Story of NEW MOM

How I came through the trauma of an induced illness.

- Plavita Kaushik Gandhi

On 18 December 2021, exactly on the 18th day of my postpartum after delivering our happy and healthy baby boy, my life changed forever. For good or bad let us not judge but now I am ready to welcome a new life that is full of gratitude and is even better than the one I grieved.

Here, I would like to share my story of this most horrific turning point in my life. After the delivery, my body had just started the healing process. As a new mom, I was still struggling to cope up with my changed body and my newborn's needs. In those days, COVID was on its peak. During the whole pregnancy, my gynecologist kept telling me to get vaccinated but my husband and I decided to wait till the delivery and instead we took all required precautions. Thankfully, my pregnancy went all well without getting myself infected by the virus.

However, after the delivery when my gynac and other doctors in the hospital insisted me to go for the vaccine, I went for Covaxin on 17 December 2021. The next morning, when I woke up and saw myself in the bathroom mirror, I saw, my eyes little droopy.

However, I did not take that seriously. Then while having my morning cup of coffee, I felt some coffee spilling out through the corner of my lips. Still I did not take it seriously. Later in the day, my husband and my mother-in-law both noticed my droopy eye. They said it might be the side effects of the vaccine. I too felt it might be a side effect and will be gone within 24 hrs. But, they both insisted me to visit the doctor. I called my gynac and she referred me to a neurologist.

So finally, I took an appointment and visited the neurologist. He asked me to close my eyes and I was just able to close the half of my left eyelid. He asked to blow my cheeks and again I was not able to fill air in my left cheek.