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!
oh boy…
Aso & Palin!?! never mind the embarrassment of what police and federal agents are doing near the RNC in MN – blatant intimidation tactics right after we were so ready to bash China for quelling any dissent surrounding the Oylmpics…disgusting. http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/index.html
japan’s PM resigns AGAIN!?! not that anyone before or since Koizumi for a long time has actually made any difference BUT…we might be left with Aso!?! maybe even less eloquent than Bush!?!:
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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…)
FINALLY – i am rewarded for trying to follow the rules and be an honest, upstanding citizen! most of my adult life has been spent with various friends wondering why i bother to try and follow the rules, etc. when there are lots of ways around them that could save me hassle & money. what on earth could possess me to be honest on various applications just to pay more in the end, etc? sometimes, they were probably right but most of the time i liked to think i was fighting the good fight – if no one took advantage then everyone would end up paying less in the long run, etc. (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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i’ve been entertaining the idea of buying a house lately.
of course there’s the fact that with rent you feel as though you’re throwing away money every month, but it was easier to rationalize here in japan because the value on your house will virtually never be what it was when you bought it ever again. that and the fact that we have company subsidized rent for a great apartment so even if we’re throwing away rent money, we’re getting a place for 1/2 the monthly price now and they wouldn’t subsidize a mortgage.
the subject came up with a colleague the other day and he says, “why don’t you buy a mobile house?”…i thought – i’ve never seen those in japan then realized it was just his strong aussie accent and he said, “why don’t you buy a murder house?”. apparently there is a huge stigma to homes where something tragic has happened and they go for a fraction of the price. if you’ve ever seen the movie “Juon” (there’s an american version called the grudge or curse or something but not a fraction as scary), you’ll know why. (more…)
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…)
how frightening is this:
“Customs slip cannabis into passenger’s bag
A passenger who landed at Tokyo’s Narita airport over the weekend has ended up with a surprise souvenir courtesy of customs officials — a package of cannabis. Sniffer dogs failed to find the cannabis after it had been slipped into a passenger’s bag.
A customs official hid the package in a suitcase belonging to a passenger arriving from Hong Kong as part of an exercise for sniffer dogs on Sunday, Reuters.com reported.
However, staff then lost track of the drugs and suitcase during the exercise, a spokeswoman for Tokyo customs said.
Customs regulations specify that a training suitcase be used for such exercises, but the official had used passengers’ suitcases for similar purposes in the past, domestic media reported.
Tokyo customs has asked anyone who finds the package to return it.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/26/tokyo.cannabis/
Hope they weren’t boarding the next flight to Singapore or somewhere that they have the death penalty for smuggling drugs! Idiots.
for a long time i said it’s a waste of money as we could practically bungee jump to the train station….but, isseki couldn’t bungee jump with his music equipment. so, when he finally said that his company would compensate for everything except parking (which, mind you, isn’t cheap), how could i argue? (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?