Hypothyroidism and negative blood group in pregnancy

Motherhood is beautiful as well as equally challenging. Every lady is worried about the process of conception these days. There are a lot of myths about pregnancy with hypothyroidism and negative blood group specifically B negative blood group(as it's a very rare blood group). I'll share my experience to give some relief to the worried would be moms. These myths need to be handled very carefully to have a positive outlook during conception and pregnancy.

I have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was 14 years old and have B negative blood group. But I didn't face any problem during conception and throughout the pregnancy as well as delivery. If we take few precautions, these two conditions won't bother us. Lot of people think of these two factors even while matchmaking for marriage and deny alliances. That's an absolutely wrong thing to do.

I'll talk about hypothyroidism first. Hypothyroidism and fertility are directly linked by many people. But it's a misconception. Hypothyroidism if treated properly, will not cause any problems in conception. I had been mornitoring my TSH levels 6 months before I wanted to conceive. With stable TSH levels i didn't face any problem in conception. I had also maintained stable TSH levels throughout the pregnancy. It plays an important role in overall hormonal balance, metabolism of the mother and brain development of the fetus. I was monitoring my TSH levels every 6 weeks in pregnancy as advised by the endocrinologist. TSH has different limits for each trimester. The doctor adjusted my dose in pregnancy accordingly. It is a must to get your thyroid levels tested even when you're not a hypothyroid. A thyroxine tablet in appropriate dose suggested by the doctor everyday solves all your worries in case of hypothyroidism. Also maintaining a healthy diet, moderate exercise and healthy lifestyle helps in maintaining good thyroid health.

Talking about B negative blood group and pregnancy, it is absolutely safe to go ahead with conception and pregnancy even with a B negative blood group.

If the baby's blood group comes positive or vice versa, you're administered an anti D injection and you're good to go. It'll not cause any RH incompatibility and other related complications. Women with B negative blood group face no issues in pregnancy. Their partner can have any blood group, that doesn't matter.

PS - These are just my opinions and experiences. Consult your endocrinologist and gynecologist for the right opinion.

My mommyhood tales

Those two pink lines, those tiny kicks and all the dreams about my little one, 2020 was the most magical year of my life. 2020 may be synonymous to covid and lockdown for most of the people but 2020 for me was the beginning of motherhood. The most beautiful yet challenging phase of my life. Being a doctor's daughter, i consider myself lucky that I was aware of all the things.

Being mommy isn't any easy task. Arriving on the decision to be a mother itself is very stressful for most of the women of 21st century. The increased competition in career, increasing financial burden after having a kid make the decision of becoming a mother quite difficult. We mostly decide to become a mother in our thirties now.  Same was the case with me. But nonetheless motherhood is very beautiful. 

I finally decided to try conceiving after 5 years of my marriage. I was at a good stage in my career and we were financially quite stable. It was quite easy for me but it is a difficult journey for few couples due to the stressful jobs and lifestyle diseases 

Lifestyle advice 

The journey of conceiving is quite beautiful in itself. According to my experience the most important thing here is positive attitude and stress-free environment. Me and my husband kept the environment at home stress-free although the outside world was full of stress related to the pandemic. 

-Diet and exercise

Maintaining overall good health for both the partners is equally important. A healthy lifestyle plays an important role in the journey of conception.

Eating healthy and moderate exercise helped me maintain a healthy weight. I am quite healthy with regular menstrual cycle. My diet was balanced with high quality proteins such as egg, chicken, sprouts, and lentils, fibre rich leafy green vegetables, healthy fruits, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats with Omega 3 fatty acids, antioxidant rich fruits, iron and calcium rich food and other vegetables. I avoided junk food as far as i can except few cravings. Excess use of sugar, refined flour, butter and extra fats was avoided in my diet. I avoided heavy and fadistic diet and exercise. I took evening strolls for half an hour and did yoga in the morning. Drinking 8 glasses of water and other healthy fluids is necessary to stay hydrated.

 

Stress management

I had already started imagining about my baby as told by my gynaecologist. It helped me conceive without much effort and pretty quickly. The joy of motherhood is truly amazing and I started enjoying it even before conception. I avoided stress at work around that time.

Health advice

I had started folic acid tablets beforehand. Starting multivitamins will also help . I was maintaining healthy haemoglobin and TSH levels (I'm a hypothyroid since i was 14). 

I had also taken rubella vaccine(MMR booster shot) before i decided to conceive as Rubella can be dangerous in pregnancy.

I was diagnosed with gall stones and got the gall bladder removed. Gall stones can be an obstacle in pregnancy as one might be required to get operated during the pregnancy. But I have heard of quite a few successful pregnancies even with gall stones. So in case you were detected with gall stones during pregnancy, please follow your doctor's advice strictly. It can be easily dealt with due care. 

It's also advisable to get a pelvic scan done in case of irregular menstrual cycles to check for lifestyle diseases such as PCOS.

I had conceived within 3 months fortunately. I'm really happy to share my journey of a healthy yet challenging pregnancy with you all. This is the first blog of the series. Please stay tuned to listen to my mommyhood stories😀

P.S. Consult yojr gynecologist for any advice. Im just sharing my experiences. Also please don't take advice from Dr Google😉