Pregnancy Week By Week – Week 14

As a first time to-be-mother, pregnancy was a completely new experience for me. I had a lot of questions and was fondling to understand the changes taking place in my body. I was equally worried about the growth of my baby inside my womb.

With this blog series, “Pregnancy Week By Week”, I hope to extend a helping hand to all expecting parents by telling you about my journey.

There might be some things that you would be able to relate to and would even give you solace to know that someone went through the exact same thing as you. Hope I’m able to help!

Disclaimer – This is entirely my personal experience. The intent of this blog is not to advice but only to share. Any medication, medical examinations, dietary intake or exercise, mentioned in this blog, were prescribed as per my pregnancy and my body. Please do not perform these without consulting your medical adviser.

Results from Double Marker and NIPT Tests

This week we got the test results for Double Marker and Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), for which I had given blood sample last week, in Week 13 of Pregnancy. I have discussed about these tests in detail in my last week’s blog.

Here is a snapshot of the result from both the tests.

Thankfully, both the tests showed that we were at low risk of genetic disorder.

One thing to note here is that doctors might not always recommend NIPT on their own. The reason being that it’s a far more expensive test, at least in India.

Double marker test cost us INR 2,200, while NIPT was 5 times this cost, which was INR 12,000. However, it’s good to be aware of this test and get it done because results from this test are far more accurate than those from the double marker.

Double marker test also provides some additional stats that your doctor might want to see for a more holistic view.

Pregnancy Symptoms in Week 14

In the past few weeks, I also felt cramps in my lower abdomen. These were especially pronounced when I would sneeze or cough. So I had to hold my bikini area while sneezing or coughing, to reduce pain from these cramps.

I would also feel these at other times, while getting up from the bed or just generally while walking.

Progesterone in Week 14 of Pregnancy

When I told my OB-GYN about these cramps, she recommended that I continue taking Progesterone. This time though, she gave me a choice between taking weekly injections like I had been taking till recently or taking oral medicines twice a day, everyday.

I went for the latter because in my case the side effects from oral medicine were far more manageable than those from injections.

I would inevitably have horrible nausea, vomiting and gas for three days after taking the hormonal injections. So naturally, I went for the oral medicine which is called Duphaston.

Progesterone Injection vs Oral Medicine – A Cost Benefit Analysis

It’s also worth mentioning here that cost of Progesterone injection is nearly half the cost of the oral medicine. Progesterone injection costed us INR 375 plus an additional INR 100 as application charges. The oral medicine, Duphaston costs INR 754 for a strip with 10 tablets that would last you only 5 days (and not 7).

So, if you are on a budget and your body is not reacting as much to the injection, then you can consider getting the injection as well.

The other pro with the injection is that you need to get it done only once a week and you are sorted for the rest of the week. The oral medicine however needs to be taken everyday, twice.

The major con with taking the injection is that if your hospital is farther away from your home, you’ll have to make a weekly trip which could be tiring.

Plus the application of the injection is not painless. It’s injected on your bum and it hurts a bit during application. The pain also lasts a few minutes or hours after application. So walking and getting into your vehicle is slightly troublesome.

Ecosprin in Pregnancy

Another medicine that my OB-GYN added for me was Ecosprin, a blood thinner. This is because I have an autoimmune disease called vitiligo.

Since your immunity changes during pregnancy, you don’t know how your autoimmune disease will impact the fetus. It might treat it as a foreign body and impede its growth.

A blood thinner will help in greater supply of blood to the fetus and would aid its survival.

I was prescribed Ecosprin right in the beginning but because I had vaginal bleeding in Week 6 itself, my OB-GYN had stopped it for the time being.

Weight loss Arrested in Pregnancy

This week, I found that my weight stabilized. Which is definitely a good sign. Drop in my weight in the previous weeks was worrying me a bit but since the weight of the baby was normal, I was not panicking. Now I’m even more relieved to see that my weight has stabilized

Next week, I’ll talk about the dietary changes I made as my symptoms began to ease up.