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.
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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’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?
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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…
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I was thinking since I am trying to figure this all out myself for the first time, some others might be interested in how exactly all this works. Looking back I wish I had kept more diligent notes but when you are working and volunteering WHILE trying to figure it all out, you tend to forget those things.
So, to the best of my memory, here’s how it’s gone so far…. (more…)
it finally is beginning to resemble one!
we are so lucky to have received most things as hand-me-downs or gifts! still are waiting on one piece of furniture but it looks like a baby will be here soon!
today was fabulous.
actually even that word lacks the oomph i want to describe a day when a handful talented & amazing (not to mention gorgeous and fashionable) women get together in your and your unborn child’s honor.
i returned home about 4 hours ago after a baby shower where friends prepared all sorts of treats (including, but not limited to, a diaper cake, wicked cupcakes, and tons of yummy food!) and then proceeded to bestow wonderful (and damn cute!) gift after gift upon me! from there most of us headed to see Sex & the City (just came out here) the movie and I tell you: we could have given the cast a run for their money – the heads were turning as our group of stylish women strode past.
the hostesses and i returned to gather my loot, graze the leftovers (frosting….ummmmm), and put our feet up for a bit and then i came home to marvel at how lucky i am to have these people in my life.
then, true to form, i started to feel a tinge of…guilt. “how could i possibly deserve all this? what could i ever do to repay them all?” (more…)
i am now officially about 4 days from being in the home stretch – the 3rd trimester. lucky me i am at my MOST pregnant when japan is at it’s hottest/stickiest!
dr’s monday for a checkup where all was said to be a-okay. while checking the ultrasound he says, “i think that’s the face there – can you see it?”
“uh, no”
“hold on” – he switches wands and with a click of a button i can see our baby’s face!! it was amazing… (more…)
26 weeks. they say that she can hear me and the person who i’m talking to now. a friend told me how their baby actually jumped in the belly when his wife dropped a pan once so they definitely can hear. i have been to one show since her hearing developed with no problem (other than standing for so long) and there is another one I REALLY want to go to – no, i must go to – soon.
problem – this is the most ridiculously / pointlessly loud venue in the history of venus. doesn’t matter what band – doesn’t matter what genre. if i don’t wear earplugs it sounds like a vacuum is on in my ears by the end of the night.
here’s the scoop – (more…)
only 3 more weeks and i’m in my 3rd trimester! they say my uterus is about the size of a soccer ball now. fun.
i mentioned last time that the doctor said for the 2nd time he thought the baby was a girl so we’ve been trying to iron out the name thing – the verdict so far is Bijou (that’s the English/French spelling/pronunciation) and to make it as close as possible in Japanese, 美珠; (Biju). In French, it means “jewel”. In Japanese, the first character means “beautiful” and the 2nd “pearl or a term to describe a beautiful, round thing”…so the name will retain basically the same meaning in either language.
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my sweet sister refuses to let the miles come between us – she’s created a baby shower online since she can’t be near me to have one for real.
best. sister. ever.
come visit! email me for the password (don’t need any weirdos – a actually saw a classified from a man looking for a pregnant woman recently – creepy!)
then go here
or vice versa.
today was also our first maternity class at the clinic. between the clinic and ward office, we have a barrage of classes over the next few months. none are mandatory, but i figure – why not? (more…)
If you have no interest in birth, etc. then you have no reason to read further! This is for those women looking for a bilingual template to help with their birth plan.
Last weekend I read everything possible trying to figure out what kind of birth I would like to have. Then my Japanese teacher and I worked hard to translate my requests/questions into Japanese so I could ask the doctor and then formulate them into a birth plan.
I am posting them here hoping to save any woman in Japan who is trying to do the same thing some time and energy. Of course not everyone will have the same wishes for their labor/delivery as I do, but at least you can see some of the basic vocabulary, etc. and I hope it will help!
Congratulations to you if you’re expecting! Please leave me a comment if you were able to use it and/or if you have any questions about anything here! (more…)
whew – i knew having a baby was going to be tough, but i thought the 2nd trimester was when you could relax and enjoy it a bit!?! no such luck.
a lady who recently gave birth and lives near me just told me her story: she goes to the clinic at 3 weeks before her due date only to have the doctor exclaim, “the baby’s breech – you’ll need a c-section, but you’ve gained too much weight for us to do it here!”. so she had to go and find a bigger hospital/clinic that was somehow more prepared for the extra complications a cesarean on an obese woman might propose. THREE WEEKS BEFORE BIRTH. you think he could have told her when she weighed in over whatever the limit was for them to handle the birth should there be complications there!
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i was having a dilemma with a colleague and struggling with how to handle it in the most professional & mature manner. i flop onto the couch next to Isseki, “i’m having a dilemma. i just don’t know how to be the bigger person…” to which he sympathetically replied, “just accept it.”
“accept what?”
“you’re pregnant!”
i guess that does make me the “bigger person”! haha. that’s what i get for whining about my expanding body so much lately.
i come to work today and a colleague asks, “how are you doing? feeling different?” and i, after another morning of putting on 5 things that all don’t fit or look ridiculous with my newly enhanced breasts and bulging belly, dejectedly reply, “well, my body’s getting bigger” to which he says, “yeah, i see!”
can i go home now?
October 9, 2008 (or somewhere nearby)
despite my promises, i haven’t been so good at waiting this time -better, but i honestly don’t know how women don’t tell people. despite the looks when you don’t order a drink at the bar…how do you explain canceling plan after plan and just sleeping every moment you’re not working or eating? or that you have to find somewhere to curl up for 1/2 of your lunch break cause you are ready to pass out or vomit? or going to the toilet every 2 mins? i dunno but my hat’s off to all the women who do. (more…)
