Just a little update

Tomo and I went to the clinic the other day to check up on the baby and myself. This time the ultrasound was from my belly so Tomo was able to watch. He hasn't seen an ultrasound since the very first blob many weeks ago so I was excited for him to see everything. When the baby (which actually looks like a human now!) appeared on the screen, Tomo got so excited! He had a huge smile on his face and kept saying "wow, there's really a baby in there." It was adorable. The doctor showed us the heartbeat, pointed out all the limbs, and measured my stomach. The baby was moving a lot so it was hard to get a good ultrasound snapshot to print out, but of course that's a good sign :)

For an update on me, well my morning sickness almost went away for about a week but a few days ago it came back with a vengeance. It was even worse than the beginning. Literally everything I ate came right back up, so of course at this doctor's visit I was dehydrated and had lost some weight again. They gave me an injection of vitamins and fluids which is supposed to make me feel better but never really does. I also had to take some tests for STDs and blood cancer. Those results come back in a few weeks, which is when we'll be going to the clinic yet again.

So basically everything is going well. Baby is healthy and active, and I will hopefully lose this morning sickness soon!

Some General Info About Being Pregnant in Japan

     Since I already covered the personal "how I'm doing" details of this pregnancy so far, I figured I should write about generally being pregnant in Japan. As this is my first pregnancy, I don't have anything to compare to...so rather than a comparison, I'll just write what I've learned through research and what I've gone through so far.

    The first thing I learned while browsing the Internet is that most facilities won't give epidurals during the birthing process. So if you want an epidural, you better ask if the facility provides that option. This didn't really bother me because I was thinking about a natural birth anyway, though having the OPTION of an epidural would be nice...

     Another thing I found is that they don't have prenatal vitamins (unless you're in a big city and can find a big drug store). This worried me a little because of course I want to make sure my baby gets the nutrients and vitamins that he/she needs. I have been taking Folic Acid tablets because I heard that that's pretty important for the spinal development. I believe that Japan doesn't focus on prenatal vitamins because the Japanese diet is pretty diverse and nutritional. Before my "morning" sickness started, I had made an easy to follow chart of what foods contain what nutrients/vitamins and how much I would need each day. I found it pretty easy to follow, so hopefully once the sickness subsides I'll be able to get back on track.

    While searching around the Internet I realized that in the USA the first appointment/ultrasound isn't made until about 10 weeks into the pregnancy, and the next ultrasound is much later (if I'm wrong about that, sorry), with a total of only about 4 total. Well here, I had my first ultrasound at 6 weeks with one at each appointment after that. Maybe it was because I was so sick so they were just checking up on the baby, but I don't think so. I've read other moms in Japan had ultrasounds at every visit as well. I think that's pretty neat and helps the excitement.

     As far as payment, I'm having a hard time deciding whether I like how it's done here or not. I don't exactly know how childbirth is paid in the U.S.(insurance I assume?), but here the actual birthing process and hospital stay is paid for by the government. Most facilities require the mother and baby to stay in the hospital for about a week to make sure they get rest and everything is okay. The government pays a lump sum to the FAMILY, not the hospital, which you have to register for AFTER the birth...meaning that WE have to pay the huge amount out of our OWN pockets first, as well as any extra fees.

    A cool thing that they do here is providing coupons and discounts for various things. Once you find out you're pregnant, you receive a paper from the doctor and go to the city office to register the pregnancy. The city office than gives you a big envelope of various booklets and papers that provide advice and help during and after pregnancy.

-there's a Health Handbook that I need to bring to every doctor's appointment. They'll fill out the details of my pregnancy and how I'm progressing so that other doctors can be up to date in the event that I need to switch doctors (which I will eventually when we move yet again). This book is used until the child is 6 years old.

-There's a book of healthy, easy recipes

- A few papers that include schedules for pregnancy exercise classes, breathing, breastfeeding help, and even a cooking class. All these classes are provided by the community center and are free of charge, but they're only once a month.

-There's a booklet that provides information on food/nutrition intake during pregnancy, maternity wear, baby's progress in the tummy, how to care for baby after he/she's born etc

- The office also provides a cute little key chain that's supposed to let the wearer sit in the priority seats on the train and so on. I don't think it really works that well because most people sitting in those seats have their eyes closed "sleeping" or really sleeping, or just ignoring everyone...but it's a good effort and maybe once the 8th or 9th month comes around people will start to notice.

It says: "There's a baby in my tummy" on the front.

Anyway, those are some of the more interesting and exciting parts of being pregnant in Japan. I'll be going to my next doctor's appointment either this week or next week and hopefully I'll get to actually hear the heartbeat this time!

Here Comes the Morning Sickness

    The morning sickness started soon after the confirmation appointment and I couldn't eat or drink as much as I should. The doctor gave me an injection of nutrients which did make me feel a little better, but the next day and through the week the morning sickness got so much worse. I couldn't eat anything but crackers and even those did nothing to help. I only ate the crackers (and sometimes yogurt) because I knew I had to. I could hardly manage to drink water and I felt awful 24/7. I couldn't move without feeling nauseous and getting sick. I was getting sick about 4 times a day and lost about 8.5lbs. We went to the doctor again and she decided to give me an IV of fluids and vitamins, with the advice that I come back the next day and be admitted to the hospital for about a week. I was against that idea. For one thing, it was too expensive and we didn't know if our insurance would cover it. For another, I didn't feel that I needed to do that. I promised that I would work harder to eat and drink more on my own. We went back the next day and I received double the amount of fluids and vitamins with the caution that if I wasn't gaining or retaining weight and if my urine test was failed again by the next week, I'd agree to stay in the hospital.

     Tomo was a load of help during this time. He bought me tons of easy-to-eat foods and basically forced me to drink at least 1L of water everyday. By the next week, I had more energy, I was peeing normally, eating and keeping down more than before, and only getting sick once in the AM and once in the PM (which meant I could manage working!). At our next doctor's visit (last Tuesday), everything checked out fine: my weight was remaining constant (which is better than losing weight), and my pee was almost back to normal. I was well enough that I didn't need any injections and went home right after the appt. As for the baby, doctor says it's very healthy and I was able to see the heartbeat at this appointment! Seeing the heartbeat made it feel so much more real.

    And that about brings us up to date! I am feeling SO much better. I only get sick in the mornings and only feel sick if I use too much energy. I've been taking it slow and Tomo has been helping as much as he can. He works such long and late hours that I know it's hard for him, but I appreciate what he does do. I haven't been able to cook dinner as the thought/smell of cooking food upsets my stomach, so Tomo buys supermarket foods almost every night or otherwise cooks pasta because it's easiest. I know it's not the healthiest food regimen for either of us, but it's all we can manage for now. I hope I'll be back to a "normal" lifestyle in a few weeks, as that's when the second and easier trimester begins!

                                  9 week ultrasound: The round part on the right is the head!

It Starts...

    The start of this life changing journey came as quite the surprise. I found out I was pregnant (at least according to the home pregnancy test) on August 12, right before our 1 year anniversary which is August 17. What an anniversary present! I took the test in the morning but put off telling Tomo until later that evening. I was worried about what his reaction would be since this wasn't exactly a planned pregnancy. 

     While we were settling down to watch a movie, I told him that I thought we should discuss some monetary issues and start saving more because....*shows positive pregnancy test*  His reaction? Confusion. He had no idea what the test even was! So I had to explain to him that this stick shows a 99.9% chance that I'm pregnant. His next reaction? Everything I was worried about and expecting. Shock. Disbelief. Denial. NOT excitement. He was basically freaking out about losing his "freedom," worried he wasn't ready to be a father, etc.  I let him be for awhile to let out his feelings and think about everything. I knew it would be a huge shock since I so suddenly sprung the news on him whereas I had been suspecting and had time to process. He called some close friends and his mom to tell them and talk about how he was feeling about it. He was smiling the whole time so at least I knew that he wasn't TOO upset about it. After a few days he began to reassure me that the shock has worn off and he's now pretty excited.

     A few days later we went to a clinic pretty far away (30 mins by car) to confirm the pregnancy. We chose this clinic because it was the only one near enough with female doctors. Both Tomo and I were more comfortable having a woman do the initial prodding and checking needed. As we thought, the ultrasound showed that I was about 5 weeks pregnant with a due date around April 10th!

                                                      positive home pregnancy test!