Comments on: 36 weeks… http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/2009/11/15/36-weeks/ An Aussie girl living in Tokyo with her Japanese boyfriend trying to make sense of her crazy yet funny Japanese life... Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:06:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: achan http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/2009/11/15/36-weeks/comment-page-1/#comment-41216 achan Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:52:46 +0000 http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/?p=791#comment-41216 Oh I remember all this!!! My son turns 1 tommorrow and I tell you that you will quickly forget all that has happened over the past couple of months, and just as a couple because there is a new member of your family to focus on. One year seems so long ago now (but I do clearly remember my 4 hr 35min labor) Labor is defintely different throughout the country here, I've had 3 and all of them had no problems. Face it head on and positively and you'll be right (in pain and sore but that is childbirth!!!) two of my kids were over 3.6kg and neither of them were the biggest babies in the nursery at the time (they were fully japanese). The docs just making small talk!! For you bag-take something to do. I WAS SO BORED!!!!!!!!!!! (okay second and third time round!!) First time there is a lot of learning to do but just incase take a book. and deoderant, even after a wash basin bath you'll feel smelly from all that sweating during labor. Perfume isn't good as the baby recognises you from your body smell. Look forward to hearing your news when Goma chan arrives. May you have a safe delivery. Oh I remember all this!!! My son turns 1 tommorrow and I tell you that you will quickly forget all that has happened over the past couple of months, and just as a couple because there is a new member of your family to focus on. One year seems so long ago now (but I do clearly remember my 4 hr 35min labor)

Labor is defintely different throughout the country here, I’ve had 3 and all of them had no problems. Face it head on and positively and you’ll be right (in pain and sore but that is childbirth!!!)

two of my kids were over 3.6kg and neither of them were the biggest babies in the nursery at the time (they were fully japanese). The docs just making small talk!!

For you bag-take something to do. I WAS SO BORED!!!!!!!!!!! (okay second and third time round!!) First time there is a lot of learning to do but just incase take a book. and deoderant, even after a wash basin bath you’ll feel smelly from all that sweating during labor. Perfume isn’t good as the baby recognises you from your body smell.

Look forward to hearing your news when Goma chan arrives. May you have a safe delivery.

]]> By: Brenda http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/2009/11/15/36-weeks/comment-page-1/#comment-41202 Brenda Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:47:53 +0000 http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/?p=791#comment-41202 Congratulations on making it to 36 weeks, and you have a beautiful bump! I'm actually quite envious that your belly button popped. I was waiting and waiting for mine to, but it never did. (I think I may have an unnaturally deep belly button) As far as the hospital bag goes, I recommend taking 2 or 3 bottles of water and a straw. I drank lots of water when I was in labor, and it was too hard to hold the bottle myself, so DH held it while I drank from a straw. I know it's hard, but try and enjoy these last few weeks! Congratulations on making it to 36 weeks, and you have a beautiful bump! I’m actually quite envious that your belly button popped. I was waiting and waiting for mine to, but it never did. (I think I may have an unnaturally deep belly button) As far as the hospital bag goes, I recommend taking 2 or 3 bottles of water and a straw. I drank lots of water when I was in labor, and it was too hard to hold the bottle myself, so DH held it while I drank from a straw. I know it’s hard, but try and enjoy these last few weeks!

]]> By: Tiffany http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/2009/11/15/36-weeks/comment-page-1/#comment-41190 Tiffany Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:55:06 +0000 http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/?p=791#comment-41190 Congrats on making the 36 week mark, you look great! Unfortunately I haven't had children yet so I can't suggest anything for your hospital bag but it looks like the ladies above have some good ideas :) Goma-chan will be here before you know it :) Congrats on making the 36 week mark, you look great! Unfortunately I haven’t had children yet so I can’t suggest anything for your hospital bag but it looks like the ladies above have some good ideas :) Goma-chan will be here before you know it :)

]]> By: Nikki http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/2009/11/15/36-weeks/comment-page-1/#comment-41189 Nikki Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:08:51 +0000 http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/?p=791#comment-41189 Congrats for making it to 36 weeks! You must be relieved! You are looking wonderful too! I am jealous of pregnant women with big bumps! Mine was very little the first time around looks like it will be the same this time round too. I just tend to put on weight all over which isn't a good look. As other said don't take much notice of what the doctor says about goma chan's weight. They are really just guessing and are often way off. 3.5kg sounds perfectly normal for Australian standards. Liam was on the smaller side which seemed to surprise my doctor as he probably had the all gaijin babies are big assumption going on. Poor you having to have an internal and monitoring every time from now. It's amazing how different hospitals over Japan are. I did the monitoring thing when Liam was overdue and was bored silly. Definitely take a book! Congrats for making it to 36 weeks! You must be relieved! You are looking wonderful too! I am jealous of pregnant women with big bumps! Mine was very little the first time around looks like it will be the same this time round too. I just tend to put on weight all over which isn’t a good look.

As other said don’t take much notice of what the doctor says about goma chan’s weight. They are really just guessing and are often way off. 3.5kg sounds perfectly normal for Australian standards. Liam was on the smaller side which seemed to surprise my doctor as he probably had the all gaijin babies are big assumption going on.

Poor you having to have an internal and monitoring every time from now. It’s amazing how different hospitals over Japan are. I did the monitoring thing when Liam was overdue and was bored silly. Definitely take a book!

]]> By: Luisa http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/2009/11/15/36-weeks/comment-page-1/#comment-41188 Luisa Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:24:30 +0000 http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/?p=791#comment-41188 excellent news about no more meds...lets hope he stays in a bit longer..I think all Japanese assume gaijin babies will be big..some stupid stereotype. The hospital where I had Alex had loads of newborn photos. The average size was 2.5-2.9 kg..small to our standards (a little unhealthy I thought) but who knows..as long as baby is born healthy and strong, doesn`t really matter. oh, just to put a bit of perspective on things, when my Samoan friend was born, she was 9kg!!!!! excellent news about no more meds…lets hope he stays in a bit longer..I think all Japanese assume gaijin babies will be big..some stupid stereotype. The hospital where I had Alex had loads of newborn photos. The average size was 2.5-2.9 kg..small to our standards (a little unhealthy I thought) but who knows..as long as baby is born healthy and strong, doesn`t really matter. oh, just to put a bit of perspective on things, when my Samoan friend was born, she was 9kg!!!!!

]]> By: umebossy http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/2009/11/15/36-weeks/comment-page-1/#comment-41187 umebossy Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:39:10 +0000 http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/?p=791#comment-41187 Yay, you and Goma-chan made it! Glad to hear he'll be properly baked when he chooses to come out :) Time for your herbal teas now? Yay, you and Goma-chan made it! Glad to hear he’ll be properly baked when he chooses to come out :) Time for your herbal teas now?

]]> By: Nay http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/2009/11/15/36-weeks/comment-page-1/#comment-41186 Nay Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:23:38 +0000 http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/?p=791#comment-41186 You must be so relieved now that you have made it to full term - congratulations!! It must be so exciting to know that in a short few weeks or so you will finally be holding goma chan in your arms!! I am very impressed that you have managed to gain only 10kgs so far!! I think you are going to be back to your pre-pregnancy weight in no time. I am hoping for a similiar result - not really for me as such but just so I don't get yelled at by my doctor, lol! I am still very jealous that you are only starting to get stretch marks now. I still don't have any on my tummy or legs but the original ones I got look so gross and ugly!! I am rubbing oil into them everyday so hopefully they will fade... YAY for yoga pants :) I bought myself a couple of LL pants from Shimamura last weekened and have been wearing them every day. They are just so comfy and warm! You must be so relieved now that you have made it to full term – congratulations!! It must be so exciting to know that in a short few weeks or so you will finally be holding goma chan in your arms!!

I am very impressed that you have managed to gain only 10kgs so far!! I think you are going to be back to your pre-pregnancy weight in no time. I am hoping for a similiar result – not really for me as such but just so I don’t get yelled at by my doctor, lol!

I am still very jealous that you are only starting to get stretch marks now. I still don’t have any on my tummy or legs but the original ones I got look so gross and ugly!! I am rubbing oil into them everyday so hopefully they will fade…

YAY for yoga pants :) I bought myself a couple of LL pants from Shimamura last weekened and have been wearing them every day. They are just so comfy and warm!

]]> By: Khea http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/2009/11/15/36-weeks/comment-page-1/#comment-41185 Khea Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:11:35 +0000 http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/?p=791#comment-41185 You look fantastic!! It's so soon already. That is hard to believe you weighed them same as before WITH baby. So after you have him, you'll already be lighter haha. I started getting stretchmarks around that time too... like whiskers coming out from my bellybutton lol, but they already are pretty unnoticeable from the distance of me and the mirror! The ones on my thighs are still a little purple though. Don't worry about it~~ No hospital bag suggestions from me.. hospital had almost everything I needed, and I used bearly anything from what I'd packed. It really depends on YOUR clinic and what they do and what they provide. I agree with suzy, I'm glad I took the effort to braid my hair, and put on a bit of foundation after labour... the pictures look nice and I'm not scared to show them XD Can't wait to hear your birth story!!! I have a feeling you'll have a fairly easy/good one. Just a hunch though ;) You look fantastic!! It’s so soon already. That is hard to believe you weighed them same as before WITH baby. So after you have him, you’ll already be lighter haha. I started getting stretchmarks around that time too… like whiskers coming out from my bellybutton lol, but they already are pretty unnoticeable from the distance of me and the mirror! The ones on my thighs are still a little purple though. Don’t worry about it~~

No hospital bag suggestions from me.. hospital had almost everything I needed, and I used bearly anything from what I’d packed. It really depends on YOUR clinic and what they do and what they provide. I agree with suzy, I’m glad I took the effort to braid my hair, and put on a bit of foundation after labour… the pictures look nice and I’m not scared to show them XD

Can’t wait to hear your birth story!!! I have a feeling you’ll have a fairly easy/good one. Just a hunch though ;)

]]> By: suzy http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/2009/11/15/36-weeks/comment-page-1/#comment-41184 suzy Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:52:25 +0000 http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/?p=791#comment-41184 That is so exciting that you're near the end! And great that you don't have to take any medication anymore. It's so interesting reading about the things that are different having a baby in Japan vs. Australia. I only had 3 ultrasounds during the pregnancy, one at 8 weeks (which they called a dating scan), one at 12 weeks and one at 20. I wish I could have had more though, I loved seeing the baby. And I didn't have any kind of internal exam until I arrived at the hospital when I was in labour. I think if you see a private obstetrician here you have more checks and things, but I was booked in with the midwives who were super low intervention. Re: hospital bag... I reckon it's worth throwing in a lipstick and some earrings or a necklace that make you feel pretty, because you'll take lots of photos in the first few days after Goma-chan arrives and it's nice to have something to wear that makes you feel good. And I loved those singlet tops with the clip down straps - v. good for when you're getting the hang of feeding. That is so exciting that you’re near the end! And great that you don’t have to take any medication anymore.
It’s so interesting reading about the things that are different having a baby in Japan vs. Australia. I only had 3 ultrasounds during the pregnancy, one at 8 weeks (which they called a dating scan), one at 12 weeks and one at 20. I wish I could have had more though, I loved seeing the baby.
And I didn’t have any kind of internal exam until I arrived at the hospital when I was in labour. I think if you see a private obstetrician here you have more checks and things, but I was booked in with the midwives who were super low intervention.
Re: hospital bag… I reckon it’s worth throwing in a lipstick and some earrings or a necklace that make you feel pretty, because you’ll take lots of photos in the first few days after Goma-chan arrives and it’s nice to have something to wear that makes you feel good. And I loved those singlet tops with the clip down straps – v. good for when you’re getting the hang of feeding.

]]> By: Melanie http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/2009/11/15/36-weeks/comment-page-1/#comment-41183 Melanie Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:29:36 +0000 http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/?p=791#comment-41183 Mom wanted me to mention tennis balls for the labor. She stuck 3 tennis balls in a sock and used them to rub my back during labor. It did feel good at times (and sometimes not) but it might be worth having just in case. Tummy is looking nice. As for stretchmarks I escaped getting them during pregnancy but was looking at my tummy yesterday (and it is so nice to be able to see the whole things again without looking at some weird angle) and there are some on my belly that are post pregnancy. You just never know. Mom wanted me to mention tennis balls for the labor. She stuck 3 tennis balls in a sock and used them to rub my back during labor. It did feel good at times (and sometimes not) but it might be worth having just in case.

Tummy is looking nice. As for stretchmarks I escaped getting them during pregnancy but was looking at my tummy yesterday (and it is so nice to be able to see the whole things again without looking at some weird angle) and there are some on my belly that are post pregnancy. You just never know.

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