I am sure a Japanese person would help you if you waters broke when you were out and about. Anyone who is a mother would have to! I don’t remember when my waters broke but have had a couple of friends who have had them break in kind of strange places. My good Aussie friend here had hers break in the middle of the night in bed which would have been a shock.

Here’s hoping you have a normal labor contraction induced labor! My major fear was that I wouldn’t know what contractions were and when they actually did start it took me a while to figure out what they really were. I did have a sore back the night before though so that might have been hint too.

Sophie- The word Hoo-ha always cracks me up. I know the chances of my water breaking before I am in active labour is HIGHLY unlikely but still scary thought. Poo stained diapers are something that scare me too! Even though they are clean like you say…I have napisan here in Japan (buy and send!) BUT you shouldn`t use it on cloth diapers that are All in one like the type I have which is abit of a shame.

But yeah, squirt bottles are very nice

Not impressed with this weather either… clothes don’t seem to be drying when it’s a fine day anyway… I’m guessing the cool air means they retain the moisture? Looks like i’m going to have to do evening runs to MIL’s house to dry clothes in her tumble dryer… nooo!

About the nappies though, As Sakura was born on in winter (and goma-chan’s due date ! )
I didn’t end up using the cloth nappies I had bought… I felt very lazy… but honestly the disposables did me just fine. They didn’t dry properly outside and the dryer seemed to make them crispy!? (even with fabric softener) I couldn’t find anything like napisan or SARD… I STILL haven’t!! So I didn’t like the idea of using bits of cloth with poo stains for my child… I know they WERE clean, but they didn’t look clean. and I’m a bit of a clean freak like that….

As for your fear… that was also my biggest fear while pregnant… the thought of water breaking in public gave me nightmares… So when my clinic said they wanted to schedule me for the induction because they were VERY busy.. I jumped at the chance!!! I didn’t want to be at home with Riki’s brothers and god forbid something start creeping out of my hoo-ha… or even worse… out at the mall… or… the car!?! nooooo! when it got closer to my scheduled date (and i was already dilated 3 or 4 cm) I bought maternity pads and wore one incase my waters broke…I know in reality, a pad would do fuck all… but i FELT safe… ahaha

Yes, if you cloth diaper I would say you need at least a three day supply on hand due to the drying as I am finding out rather quickly.

Thought of something else you might want to get for your hospital bag, a squirt bottle of some kind (or reuse the dish washing liquid ones, but without the soap). They were great for after birth when you need to use the toilet but you don`t really want to use toilet paper. My hospital had bidets but I found they really don`t go towards the front very well and squirting some nice warm water down there definitely makes one feel a bit cleaner.

That last week, T would ask me every night if he thought the baby would come soon so I can understand Shun worrying everytime he recieves any sort of contact from you. Hopefully Goma-chan will stick around for a bit more (your almost to the 37 week mark)

Snow here turns to dirty grey slush too. Tokyo/Chiba are not made for nice snowy days… I can not believe Beijing has had so much snow lately though, and so early! No sign of snow here yet and not even sure if we will get any this winter.

The weather here has been pretty icky too, but at least it is snow, which is pretty while it lasts. The problem is when the snow is gone and it turns into dirty grey slush! I hope you stay warm and cozy over there in Japan.

I am not sure we are in a minority but I am definitely freaked out about the possibility of water breaking in public. Although I know the chances are VERY slim. Shun didnt help much by saying Japanese people wouldnt help me if it happened.

Umebossy: OMG, I just realized it is Carol Hathaway. I knew that I knew her from something but hadn`t really thought much about it. Man, I loved ER. I think you are right though and she hasn`t really done anything big since then. I have so much time on my hands that I have been watching drama`s I don`t even like much- I did download the first season of one called Being Erica or something like that and HATED it though. So not watching that anymore.

Tomorrow is set to be another boring day. Oh well! I should do some cleaning and more quilting…

I’ve been watching The Good Wife too – not really into law programmes usually but I like Julia Margulies (sp? Carol Hathaway!) and it’s good to see her on TV again as I hadn’t really been aware of her doing anything big since er. I gave up on Gossip Girl a couple of episodes into this season as I just stopped enjoying it. Probably no bad thing

Hope you have a more interesting day tomorrow (although not public water-breaking interesting mind!)