32 weeks…
32 weeks pregnant today and as I get closer to my due date it makes sense that the updates might get a bit more frequent especially since I have been going to the doctor every 2 weeks for almost 2 months now. No belly shot today though since I haven`t taken one today!
My Friday appointment bought a bit of a shock- I have been having what I thought was braxton hicks contractions for quite awhile now, all thoughout the day when my belly would tighten up. The thing was once it tightened up it wasn`t always releasing and the day before I went to the doctors it stayed like that for 4 hours straight (not comfortable!)…so I knew I would need to mention it to the doctor. They were starting to get a little painful as well- not like “OMFG it is killing me” type pain but still pain at the bottom of the bump all the same.
So they checked me over and the baby looked genki and was growing normal- he was at about 1.75kg so 250g up since the last appointment (yet I put on 1kg in 2 weeks meaning I have put on 7.2kg now since getting pregnant- I guess I am going to be one of those people that piles it on at the end!). However an internal revealed that my cervix length had decreased by almost half meaning I am technically almost 50% effaced already and it is still way to early for that to be normal.
So they have put me on medication to stop me going into pre-term labour (In Japanese it is called Remeterk but the doctor told me the American name for the medication is Ritodrine- a google of the drug showed that it seemed to be standard of care in Western countries also) and I need to take it easy for awhile in the hopes that the contractions stop and that I do not become any further effaced until after 37 weeks. I am taking the medicine three times a day at the moment but if it starts to help then I might only need to take it when my belly goes hard and/or hurts. So far though it doesn`t seem to be really working because it is still happening…
The side effects of the medication are heart palpitations, nausea, increased pulse rate or increased breathing and making hand shake. So far all it does to me is make my hands shake and my legs go a bit wobbly for the first hour or so after I take it so can`t really complain especially if it stops me going into pre-term labour. I am hoping the next couple of days it will stop…
If the medicine doesn`t work and I continue to become effaced and/or full blown contractions start then I might need to be admitted into the hospital to have the drugs intravenously and also be given steroids to help Goma-chan`s lungs develop as he might end up coming early. I am hoping that this won`t happen though and the doctor seemed pretty confident that we caught it pretty early so all should be okay. More than likely though I will be on the medication now until I am about 37 weeks pregnant.
It was weird to hear that Goma-chan might arrive early- I had definitely assumed he would be late. I guess because my brother and I were both late and a lot of time first babies seem to be late. It seems though Goma-chan has other ideas and was intent on arriving early. Hopefully he sticks around though for at least another 5 weeks or so because then after that point his weight would be a lot better and his lungs will be much more mature.
I had a maternity class on Thursday which went really well- much better than the first one. Firstly the group was a lot smaller and while I wouldn`t say I made “friends” – the other girls that were there were a lot more open and willing to chat with me (At the last class most of them were scared of me I think? It was a different set of girls this time though). The midwife that did the class was really good too and very patient with answering everyones questions.
We had a tour of the hospital first (okay, after the formula lady spoke to us about diet but luckily that was only for 5 minutes- I guess they figure at this point not much they can do to change how we eat)- I had only seen pictures of the upstairs rooms so it was great to finally see the birthing and labour rooms as well as the rooms that you stay in after you give birth. Only one baby was in the nursery but he was VERY cute and we all oohhed and aahhed over him for a good five minutes.
I have chosen to use the freestyle labour room for birth (unless it is unavailable then I will use a labour/delivery room which has the chair but you can stay in the same room for labour and delivery as the bed/chair is adjustable)- basically the freestyle labour room is a 6 mat room with two futon, a labour birthing ball, pillows, a swing thing (so you can hold onto it during labour? It is like a strap that hangs from the roof) and there is a cd player and aromatheraphy if you want. I will birth in the same room- so basically once I am admitted I am in that room for labour, birth and recovery.
A lot of the questions I had for the clinic that I was going to ask the English speaking midwife on Friday got answered at my maternity class which was good. I am glad that I attended both classes now.
On Friday, after I had met with the doctor I spent about 40 minutes with the English speaking midwife who wrote up my birth plan in Japanese for me. I had not met her before but she was lovely. Her English was not perfect but she really put me at ease (especially after having found out I was at risk of pre-term birth) – I didn`t ask her where she studied but I get the feeling she must have spent some time in America due to her accent. Between the two of us we got it all written down though and put in my file and she also answered the remaining of my questions.
I am really happy with the place I have chosen because Shun can stay with me all the time, the birth is mainly midwife assisted until the last 5 minutes, I do not need to have a drip or heart monitor (except for last hour or so) on during labour unless there was risk of infection (ie, when water breaks?) and/or baby is in distress. Also the first thing they do after the baby is born, before any checks is put him on my chest and allow me to try and breastfeed. The baby can also stay with me during placenta delivery and recovery (and or stitches if they are needed) except for when they take him outside for five minutes to clean him up and weigh him. I asked about the timing of this and she said he will only be away from me for at the most, 10 minutes.
Baby can also room with me from anytime (first night as well if I wish), they will not formula feed him and will only give him sugar water if they have my permission and even then they prefer the mothers give it to the babies anyway.
Pretty much everything I asked or was worried about was answered in a way I was happy with including C-section practices (ie Shun can still be there, I can still attempt breast feeding and they cut horizontally instead of vertically which seems more common in Japan). Oh and they will let me go up to 2 weeks past my due date to induce if that is what I wish and after Sarah`s horrible experience I said I didn`t want the seaweed thing and they said they don`t usually do that anyway (YAY!) and once they start an induction drip, even if it goes into the night, they do not stop it then start it again. That said, since Goma-chan seems to have his heart set on arriving early I might not need to worry about this anyway.
Overall I am hoping for a nice birth experience! As nice as birth experiences can be anyway with all that screaming, pushing and blood. HAHA!
Lastly, the other night Shun came home really late from work and I was already in bed asleep but I had told him to wake me when he got in because I hadn`t seen him for three days (it was the day I came back from Shizuoka). I can not remember what I had been dreaming about really but obviously Goma-chan had already been born because when Shun woke me up when he got in I said to him in a panicked voice in English “Where is the baby? Where is Goma-chan?” and he was like ” yosh yosh, onaka ni iru yo” (basically means, it`s okay, he is in your stomach still)…I guess in the dream the baby had already arrived but should of been right next to the bed!
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Hope the medicine works, and that things continue as planned! Sounds like your birth experience should be just as you’d hoped, which is great news
My ex-SIL has the same thing but they put her straight into hospital. Fingers crossed you will be ok. Your clinic sounds great and I am glad they accomodate all the things you want for your birth experience. Not long until he makes his appearance now. (Although hopefully longer than a couple of weeks at least! LOL!) Can`t wait to “meet” him!!
Ohhhh past Sarah is SOOOOO jealous of you…
But present Sarah is over that and happy you’ve found a nice place!! I think you will have a great start to your relationship with Goma-chan without having to stress about being spliced open or strapped to a chair etc etc
I’m glad you aren’t getting too bad side effects from the medicine and that it will do its job until you are full term. You may be spared the overdue waiting!! Which was the worst week ever for me!
I can’t believe next time I see you the baby will be here… of course if you have him BEFORE I leave for America I’m going to have to make a trip down to see you and him in his newborn glory
So try to have him before the 8th ok?
Hugs from Niigata
Hopefully the medicine does the job! I know a couple of ladies from my past birth club with Dylan who went into pre-term labor and they stopped it so well with drugs that they still managed to go overdue (one of them looked certain to deliver at like 25 weeks and ended up going full term)! So Goma-chan won’t necessarily be early, especially since they caught it quick and you’re not dialeted yet, just effaced. I’ll have my fingers crossed anyhow. Is Goma chan in a good position yet? My baby is breech and I’m rolling up on 34 weeks, which is making me a bit nervous as I definitely don’t want a c-section but there’s no way I’m going to do a vaginal breech birth here in China. So I’ll trade you some stay in goma chan vibes for some flip baby flip vibes, hehehe.
Take it easy and keep that baby baking!
Amanda- Thank you! I am hoping for a nice birth experience, or like I said, as nice as possible. HAHA. Hopefully Goma-chan sticks around inside just a bit longer though!
Midori- Isn`t it funny that we say “meet” – lol! So true though, all my blogging pregnant friends I am always so excited when they get close to their due dates. I have been really lucky with my clinic so far- obviously only time will tell (and birth) if they are as good as they seem but I certainly have my fingers crossed. It is good to know your SIL had it but things turned out okay- I am staying positive.
Jessica- Goma-chan is head down and moving down more all the time I think as my bump has “dropped” a little in the last week which is a little early I suppose. I am glad that the medicine seems to have worked for your friends- I am hopeful it works for me but also glad that I have gotten this far without it because at least if Goma-chan came now he would be viable and his changes would be close to 100% – fingers crossed though that he sticks around in my tummy at least until 37 weeks. I would not be surprised though if things backfired and I ended up going OVER my due date. That would be funny though!
I am hoping that your baby flips around- I am sending baby flip baby flip vibes your way. At my maternity class recently one of the ladies had her baby laying sideways still at 33 weeks and she was stressing out and the midwife told her to try and coax the baby down with her hands by rubbing under her bump and also to not drink ice cold beverages instead to drink room temperature or hot drinks. Maybe you could try these things?
Lulu, haven’t been commenting on anyone’s blogs recently, but I can help you with this problem, actually!
I went into pre-term labor at 32 weeks and again at 35 weeks. I was put in the hospital both times (clinic in Japan) and put on an IV drip for a week each time. After leaving the hospital, I had to take Ritodrine and also ended up with the shakes. I had to take the medication until I was 36 weeks and 3 days after I went off it, DD was born.
I also had BH pretty much all day and night. They never stopped even when I was laying down, drinking water, and doing everything that everyone told me to do. I also had issues with heavy bleeding throughout the pregnancy, which was probably why then admitted me so soon, rather than just having me take the drug.
Your cervix length can change from day to day. It is supposed to be somewhere around 4cm during pregnancy. The day I went in to the hospital, it was 2.5cm. But 2 days later, it was back up to 3.1 or something (don’t remember the actual number
I was put on “pelvic rest” which means no sex (with or without DH
and told to take it easy with taking long walks since that would also get the BHs going. I was also told not to start breast massage to get ready for the baby since that would also bring on BHs for me.
Anyway, if you want to talk (on your blog or through email or phone), just let me know! You can find my personal email and telephone # in the AFWJ directory.
I understand how you feel and every day that goma-chan stays in is a day closer to full-term!
Hope Goma-chan stays put for a few more weeks at least. It’s a good thing you are so organised with the nursery etc. in case he does come a little bit early. My cousin was convinced her baby would be late, and when he was born at 37 weeks they hadn’t finished painting the nursery or assembling any of the furniture – eek!
I thought Ali would be late too, being a first baby, but when he was born at 38 weeks I was really relieved because I was so sick of being pregnant.
What is the seaweed thing? Is it a Japanese thing (like sugar water)?
Your hospital sounds fantastic, I love the idea of a room with futons for birthing.
It sounds like you are being well looked after by so many people, so it’s clear that both you and Goma-chan are in good hands! Keep us updated, it’s so exciting!
Oh my, its a good thing you mentioned it to the Dr when you went. I didn`t really have BH that early, its only been in the past few weeks that I have been feeling them. With my luck this baby is going to be staying put for awhile, I would too considering how cold its been getting here in the morning, who wants to go from a nice warm cozy place to somewhere cold?
Glad to hear that your clinic is what you wish it to be and that they are taking care to keep Goma-chan inside.
Take it easy (I know much harder to do than one might think). I`ll send you some of my staying in vibes.
I took that medicine too. But mine was on a drip in the hospital, so maybe different effects. As for stopping the labour, it certainly did that, but the side effects were so awful for me that I made them stop it. I basically felt on the brink of passing out/throwing up the whole time. So GOOD that you don’t!!! Have you been advised bedrest? Let’s home little goma chan stays in there until at least 37 weeks.
Your hospital sounds great. Love the idea of the tatami room. Definitely better than tiled floors and beds. Weird about this sugar water thing though. I have heard lots about it, but was never offered it, and it was never given at my hospital. Seems a bit unnecessary? Anyway! Are you going au naturel on the birthing front? If so, good luck! I much preferred it to the epidural, pain and all
Take it easy and hope not too many nightmares.
Lol @ Sarah’s comment hehe
You will be the 4th person I know this year to have a (threatened) pre-term! Weird eh? (Girl 1- in hospital for a month then induced a month early, Girl 2 sudden water breaking a month early, Girl 3 in an out of hospital for 2 months with what you have by the sounds of it, baby at 35.5w) Hope the medicine works and you don’t have to go through the fun of an extended and expensive hospital visit.
Take it easy. *hugs*
It really does sound like you have found a wonderful clinic up there in Tokyo!! I bet you are going to have a perfect birthing story… but, tell goma chan from his aunty Nay that she doesn’t want to be hearing the birth story for at least another 7 or so weeks!!
Just in case he has other ideas though, I would pack your hospital bag and have it waiting for you when you need it.
Try to relax as much as possible and rely on Shun as much as you can
Hoping the medicine does it’s job… it should by the sounds of things!!
All I can say is your clinic sounds lovely! I wish I didn’t have such a horrid experience, I’m even thinking that my hospital has dated me wrong because when I was induced, I was supposed to be at 38 weeks… which doesn’t make sense because at birth she was rather big! I was also dilated by a few cms by 35 weeks.. and although I didn’t need any medication I had to take it easy. I’m starting to think either during the middle of my pregnancy the aussie doctors measured her wrong (as she was still small compared to the average aussie baby) and gave me the wrong dates… is it possible at all!?
Fingers crossed that goma chan stays in your belly a little longer… and that he is born on the same day as Sakura
xxx
Yeah for an understanding hospital!
I am another pre-term labour veteran. Hospitalised from 32 to 36 weeks- a whole moooooooonnnthhhhhh and kept on bedrest the whole time. If I never watch Mino Monta again it won’t be too soon! It worked though as Amy went to term and was born bang on her due day.
Now you have an official excuse to lie down, put your feet up and relax!
Let me make you happy with some statistics: there are more boys than girls being early
Good you are so well prepared.
There is no progress here. Even if we try, things are sold out, gone, not available. argh.
And 1,75kg? We are impressed! 1153g today…
Hey, I saw your facebook status so I came over here to see how you’re doing
Goma-chan seems like an eager beaver! Haha, you might have your hands full with him, he might be the kind of little boy who needs some guidance in learning patience! ;P
Anyway, are you going to be okay to come over and visit on Wednesday? I definitely don’t plan to rile you up or anything, but if you think it might be better for me to come over to your place, or to cancel altogether, just let me know. It won’t hurt my feelings, I’d rather you and the baby be safe
Also, I was meaning to ask you this in person, but I might as well as here… Tatsuya and I really want to get you something for the baby, but we’re not so sure what you have already. If there’s anything on your wishlist you need (straight-up wants are fine as well!) please let me know! We’re really eager to get something for you!
Hi Lulu! Sorry for this random comment!
I have made my blog more protected against just anyone online being able to come across it and read it. So I am sending out invitations to read it again, through email. If you cannot access my blog, please email me your email address and I will send you an invite!
my email is: bigteamug@gmail.com
Thank you! <3
Thank you to everyone for comments and support. I am still having regular BH contractions but I am hoping that when I go into the doctors again next time that they will tell me I am no further effaced. As far as I know I had not dilated at all which is a good thing…
Kuri- I will email you if things worsen or I have any questions. I have had no bleeding during my pregnancy though so I guess it is a little different. The medication is not stopping the BH contractions though but they are definitely not as bad during the 2 hours or so after i take the medicine. I have also put your number in my phone (hope you don`t mind!) in case I end up in hospital and need to chat about it.
Good to know that others have been through it and come out the otherside with a genki baby. Where there any issues with Pinglet coming 4 weeks early (ie, breathing issues?)
Suzy- the seaweed thing, um, not sure what it is called in Japnaese (Sara would know) but basically something they stick up there before they give you the induction drugs. I am guessing it is done only here, or perhaps in other asian countries also.
Hoping Goma-chan stays put a little while longer. You went early though with Ali and all was okay- still 2 weeks is a bit different to 8 weeks so hopefully goma-chan stays inside for another 5-6 weeks at least.
Katie & Melanie- Thanks
Laura A- I am not on bedrest but have been told to take it easy. If things progressed then he said I would be on bedrest or admitted into the hospital and I am definitely trying to avoid that so taking it fairly easy. But worried that baby might come early when I thought I still had 8 weeks so was rushing around yesterday washing baby clothes, making a list of things to pack in a hurry if need be and packing a hospital bag (lots of things to throw in last minute though) and getting Shun to tell his company that we need the shakin hoken paper sooner rather than later (he doesn`t work at the honsha so he has emailed them and they are letting him know what he needs to bring to the honsha next time he goes)
Khea, Nay, Sophie- sorry for joint response!! thanks for your concern and I will keep you all updated.
Hospital bag semi packed with a list on top of things that still need to go in or be chucked in last minute (like camera and toiletries!)
Heather- That must have been tough with little Meg at home when Amy was on her way. 4 weeks. URGH! But you then went to term? That is great. I am hoping for a similar outcome. Or it could completely back fire and I could go over and not have Goma-chan til Christmas. hehe
Eva- your baby is still measuring a little small then? I guess he/she is more Japanese sized that Western sized- you have a tiny frame though which is probably one of the reasons why.
I am glad that Goma-chan is so big so that at least if he does come early he will be an okay size. I want him to stay in to bake abit longer yet though.
Elizabeth- I will walk to your place tomorrow, it is not far. I messaged you on facebook!
Laura- Mailed you!
Hey again, Lulu! No problem about calling!
Feel free, although I hope that you won’t be calling from the hospital. 
The medication didn’t stop the BHs, but they did make them a bit less intense and less frequent. Hope that it’s working some magic for you!
The Pinglet was fine born 1 month early. No problems with breathing and scored high on Apgar right after birth. She was small though (2.6kg), but big enough not to have to go to NICU (2.5kg was the cut-off for my clinic). And, as you know, she’s definitely made up for lost time. LOL
Good luck with it all..just take it easy and don`t overdo things (easy to say)..guess your dvd player is gonna get a workout..:) Sending stay in vibes your way
Sounds like a great clinic. Hoping your babe stays put a few more weeks and that you have an easy birth.