On Saturday night we met up with a friend who was in town from Germany- my last little night time outing for awhile since Goma-chan should be showing up sometime soon. He is Japanese but was transferred to Germany three years ago and is just completing his stint there now- It was great to see him and some other friends I hadn`t seen in a couple of months. It was my first time in an Izakaya in ages as well- I forgot how much I love Izakaya food (although it is not very good for you!)
Shun, me & Cat
Ryomei, the one in the middle, is the one that was here from Germany. It was so funny to listen to him speak German and even funnier when Mai (girl on the right) said that when they were in Africa earlier this year travelling he spoke a bit of English with a German accent. That cracked me up the most- listening to him try to speak English and him having an obvious German accent! Both of his languages have improved though- I had never heard him speak much English before and before he went to Germany he spoke no German so he has done pretty well!
Sarah & Sakura were also in Chiba overnight and I can not believe how much Sakura has grown in the 2.5 months since I last saw her!!! She was so alert and genki and had so much fun playing with her toys and watching what was going on around her. She was already asleep when Shun got home last night but they had some time together this morning and Shun was not nearly as scared to hold her as he was a couple of months back!!!
Sarah left this afternoon for the airport and they should be flying on there way to America now- I hope Sakura is being a good little girl for her mum. They will stay with us again on the 28th of December (and my mum will already be here then too- so full house!) since they fly in early evening and it would be too difficult to get back to Niigata after that long a flight. Will be interesting to see how much changes in the three weeks! Plus we will be able to get some cute Sakura & Goma-chan photos!!!
Here are a couple photos of Sakura- she loves playing with her rings a lot!!!
Doctors appointment yesterday went okay. The doctor said baby had moved down a little bit but not much- he said we can probably assume that the baby will be late. Shun mentioned that I was really against the idea of having a c-section unless absolutely necessary and the doctor said that should be fine and that if I am still pregnant on the 21 December they will induce and hope for the best. I am hoping of course labour starts naturally before then but at least I know they are not going to go straight to cutting me open if it looks like he is going to be late. Doctor didn`t do an internal but I assume he will do one next Monday when I will be a day overdue.
They said he was still super genki, looked to weigh about 3.1kg and that they would see me in a week unless contractions started sooner. I have a lot of braxton hicks type pain still and I think he has moved down a little bit but on the ultrasound it showed that his arms over his face are what is stopping him from moving down much further so hopefully he moves them out of the way soon! Shun asks me everyday if I think the baby will be born today and every day I tell him “I don`t think so”- it is cute that he asks though. I told him he will be the first to know if baby starts to make an appearance!
My blood pressure was a little higher than usualy- up until now I have had 110/70 at the highest but it was 135/75 yesterday- I think part of the reason was that I was nervous about seeing the doctor and hearing what he had to say this week but they didn`t even mention it to me (I take my own bloodpressure and it prints out on a piece of paper that I give to the midwife) so I am guessing they were not too concerned about it especially since up until this point I have had no blood pressure issues at all.
I am in pain when I walk or do much so will be nice once he is out and in my arms!!!
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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!
gambatte, not long now, but the waiting is a killer..I had white coat syndrome when I was pregnant. Everytime I went for a check up my blood pressure would be high, but taking it at home and at the yakuba and anywhere else I had access to a machine and I was perfectly normal! Just to be on the safe side doc had me come every two weeks for checks from 5 months..all good of course and completely normal during childbirth but was happy doc took it into consideration.
Sending come-on-baby-come-on-baby vibes your way
Such a cute photo of you, Shun and Cat
Gorgeous pics of Sakura too! Loved to story about your friend speaking English with a German accent. I have a Japanese friend who is married to a German guy and she sometimes sounds German by the way she speaks English because she’s used to speaking with him! Hang in there, Sweetie! Not that long at all now and you’ll be able to give Goma Chan a big kiss and a cuddle!
I can’t wait to get back and have some izakaya food – it may not be healthy, but it’s soooo good! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed a fun night out with your friends! It does become a little harder with a newborn – not impossible – but definitely more challenging.
Good luck in the next couple of weeks. I was 10 days late and after a while, the waiting just got annoying, but it was worth it of course. Hope you can stay comfortable until the little one decides to appear.
Wow! Sara’s due date was December 13th too! She ended up showing up on the 18th, but hopefully Goma-chan is a more prompt, considerate baby. Either way it’s not long now! Looking forward to the good news!
Luisa- I am not too concerned about my blood pressure since I have never had issues before and the doctor didn`t even mention it to me- I am sure on Monday I was just like you and had white coat syndrome (great analogy!)
Am accepting your come on baby come on vibes with OPEN ARMS!
Katie M- I look the cutest in the photo though hey?! hahaha! Shun just looks silly (not happy about having his photo since he came straight from soccer and said he had crazy beanie hair (which was true!) and Catherine was already well on her way to been drunk!
Interesting that your friend has the same issue when she speaks English. It was so funny to listen to Ryomei speak in English with the accent- he didn`t sound like a Japanese person speaking English at all anymore.
Coffeegrl- I might need to find an izakaya that does TAKE-OUT food if I can`t get there often with the bub! They are usually quite smokey places so wouldn`t be so keen on taking a kid there anyway (even though my husband smokes he does not do it at home anymore, not even on the veranda except VERY occasionly on the weekends- he is supposed to quit but I know he still smokes at work)
10 days late? I don`t think my doctor would let me go that long- it seems the 21st will be the day the induce- a week after due date. I can deal with that as it means I would come out of the hospital on Christmas day barring any complications. Would hate to have to stay there ALL day on Christmas day.
Brenda- I didnt realize Sara was due on the 13th as well! My original due date was the 19th which is why I think he will probably be a bit late anyway (maybe?) but they changed my date at 12 weeks when I had my first ultrasound here. I do hope that Goma-chan is more prompt! hehe! I am definitley getting sick of waiting and all the braxton hicks contractions!
That’s better news about Goma-chan, hopefully that’s him starting to make his way down and there will be no more talk of a C-section! Hope the last week or so goes by quickly for you and that you can be home for Christmas
Sounds like you had a good appointment. I’m glad your doctor is fine with inducing before doing a c-section, but I hope it won’t get to that point anyhow! Now’s the time to be trying all of those natural induction techniques — raspberry leaf tea, pineapple, spicy foods, sex! I think there’s other stuff too, that is popular with natural birth mamas, like evening primrose oil and black and blue cohosh, but I’m not sure if you can get them in Japan? I had no idea where to even start looking for that sort of thing in China.
Great pictures too, you all look happy! It is good to have a sort of final hurrah before the baby comes, I think.
Well, not long now! Just think, another week or so and Goma-chan will be here.