26 weeks pregnant today.
I went to the doctors for a check-up and scan on Friday (before meeting Cassie & Nanami for lunch- had so much fun 
) and all is going well. Doctor was pleased with my progress and said that I would need to come every two weeks from now on- I knew fortnightly appointments would be happening soon but I figured It would be after the 30 week mark but I guess not.
I usually get one picture of the baby to bring home with me but because he is so big now (1044grams according to the doctor which did not sound right and when I looked it up is the average size of a baby at 29-30 weeks- either the way the guesstimate is way off or I am carrying a giant) the scan pictures I get don`t always show much except maybe the back of the head or an arm. Luckily though they give me a DVD each time (basically they add another video to the DVD I already have) though…here is goma-chan starring in his most recent number.
Blood pressure was fine and have no swelling so far but my feet and belly do start to ache after I have been walking around for awhile. I think now that it is getting cooler I might look into getting a belly wrap/corset thing to give a little bit more support. It takes me about 15 minutes to walk to the station (when we first moved here it only took me 11-12mins but I am getting slower! haha) and it is usually the walk back that shatters me especially if I am carrying something like groceries. I mentioned to the midwife ( I have a chat with a midwife now after seeing doctor each time) that I was pretty tired now and wanted to get my iron checked and she checked my boshi techo and said I was scheduled for a blood test next appointment at 28 weeks and she would make a note to make sure they checked iron levels. This appointments midwife appointment was all about boobs and I thought she was kidding when she said “jya, oppai misette ne” (Please show me your breasts)…apparently I have to do some kind of boob massage once a week til 36 weeks then every day after then. It helps prepare them for breastfeeding.
She also asked if I would be breastfeeding exclusively and not supplementing as she had noticed that other foreigners tended to do this and I said I would be trying that and she made a note of that also so that the nurses after I give birth are aware of my choice. I thought this was nice as I know some places really try to pressure you into supplementing with formula.
I put on 2.8kg in the 4 weeks since I last went which was expected as I knew this month I had put on a bit- this means I have put on almost 5kg now since getting pregnant. Hopefully next month won`t be such a big increase!! You can tell though- just take a look at my 26 week belly…
I have to start working on my birth plan over the next couple of weeks as well but think I might wait til Sarah & Nay are here this weekend (and we go to see Khea) to toss around some ideas then with them as well to see what they think and what advice they can offer.
Goma-chan`s room is pretty much complete with cot and chest of drawers as well as almost everything else a baby needs (and probably a couple things he won`t need but will be fun all the same!). We still have a couple of last minute items to pick up in November but mainly that is diapers etc (I will be cloth diapering, I hope, at least some of the time but I haven`t bought that many yet- waiting to see how things go once baby arrives). Also, Amanda, has offered up her moses basket which we will use for at least the first month or two while goma-chan is still small. Luka, Amanda`s little boy, will be out of it by the time Goma-chan gets here. As I said in a recent post SOOOOOOO many people have been so helpful, offering up baby things they no longer need and it has been like Christmas in the Cherry Blossom Adventures house.
Shun has been so helpful these last couple of weeks too- always making sure he does his chores and more at the weekend (vacuuming!) and usually cooking one of the nights on the weekend. He always rings when he arrives at Funabashi station to ask if I need anything to be picked up from the shops or conbini while he is on his way home (most frequent requests is iceblocks!) Goma-chan can really hear him now when he speaks and he will often kick when “daddy” comes home from work and says hello to him (and me of course!)
Goma-chan is a really active baby and moves around almost constantly it seems- it is hard to find a position to sleep in that he likes as I always seem to be squashing some part of him it seems which he doesn`t like. We still have had not a good 3D scan of his face yet since he is ALWAYS facing away or has his hands over his face when I go for a scan so it may remain a mystery. I still get fairly regular heartburn but the Mylanta that mum sent from Australia is awesome, thank god. She already has some more to send to me I think. No other complaints yet- so far no stretch marks either which is good
Shun & I have a mama & papa class to attend at the clinic during Silver week but I have another appointment before then. I am not exactly sure what the mama and papa class will entail but it should be interesting…
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I am just a twenty something Aussie girl living in Chiba, Japan with my Japanese husband trying to make sense of the crazy Japanese world we live in! We welcomed our first son in December 2009 (Noah) and a second son in January 2011, 2 months premature (Shion). I am working hard at raising them to be confident, bilingual, happy kids!
I LOVE that belly shot…you are really cooking a baby in there;)
Marianne beat me too it- great belly shot!
I cloth nappied and have all the gear if you’re interested- old school sarashi and new school pad type. Christmas continues! ;P
Shun sounds so sweet calling from the station like that. K always texts that he’s leaving work (wifely irrational fear of car accidents on seldom used roads…) but unfortunately there’s no shops between there and here.
A four foreign wife produced birth plan??? Your doctor won’t know what hit him!
What a cute belly you have!
If I can add my two yen for the birth plan? Try to make sure that even if you have interventions that you are able to move around. Your body will tell you what position you need to be in and it probably will not be laying on your back on the bed. That was what made all the difference between my first and second births. Sorry, feel free to ignore!
Wow, you have popped out a bit since I saw you last week! My ultrasounds are the same now also, I get pictures but its generally of the outline of the head, stomach, and leg bones. Not really worth posting them anymore.
The appointments were the same for me, my 26th was the last once that came once a month, and starting at 28 weeks they went every 2 weeks. Next time I go (34 weeks) I will start the every week regime (I think anyways)
Wow, your clinic sounds great, getting to talk to the midwife afterwards. So jealous. I hope the spot my MIL picked out is half as good as yours sounds. Breast massages? Never had the Dr ask me about mine, twice I have had a little bit of liquid flow out but nothing that would be noticeable (perhaps its happened more often but with summer I just assume its sweat?)
Your clinic sounds fab. I hated boob massage though, I nearly punched the nurse who tried to teach me the first time as my boobs were so sore that it was murder when she was messing about with them!!! It is worthwhile doing though if it helps make BF-ing easier. You have really popped out- love the belly pic!!
Ohhh sounds like everything is going well
I can’t believe you have to have a boob massage! LOL! You are looking really great! Did you have that dress in Australia? I think you wore it that time we went out for Indian at the Punjabi Palace!
Oh Lulu, I am so excited for you, I can hardly stand it! I’m really enjoying all the baby posts, goma-chan is definitely a lucky little guy!
I made it to Japan on Thursday, so every time we are walking around Funabashi station I always wonder if I’ll run into you by chance… no such luck yet, obviously!
Of course, there are soooo many people there always, that station is so busy and bustling, I hope you’ll be safe. Perhaps I’m just still getting used to it, but navigating around lots of people is kind of scary sometimes! 
Anyway, sometime when both of our schedules line up, we really ought to take the time to meet up for lunch or something like that! From tomorrow, I’ll be out of town for the next two weeks, but perhaps afterward. At least something before the baby arrives, I’m sure you’ll want to spend your time getting to know him, you’ll have your hands full!
This morning we’re off to apply for my Alien Registration Card, I’m rereading the tips you gave me a while back… thanks again for those, by the way!
Take care now.
You are looking lovely! It`s nice to see someone pregnant who shows it..a lot of women here tend to wear potato sack looking dresses so you can vaguely see a bump..I love seeing the bump outlined
Sounds like you have a great clinic there..I had the boob examination too..TMI they check to see if your nipples are out, half out or inverted to see whether baby can latch on properly. Boob massage does help, if only so that you learn for when you actually get rock hard melons at the beginning you know what to do to relieve the pressure.
Gorgeous baby bump shot! Not long now – how exciting!
I love belly pics and yours is so cute! Can’t wait to meet little Goma-chan!
You popped out!!!! You look fabulous and are right on schedule, you are hardly carrying any water weight at all.
Isn’t it great when you and the Mr. are a team– I like sharing chores with the Mr., and it was awfully sweet of yours to be so caring and helpful.. He’s a total keeper!!!
= )
Awesome belly! Glad the clinic is so helpful and open, I’m sure you will be appreciating it much more when Goma-chan makes his appearance though!
Go for a snuggly belly wrap, I loved them!
You look great Lulu! I’m doing the twice a month appointments now too. It is sort of a pain for me scheduling around work, since hospitals here don’t see people on the weekends, sbut it had to happen sooner or later. I am kind of dreading moving to once a week though, because that’ll be even more of a hassle. My school so far has given me a day off a week, so I *have* to do my appointments on Fridays, which is ok in theory but doesn’t always work out.
The doctors here have never mentioned a boob massage to me. I wish I had known some method for getting the milk out though when I was completely engorged with DS and in soooo much pain. From what you say, your clinic sounds really great, I’m jealous actually!
That is an AMAZING bump!!! Can’t wait to meet it this weekend~~~
Wow, that’s really big already lol Hope you just caught goma-chan in a growth spurt and he slows down a bit!
That’s the exact boob program I was on I think.. it must’ve worked cuz the milk was free flowing by the second night, never engorged and it sorted out the flat nipple issue too (TMI!! sorry) My clinic didn’t even offer formula as an option… they recommended supplementing with the sugar water, but I declined and she was perfectly fine =) Hope it runs smoothly for you too.
Shun sounds like he’s doing a fantastic job getting ready to be a daddy <3 It’s SO sweet seeing the man you love step up to the challenge and get excited about it all. Even sweeter when the bub is HERE and you see them together. You guys are gonna be great parents!
woah! I was, eh, a bit behind in catching up here! Congratulations!! Very cool…I’ll be sure to check in more. Very cool too to share the realities of pregnancy and depression. Blogs are so important in sharing so others in the same boat can have perspective. Good sharing!
Can’t wait to see your story unfold : )
Another comment/question of sorts…I’m really interested in hearing what birth plan options you have. I’m in San Francisco so there’s the range of home birth with a midwife and pool, doula at home then to the hospital for the last leg, more at the hospital where pain relief is readily given but c-sections tend to increase, to actually scheduled c-sections. This is California though where choice is key. I have heard elsewhere in the US, hospitals where medical intervention occurs more, is common. What about Japan?, I wonder what the view is on about trusting the woman’s body to do its work…even though that may mean a tough job on the woman…and whether there is support for home birth if one wants. Curious…
Thanks to everyone for the comments.
Mie- Long time no comment! I still follow Kokochi whenever you post but I hadn`t commented recently either- I can not believe that Tesla is now going to preschool.
In regards to your questions about the birth plan options I have here it really depends on the hospital/clinic you go to. Homebirths and waterbirths are possible here- A foreign friend had a water birth at a clinic in Tokyo and the clinic was a tiny place run by a doctor and his wife (his wife did all the cooking for the patients). There are other water birthing options in Tokyo as well- in other parts of Japan I think they are there but you would have to be pretty thorough in your searching.
I do not know what the laws are on homebirths in this country BUT Medea, who reads this blog and blogs here http://medeafication.blogspot.com/ had a homebirth in Southern Japan earlier this year when her daughter was born. She would know more about what this entailed and how you could go about it. Unfortunately that is the extent of my knowledge.
Pain relief in Japan is fairly non-existent. You can definitely find clinics/hospitals that offer it but it is extremely expensive. My clinic has it but at an extra $1000 or more on top of the bill (and pregnancy is not really covered under general health cover here) it was not really an option for us- especially since you need to book it in advance and therefore make the decision to have it even before you are in labour. As far as I am aware you can get some drips with pain relief but I am not sure or not if my clinic has this although I have heard others who have given birth in Japan talk about it.
C-sections- Again not exactly sure. I know that here, in a lot of places, if you have had a previous c-section then they advise you to have another for a second or third baby. I know in Australia though, where I am from, that in lots of cases if mother and baby are doing well they will let you have a natural birth later on. Maybe some of the other bloggers who read this could comment. I don`t have many Japanese friends that are mums so I am not sure if they are as common as back home. It seems that something like 1 in 3 people back home have C sections but that is just based on what I have heard. I know that even though my clinic is a relatively small clinic that they can perform c-sections there if needed. So I would not need to be transferred to a hospital for a c-section if it came to that. As for elective c-sections- I think in the ex-pat areas of Japan then that would probably be an option but maybe not where I am.
My clinic has a lot of midwives and I know that I will mainly be with midwives and nurses for my birth unless their are any complications. I have choosen the labour delivery room meaning that I can labour and deliver in the same room and move freely during labour, as well as take showers etc up until a certain point. This is not always the case in Japan and a lot of clinics and almost all hospitals will leave you in a bed strapped to a fetal monitor for most of your labour meaning you can not try to get into more comfortable positions.
Inductions seem quite common here as well if you are overdue and often you are not given the “choice”.
Japan seems backwards in a lot of way but I do think they are moving forward especially in the metropolitan areas. Some places do sound like hell and there have certainly been a lot of horror birth stories come out of Japan- but that said I am sure some people have had horror birthing experiences in the US as well.
Thanks for the plug Lulu! I was writing at the same time you were, it seems!
You even get a video! Would have been great to have had them from the 4D scans.
Cool reply. Thanks. I was curious, and it’s great to know homebirths do exist. At least in CA, there is a lot awareness about avoiding intervention when possible. I look forward to hearing how all goes. Sounds like you have tons of support : )