 minutes. Not more. If you keep for a longer period, the curd will break.

 

You are done! Add some more curry leaves and serve with Adai.

Pre-term labor or Braxton Hicks Contractions or Uterine irritability

I was 22 weeks pregnant, and one night I was sitting on my couch and all of a sudden I started with period like cramps. Having come 22 weeks far, I was used to cramps now and then. But the cramps did not stop even after 30 minutes and they kept increasing in intensity. The pain was like menstrual like cramps in the lower abdomen. I did not know if I was starting to have pre term labor or it was normal Braxton Hicks Contractions. Luckily my husband was not travelling that week and he wanted me to go to the doctor immediately. I was hesitant. 

To the ER..

I waited for about 30 minutes, checked some blogs on the internet.  All of them suggested going the Labor and Delivery for a checkup. But again, I was hesitant. I tried various techniques suggested on the internet to ease my pain. I drank a lot of fluid and lied down on my left side. No, it was still hurting. My husband was adamant and I decided to go the ER. I called my hospital’s nurse line and they asked me to rush to ER as soon as possible. I got the address of my nearest hospital. I could see the tension on my husband’s face. We didn’t want to lose this baby at any cost. I sat in the car and I was still hurting. Just 6 months ago, my closest friend had a 6 month miscarriage. I was imagining that something like that was going to happen to me. We arrived in the hospital and went straight into L & D. The nurse checked and said I was having contractions. I panicked but luckily they were mild. Not like the ones during actual labor. But the word contraction got me and my husband tensed.  The nurse said that my cervix needed to be checked to see if I had dilated. And again I was safe. But I was still hurting. The on call doctor advised for an injection dosage of Terbutaline 2.5 mg. The nurse waited for 20 minutes to check if my contractions were gone and yes they were. I was in great relief. But she wanted me to check with my gyn the next day. The whole night me and husband kept praying. 

On complete bed rest…

I was bed ridden the whole night but could not sleep because of tension. I met my gyn the next day and she asked me to be on bed rest most of the times throughout the day. She also asked me to drink plenty of water. I asked her what it was. She was not that clear. She said it could be Braxon Hicks Contractions or Uterine Irritability. She prescribed Terbutaline 2.5 mg every 6 hours if I started hurting again. I cannot explain my feelings for the next couple of weeks. I tried by best to be safe. And fortunately I never had to take medications or go to the doctor. But what were those.

I read a lot of article and Braxton Hicks contractions do not hurt. They only cause some mild discomfort. This is caused by something called Uterine Irritability.

Uterine Irritability

Uterine Irritability is discomfort/contractions in the uterus when your Uterus expands when the baby grows. Your uterus expands and stretches as the baby grows to a bigger size. This causes menstrual like cramps. But they do not cause the cervix to be dilated.  It is hard to differentiate between pre-term labor and Uterine Irritability. So if you are hurting and have any of the following symptoms DO NOT WAIT. Head straight to your hospital or the nearest one. Doctors can prescribe or inject Muscle relaxer like Terbutaline and keep you on watch.  Remember it is better to be safe than sorry.

Precautions

Water the elixir of life !! Drink drink plenty of water all the time throughout your pregnancy. Drink at least 10 glasses of water. It can do wonders. And does wonders. Water eases the Uterine when it expands. So no pain while your Uterus expands ! and no Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)

Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestasis

I was 38 weeks pregnant and started with sudden itching throughout my body. Initially, for the first 2-3 days I thought it was because of dry skin and applied a lot of moisturizer, body oil but nothing seemed to help. The itching was all throughout the body. From head to toe and severe at night. I wasn’t sure if I should take it up as a serious issue and go the doctor or consider it as just another pregnancy symptom. I checked the internet and realized that this could be potentially serious issue. I went to my gyn the next day and she suspected Cholestatis and felt I should immediately go for a bile acid test. But my gyn was not even okie to wait for the results. She wanted me to deliver the baby as soon as possible. I advise every pregnant women with Itching symptom not to take it lightly. Go ahead and check with your doctor. Remember, if not tested as the right time, it could turn fatal. After all, it wouldn’t harm to be cautious than be sorry. It is definitely not worth losing your baby. So here is some low down on Obstetric Cholestatis.

What is Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis?

What causes Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis?

What are the symptoms of Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis?

How is Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis diagnosed?

Will Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis affect the baby?

How will Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis affect you?

Can Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis be treated? And if yes, how?

What is Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis?

Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis is a rare condition in pregnancy that is usually caused in the third trimester. It affects almost less than one percent of the pregnant women. Normally bile acid which helps break down food and fat flows down into the intestines. But for some pregnant women who have Cholestatis, less bile acid flows down the intestines and the remaining build in the body.

What causes Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis?

It is still unknown what causes Cholestatis. Some believe it is caused by increased stress during the second and third trimester. And some experts believe it is caused by increased level of Progesterone and Estrogen hormone in the third trimester.

What are the symptoms of Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis?

While it is very common to have some itching throughout your pregnancy because of changes to your expanding skin, go to your doctor immediately if your notice the following symptoms. Note not all itching is Cholestatis

• You are in your third trimester and you have sudden itching thoughtout your body without “rashes”. Remember for some women it could even start earlier – in your second trimester
• Itching is so severe that your find it difficult to control itching. It was so hard for me that I felt I needed to use a comb with thick teeth all though my body
• Itching is more in your palms and feet and more noticeable at night. Why you have more itching at night is, because at night you are more relaxed and your notice more!
• Your itching does not ease after a day or two of using body lotion, good non-fragrant moisturizer like Aveno and a body oil like Coconut oil.

How is Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis diagnosed?

Cholestatis is diagnosed by a simple blood test. Your doctor will ask you to have a blood test done for bile acid. But your itching will start earlier than it would show on your blood test results. It even takes about 2-3 days for your results to be back. It is because, it takes some time for the bile acids to build in your blood but the itching starts as soon as there is less flow of  bile to your intestines. For me, the blood results came back negative the first time. The doctor felt that it would take about a week for Cholestatis to show in the blood work.

Will Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis affect the baby?

This is the first question that comes to your mind. In your third trimester, you are not even worried if something affects you, all you want is to deliver your baby healthy. So to answer your question, Yes, Cholestatis affects your baby and can be even be fatal if the baby is not delivered earlier than the due date. If you have Cholestatis, you are more likely to go into premature labor at a time you are not even prepared. If you do not deliver soon enough, it can even lead to still birth. This is the reason most doctors recommend delivering the baby earlier than the due date. How earlier depends on the gestation age. Most doctors wait for 36 weeks so that the baby’s lungs are developed. If you are past 36 weeks and have recently developed itching symptoms, doctors wait for the bile acid results and the level of bile salts in results. But if you have other pregnancy complications like gestational diabetes, your doctors will prefer you to deliver as soon as possible.

When I was 38 weeks and had severe itching, I thought it was some kind of itching that would ease in a day or two. I was ignorant about this and was browsing internet one night only to find out that many women had delivered still babies because of Cholestatis.

How will Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis affect you?

The itching caused by Cholestatis does not cause a rash but your will have reddish inflamed skin. You will find it very difficult to sleep at night. As for me, I was usually awake most of the night after week 38.  The itching only got worser. It is also believed that some pregnant women with Cholestatis develop gestational jaundice. Some women may also bleed heavily like a mild hemorrhage.

Can Obstetric/Pregnancy Cholestatis be treated? And if yes, how?

Cholestatis cannot be treated with medications. Your doctor will only give your some advice on easing the itching and will ask you to deliver early. Your itching will go away after you have the baby in 7-10 days most of the times even earlier than that. For me, the itching lasted for about 4 days after my daughter was born.

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EGold vs ETF Gold

Most of the investors are greatly confused as to what are the difference between two types of paper gold i.e ETF Gold and E gold

I want to share with you all what I understood from our experts over a period of time what is ETF and E-Gold.

1. ETF gold can be bought and sold like stocks in NSE and BSE and no separate Demat and trading a/c is necessary and the Demat and trading a/c opened for stocks can be used for trading or investment in ETF gold.
2. A separate Demat and trading a/c from the members of National Spot exchange is required to be opened for E-Gold and E-Silver. E-gold and E-Silver can be bought in MCX also (Multi commodity Exchange) If one is already trading in MCX and the same a/c can be used for E-gold and E-Silver.

3. There is no ETF Silver and therefore to invest or trade in silver, E-Silver is only way and a demat and trading a/c from the members of National Spot exchange or MCX is required to be opened.

4. ETF gold can be bought in units the minimum of one unit is equivalent to one gram and E-Gold or E-sliver can also be bought for a minimum of 1 gram.

5. Funds of ETF gold are invested in gold by the fund mangers like SBI gold,Reliance gold etc and therefore the value will rise or fall as per gold rate. E-gold of E-silver rate also fluctuate as per gold rate in National spot exchange and as per MCX gold rate.

6. The Gold rate mentioned in E gold or ETF gold is for pure 24 carrot gold and not that of 22 carat ornamental gold.

7. Both the ETF and E series rates are on real time basis during the market timings of Securities and MCX markets.

8. The ETF market timings are between 9.15 and 15.30 hrs whereas MCX market is between 10.00 and 23.30 hrs.

9. The charges (brokerage, taxes etc) for buying or selling in ETF gold is as per the same rates applicable to NSE/BSE for shares whereas the charges for buying or selling  E-gold and E-silver are as per the charges applied to MCX market .

10. There are no separate charges for storing (warehousing) the gold on behalf us either in ETF or in E-gold or E-Silver however annual Demat maintenance charges are levied.

11. Physical delivery for every 8 gram of E-gold and silver can be taken provided one pays VAT whereas physical delivery is not possible in ETF and however after physical delivery selling in the open market is subject to various difficulties.

12. In both securities and commodity markets future trading is possible.

13. Profit on sale of ETF gold within one year will be clubbed to the income of the individual and taxed and more than one will attract long term capital gain tax whereas profit on sale of gold in Spot exchange or MCX after three years will attract long term capital gain tax.