Making sure your child is thriving is going to preoccupy all of your braincells for at least the first few months of you child’s life (if not forever) and while you’ll have no shortage of books and websites to help you along – things are done a little different here (well, I’ve never raised a child anywhere else, but I know at least the vaccine schedule is different than in the US), so here’s a preview of how things go: (more…)
I once blogged about what purchases really helped me while pregnant and have been meaning to tell you the same about the baby stuff for some time now, but I guess having a little over a year under my belt with said baby and stuff, I’m better prepared now anyway.
There are oodles of lists out there for you to google and find, but here is what worked for us. Mostly, it is based on what we lucked into as hand-me-downs or gifts, but some if it was really great stuff!
TIP: Get anything and everything you can used (except for breast milk related stuff and the carseat) – it was only used for a few months and sometimes not even that long and you will save SO MUCH MONEY. Put the word out to all you know, with apartment sizes as they are here you are sure to come across a friend of a friend who is dying to get rid of all the baby stuff they’re no longer using. Use things like Tell & Sell Japan and Free Stuff Japan and if your Japanese is up to it Yahoo Auction for deals. There are also used baby goods shops in Japan (like B・KIDS / BOOK OFF) along with local used clothing stores – check around your neighborhood!
Also – many things you can get at home you can get here also, you just have to know what they’re called. I tried to link to sites in Japan when possible to show you the Japanese terms and prices for things, but if there’s something you’re looking for and can’t find, let me know and I’ll give it a whirl.
Hope this helps and happy shopping!! (more…)
i might be an awful person, but i’m SO entertained by the recent development in bijou’s personality: being frightened by things. up until recently, the only things that made her cry other than the fundamental needs were not being near us when she wanted to be or actually being in pain. but now she’s apparently seeing the world differently – here are her two new greatest fears (other than me leaving her):
1. The song “I had a Rooster” (which i find to be quite fun, but when the mouse goes SQUEAK she bursts into tears!)
2. Bubbles. yes, i though all children found them magical and fascinating too, but not bijou. she looks at them in quiet wonder for a minute, then bursts into tears.
cute.
i innocently approach the clinique counter in SC and inquire, “do you carry the derma-white line?” to the african-american sales-lady. she replies with only a questioning expression.
“i don’t know if it’s called that here, but it’s a whitening line – do you have one?”
“that wouldn’t go over well here.” she responds, straightening her posture and looking me dead in the eye.
then it hit me – IDIOT! “oh, you know it’s just a line that helps reduce sun spots, and stuff…” i stammer.
“we have a BRIGHTENING line” she lets me off the hook and moves to present the product line.
yep. i’ve been away a long time.
Click here to read Being Pregnant in Japan – Part 1, Up to Week 12ish
Click here to read Being Pregnant in Japan – Part 2, The 2nd Trimester
You:
It depends on the person and the time of year, but things took a turn for the worse almost to the day of my 3rd trimester. Chalk most of it up to the fact that it was July 21st when the heat and humidity in Japan become close to unbearable. My entire body blew up like a blowfish and from that day forward I my feet and ankles were always in pain and i could no longer wear my watch, wedding band, and 98% of my shoes.
as if i didn’t have enough to make me depressed and give me a headache with the israeli-palestinian conflict issue, a friend’s emailing me about how obama shouldn’t even have been able to run for president as he doesn’t comply with the requirements as set out in the constitution article 2, section 1!?! (more…)
the news of israel’s invasion of the gaza strip after the cease fire ended ( following rockets fired into israel) sparked a renewed fire in my husband to convince me how ruthless and greedy israel was and how my government not only lets it all happen, but encourages it.
now i can’t get away from it:
friends joining “the cause” “if americans knew” on facebook which claims that americans don’t get told how israel uses US funding to break international law and occupy land that doesn’t belong to them;
my best friend from HS (who is 1/2 israeli with family in israel) forwarding me photos of the israeli army helping palestinians out of the collapsed tunnels and offering medical assistance;
heck, even my brother forwarded me an article explaining how israel follows international law and hamas doesn’t.
so i figured i could spend at least a couple hours reading up on the subject…is israel as evil as so many are claiming because their attacks have claimed more lives? or are the intentions behind attacks rather than the body count what makes them wrong?
after following a couple links from a google search it was even more clear than the mixed messages i was already getting (see above from husband and friends) that it is close to impossible to get “facts” about this conflict that aren’t surrounded in a context supporting one or the other side.
here’s the scoop in an oversimplified nutshell as i understand it: (more…)
I think it’s useless to really participate in Christmas at home because it doesn’t really matter – my husband is at work anyway and we don’t really own many decorations (plus i’d have to find somewhere to put them if we did) – but then i feel all nostalgic (is that the word i want?) and end up listening to Christmas CDs all day long…
Ahhhhhh…Christmas. Also the time to recap the year and etch it firmly in my memory while catching up with all of those loved ones who I only seem to converse with a couple times a year. This year saw a lot of action – weddings, babies, travel, big family news, etc. – read on to get the full scoop and see a silly video! (expires 1/15/09 so watch while you can!) (more…)
i have yet to get past “easy” mode on our camera (partially due to the fact that all menus are in japanese) and have never edited video footage in my life but who cares – no better time to start than now! (don’t expect much – the point here isn’t art – it’s that she’s CUTE!)
enjoy!
if your computer isn’t able to load it smoothly, try a lower quality version here.
happy thanksgiving to ya!
nevermind the moutwatering cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie for breakfast tomorrow – i love this holiday cause it gives me another great reason to remember how f-in lucky i am. hate to brag and all but, well, that’s pretty darn lucky. eat your hearts out:
Click here to read Being Pregnant in Japan – Part 1, Up to Week 12ish
You:
This is hands down the best part of your pregnancy! At least for me it was. Yeah, you have to pack away your old clothes and start hunting down ones that fit your “new” body but the tiredness subsides, the hormones kick in – and you generally just feel good! Not to mention you now feel as though you and your baby are confirmed and safe on this journey. (more…)
i know i’m an FBC employee but i have to sing the praises of what i discovered at Price Club yesterday:
i nonchalantly referred to myself as “mommy” in a conversation with isseki yesterday.
someone kill me now.
last night we tried the tummy tub! developed in the netherlands and passed along to us by a dutch friend, karolien (thank you!) – it looks like a clear bucket but has design features that make it much safer and more comfortable than trying it with your own diy bucket.
the theory is that the baby will feel the comfort of being in the womb inside this warm, small, wet space. when we put bijou in she wiggled around a lot and cried a bit and i thought maybe it wasn’t for her but within a minute she calmed down and was even smiling! it relaxed her so much she ended up pooping in it! hope that won’t be a habit but we’ll definitely try it again!
yesterday was a big day!
we went to the clinic for my post-release 1 week check-up and other than my belly button healing a bit strangely, all looks good! i’ve grown to 2,500 grams in 2 weeks! that’s 200 grams in 1 week (i was 2,306g when released from the hospital) on breastmilk only! you can imagine how tired and sore my mommy is… (more…)
who would have thought the first day home could be so exciting!?!
we left the clinic in the morning but by late afternoon my scar was really painful – burning and stinging and it seemed red and swollen in just one spot. nervous, i called the clinic and they told me to head back in for a check. we got everything together to go out with our new baby but when we got to the car, we couldn’t get the car seat to fasten over her diaper without a lot of pressing and couldn’t figure out how to loosen it.
the dr. was waiting for me so we decided it wouldn’t take long so i would just run up and isseki would stay with the baby. no problem.
it doesn’t take too long and i head back nervous bjiou has been hungry and crying the whole time. the door is locked. eh!?! he took her out?
ok. no problem. i open the door… (more…)
i’m glad i had bijou in japan…don’t get me wrong, i am sure there are wonderful clinics and birthing centers all over the US but i wonder if they would be covered by insurance, etc. yes, it wasn’t cheap here either, but the 7 night stay (including the night of the birth – arrived 11pm) after a cesarean trumps what i hear the is usually only 2-3 night in the US and the food was amazing!
what could i possibly be doing all that time?
(more…)
this is our story – it is a must read for any pregnant women also!
we’ve had quite a weekend here! we were thinking we still had a couple weeks or more until meeting our little one but were proved wrong friday.
it was a good day – i was feeling energetic and walked 1 hour in the morning then did 1 hour of yoga in the afternoon. isseki had a show that night so we were enjoying dinner together before the show when suddenly i had some flashing lights/blurred vision only in the right corner of my right eye. i felt fine otherwise but get nervous as usual so we called the clinic and were told that without any other symptoms it was probably nothing related to the pregnancy and headed to the show.
after the first band i thought i wanted to sit down but all of a sudden my pants felt so tight and uncomfortable and i started feeling a lot of pressure low in my abdomen/pelvis. at first i thought i just needed to go to the toilet but started feeling worse so decided to leave (around 9pm) before isseki’s band and head home. there i tried going to the bathroom again, sitting in a hot bath, and lying down but nothing relieved the constant pressure/pain. i had been waiting for her to move all this time also to reassure me that everything was okay but no such luck. (more…)
here’s my personal list of the things (exercise, clothing, websites, books, etc.) that got me through pregnancy: (more…)
Just got back from the clinic – at an estimated 2,948g or 6.5 lbs she’s bigger than most Japanese babies are at birth! gulp…
