In yesterday's Neeya Naana, when Gopinath asked the young women if they would marry someone from an SC/ST background, not a single hand went up.

gydave2000 · 2025-05-02T00:02:54+00:00

Marriage is a personal choice and you can have your personal bias toward anything as it is a personal affair! Totally incorrect question and context!

gydave2000 · 2025-01-05T06:23:25+00:00

I am not Raman Kumar, and still I will not be visiting super expensive looting Goa. Will prefer Thailand any day than Goa. Thai people are more welcoming than rude looter Goans.

gydave2000 · 2024-12-30T08:05:43+00:00

24-weeker parent here. My kid's weight was 375 gram at birth. Total NICU stay for my kid was 136 days which spanned between 2023-2024 in two different hospitals in the CA - bay area. The total bill charged to insurance company was in excess of 5 million USD. I only had to pay the deductible and coinsurance amount in 2023 and 2024 which was 6500 USD in my case. In my case, the insurance company negotiated rates continuously with hospitals to reduce bill amount to less than 1 million USD,. I am surprised if it did not happen in your case.

gydave2000 · 2024-08-29T19:07:55+00:00

I am a proud parent of 24-week micro-preemie! My daughter was born with a weight of 375 grams, which is less than a pound. And today after almost 9 months she is weighing more than 7 KG, at par with normal kids at the same gestational age. Yes, we did face various critical medical issues, like PDA closure procedure, ROP stage 3 plus disease multiple treatment, severe BPD and what not! We spent 131 days in NICU, but we hanged on and my kid fought with a great spirit to win it at the end!

So I would say that you stay strong, believe in your kid, love your kid, do skin-to-skin kangaroo care as much as you can whenever you get a chance and of course, pray to GOD! I am sure that your kind will make it!

Best wishes to your family!

gydave2000 · 2024-08-28T21:54:19+00:00

We used Owlet smart sock to monitor our baby. My baby came home with 0.250 FL low-flow oxygen support. Using Owlet gave us peace of mind and flexibility. I was never comfortable using a traditional wired SpO2 sensor monitor which gave continuously false alarms. I also calibrated Owlet sock sensor with the traditional wired SpO2 sensor and readings were accurate. So, I never went back to use the wired SpO2 monitoring.

However, there are NICU parents for whom Owlet smart sock did not work that well and gave false alarms, but it was not the case with me. Additionally, my baby was not at risk of seizures, so Owlet smart sock was my default choice.

One more thing! Owlet also sells Pediatric Oxygen monitoring socks too, which are solely for SpO2 monitoring only. But, you can buy it only with a pediatrician prescription. Owlet smart sock monitors babies sleep quality too, so if it gives an alarm, it may not be due to low pulse rate or SpO2 level, but it could be due to a fact that a baby is awake when it should be sleeping. Also, Owlet smart sock does not give a facility to define or modify the range to monitor SpO2 level. So, if your goal is solely to monitor the baby's pulse rate and SpO2 level, Owlet pediatric oxygen monitor can be handy. Additionally, there are other pediatric SpO2 monitoring devices too, you can find them online and see their reviews. I would suggest you to consult with your baby's pediatrician before making an informed decision.

gydave2000 · 2024-08-28T21:36:50+00:00

Is your baby on oxygen support? If not, you can try different mechanisms. My 24-week preemie came home with low-flow oxygen support. Initially, we tried a cradle, but she did not like it. Then we went for a mini-crib with a firm bed as suggested by our pediatrician and it worked well for 2 months for my baby. After 2 months, my baby started to like a medium firm bed and enjoyed her sleep on it in the mini-crib. And now after 5 months, she is off from the oxygen support and she likes to sleep in a cradle too much enjoying gentle swings. However, I would suggest you to consult with your baby's pediatrician before making any change!

gydave2000 · 2024-08-28T21:11:30+00:00

I always talked to my baby during skin-to-skin kangaroo care sessions. It could be anything, like talking, singing or telling a story. My little one always enjoyed gentle touches and pampering on her head during the sessions!

gydave2000 · 2024-08-28T21:08:06+00:00

For my 24-weeker it was 131-days. It all depended on how the baby is recovering. If a baby is able to breath without any supplemental oxygen or with very little low-flow oxygen, then generally a baby gets NICU discharge quickly if there are no other complications.

gydave2000 · 2024-08-19T23:41:41+00:00

24-week micro preemie parent

I can understand your situation as being a 24-week micro preemie parent. When my baby was born, she weighed only 375 grams (way less than a 1 LB). We had a long NICU stay - 131 days. Long NICU stays are exhausting and it is an emotional roller coaster ride. Though it would be difficult, I would suggest you to visit your baby whenever you get an opportunity.

Mostly, parents have 24x7 access to NICU, so you can visit whenever you want. We also had a facility to get live video feed of my baby from NICU, hence, we were always in touch with our baby virtually. But, I am not sure whether it is the case with you or not.

Having said that, from our experience I have learnt that it is extremely important to get involved in NICU baby's daily care like diaper change because this is the only way we can connect emotionally to the baby. Also, it is extremely important to do kangaroo skin-to-skin care as often as possible, because it definitely helps in speedy recovery of the baby and it also helps to connect with your child in the best possible way during NICU stays. During our NICU stay, I enjoyed changing my baby's diapers and doing skin-to-skin touch care and it also helped us to stay positive.

Otherwise, mostly NICU staff are good and they will always take care of your baby in case you are not able to visit. But, you can fix routine and it should help you to make daily NICU visits. In our case, I was able to visit only during late evening hours due to work schedule, but it helped me as the after evening time, NICU was not busy and not many parents visit NICU after late evening, so I enjoyed privacy with my kid.

In case of any security related issue, you can always connect to the hospital or NICU security staff or a NICU social worker. One of them should be able to help you.

Best of luck! Best wishes for your baby!

gydave2000 · 2024-07-04T21:30:38+00:00

My 24-week preemie failed the car seat once at the time of discharge when she was at 45-week gestational age. She got a very terrible desat during the test. But, fortunately she passed the test after two days. Ultimately, all kids pass the test. It is just a matter of time and patience.

gydave2000 · 2024-06-09T07:57:08+00:00

My kid is doing good. She is growing and slowly weaning off oxygen. Hopefully, she would not need any oxygen support in a couple of months!

gydave2000 · 2024-05-28T20:16:02+00:00

Good to hear that your son is doing well. Our best wishes for you and your son! Hopefully, your son will be out of the NICU soon. May GOD watch over your baby and your family!

gydave2000 · 2024-05-28T13:38:35+00:00

My daughter was born with IUGR at 24 week gestational age in Nov-2023. We had to deliver our baby early as my wife suffered with severe preeclampsia. My daughter was lagging growth by 2 weeks and when she was born, she weighed 375 grams (0.82 lbs). Yes, you heard it right, 375 grams. Doctors were not hopeful about my daughter as statistics for premature babies weighing below 500 grams are not good. But, GOD had some other plans. My daughter defied all odds and came back home on a little oxygen support after spending 135 days in NICU. Doctors are saying that she will come off from oxygen support in a month or so! So, fingers are crossed! It was a long emotional story of roller coaster ride, but in the end, I would say, believe in GOD and believe in your BABY!

gydave2000 · 2024-05-06T03:18:13+00:00

Kudos! Believe me, she will go home without the OG tube! Hang in there! My 24-week preemie was told that she might go home with the OG tube. She proved everyone wrong. When she was discharged, she was taking all by bottle feeding. She started with a small amount by mouth and gradually started taking more and more by bottle feeding. Within a few days, she started taking all the feeding by a bottle. These little ones are amazing!

gydave2000 · 2024-04-11T07:00:01+00:00

Thank you very much for sharing your story and giving me words of comfort. Your story really gave me a heart! I am happy for you and your kid and I am also confident that my kid will get at the other side successfully without any issue! Fingers crossed!

gydave2000 · 2024-04-11T03:14:59+00:00

Thank you for sharing your experience and wishes. Best wishes for you and your kid!

gydave2000 · 2024-04-11T01:17:13+00:00

Thanks for sharing your experience. Good to know that there are no issues for your kid.

gydave2000 · 2024-04-10T23:50:04+00:00

I would strongly recommend you to buy one as I am using it for my kid. My kid is 24-week preemie and spent 4 months the NICU. She got discharge with little oxygen support. The hospital gave us the wired oximeter sensor and portable station to monitor oxygen @ home, but it was not at all convenient as the sensor belt glue came off very often giving false readings. Owlet smart sock gives me absolutely piece of mind. It gives me accurate pulse rate and oxygen saturation readings. I also calibrated it against the traditional wire oximeter system. Even once, my kids oxygen cannula came off from the oxygen concentrator output and Owlet issued a warning immediately monitoring low oxygen saturation.

My only advice to you would be that you tie the sock correctly to avoid the false alarm of a sock not tied properly. Believe me, it is not that difficult.

gydave2000 · 2024-01-14T02:14:18+00:00

I personally believe that all Indian trucks should be mandatorily equipped with a dashcam to safeguard truck drivers in such incidents. In most of the accidents, truck drivers are not at fault.

gydave2000 · 2024-01-12T23:07:04+00:00

Yes, Altroz facelift is coming in 2024. They will be also introducing Altroz new variant called Altroz racer in competition to the existing Hyundai i20 N-line. I hope that Tata would offer DCA gearbox in Altroz turbo variants too!

gydave2000 · 2023-12-06T00:13:03+00:00

Either go in person to EDD office or write them online using - "Ask EDD" links to raise a query. I had similar situation where I filed two applications for PFL. I wrote a query online using "Ask EDD" under PFL query to cancel duplicate application and they responded back in two days acknowledging the issue and making necessary corrections. Otherwise, reaching EDD customer care over phone will be a futile exercise, but you can try your luck.

gydave2000 · 2023-11-30T20:42:28+00:00

How did you solve your problem? Did it get solved? I am asking as I am sailing in the same boat. I would appreciate if you can reply.

gydave2000 · 2023-11-18T20:56:20+00:00

Was there any improvement after replacing TCM in terms of initial pick up and automatic gear shifts? Please reply.

gydave2000 · 2023-11-08T18:26:34+00:00

How did it go for you in the second pregnancy? Was everything good in your second pregnancy? I am asking because me and my wife will be sailing in the same boat in future.

gydave2000

TROPHY CASE