Almost a month since my last post- it has been awhile since I have had such a big blog break and in fact, in recent months, I have not blogged nearly as much as usual. Not that I don`t think about it- in fact I often think to myself “I really should blog” or write mini lists in my head about what to blog about.
First things first.
Shion is doing very well. He is just over 2.2kg right now so gaining VERY steadily. For the first week he lost quite a bit and at his lowest went down to 1361 grams (3 pounds) but he has gained steadily since 14th of January and some days gains upwards of 50grams which is fantastic.
We have been pretty lucky in that he has not had many set backs. He was moved out of the NICU on January 21st (at 15 days old) and out of the incubator on January 26th (20 days old). It seems strange but what surprised me most about seeing him out of the incubator is that he had clothes on. Those little kimono type dress things they put babies in here. He still had a feeding tube for awhile but it was removed on January 29th when he showed that he could drink all of his milk from a bottle. He has been exclusively on breastmilk since he was 4 days old and I breastfeed him each time I visit him at the hospital if the times coincide with feeding times. Breastfeeding a baby so small has its issues as Shion is so sleepy all the time and rarely can drink more than 20ml and even that might take him an hour or so but I have successfully breastfed him a full feed once and hope that he will do it again soon. Usually I feed him and the remaineder is given to him in a bottle either by me or by one of the nurses after we leave. Shun gave him a bottle last weekend for the first time.
Shion is likely to be released on Saturday February 19th- one day after my birthday. So a nice little belated birthday gift for me!!! He will be 6 weeks 2 days old (and I would of been 37 weeks 6 days pregnant). We will finally be bringing our little man home.
Some photos of his progress
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Since my last post Noah calmed down a lot. He has gotten to the stage where he will wave bye bye when I am leaving or at least watch me go without getting upset. Sometimes he is napping when I leave but I always put him down for the nap and tell him I will be back after he wakes up and that he can go to the park with “Jiji” before I get back. We are still staying with our in-laws and will be here until my mum arrives on February 17th (2 days before Shion is released) to help out for a couple of weeks.
I am so grateful to my in-laws for helping us out for what will have been more than six weeks. They have watched Noah each day, cooked for us and cleaned for us as well (although I have tried to help as much as I can!). I am also grateful for my mum who is coming to stay even though she will have to miss work (without pay). The support we have received since Shion was born has been amazing. Messages, emails, gifts by post, phone calls and so much more- it has been truly amazing!! I have received stuff from fellow bloggers- some of whom I have never even met before and it is so nice to have so many people thinking of us and sending well wishes.
All of the good vibes certainly helped as Shion will be home with us soon and is gaining weight like a champ. He is turning into a real little fattie 
Noah is getting more verbal- I think he now says “dog” as well as “ball” – he signs a lot more too. Makes me glad I persisted with the baby signing because for ages I thought it was getting us nowhere. He now signs yummy, milk, drink, book, ball, dog, more/again and all finished, Some of them are more sporadic than others but he is definitely communicating more.
He still loves his books and will happily sit and “read” by himself which is amazing for someone so young I think.
We recently celebrated his 1st birthday party (yes, a little late!)- it was scheduled for Jan 9th but we had to postpone once I had Shion (Jan 6th) and it was held just this past weekend. It was a joint birthday party with my friend`s son Alex as there birthday`s were so close.
The theme was “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” – fitting for Noah who eats so much but also loves the book.
I don`t have photos in the invitations but they were caterpillar themed also and we had decorations, party bags, happy birthday sign, plates, cups, balloons and a cake all with the theme.
Lots of other stuff happening but mainly caring for my boys and looking forward til we will all be home together. There is some other possibly exciting news on the horizon with plans of building our own place getting closer and closer it seems but will wait til share on that when we know more!
Noah is yet to meet Shion (as only Shun & I are allowed into the NICU/GCU unit) but I can`t wait til they meet. I know the new addition is going to rock Noah`s world a little bit but I am hoping they will grow up loving and having fun with each other.
Have been doing a lot of research into montessori education lately and want to start doing some activities with Noah once we are back under our own roof. Along with reading 3 books or more a day, spending time outside each day if weather permits and coloring/drawing or doing some other kind of craft/art each day I think the occasional montessori themed activity would be good. Lots of great blogs and ideas out there!
We still have so much to get ready at our apartment (kind of hard when we are not currently living there- in fact I think our apartment has only been lived in for 5-6 nights over the last 4 months since Shun stayed at the in-laws while i was in Australia as well. Kind of a waste of rent really!) but will hopefully get it all done this weekend. Sorting out the bedrooms and putting stuff into storage.
Will try not to leave it so long between posts next time.
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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!
Shion is so gorgeous Laura. I know everything Is going really well for you and him, but I cant help but get a bit teary when I see photos of him and read how he is doing. And Im not the “teary” type either…
Hope you are getting on okay. Im also excited about him coming home soon. Cant wait to see more photos
Sending love and thoughts and virtual hugs xxx
Thankyou so much for posting Lulu.
Fifi – a bit teary – come on, admit it. you were bawling too
Shion is just adorable and has come so far and is doing so well. Noah will adjust quickly I’m sure and it sounds like you are doing everything right there too.
1st birthday cake – AWESOME. My kids got plain round cakes for first birthday. How on earth did you get the icing so green?
Good luck with the move back home. Your inlaws have been amazing but it must be nice knowing that you will be back as the four of you too.
Lots of love to you and your boys.
Xxx
I’m so glad everything is going well Lulu – and he is a beautiful boy! Good luck with the move back to your own place, I’m sure that is going to be lovely for you all as a family – despite how wonderful our inlaws are it’s always good to be back on your own turf
The picture of Shun giving Shion a kiss is just so sweet *sniff*!!
Sending you guys lots of love and all good wishes xoxo
Agreeing with everyone in saying that Shion is a gorgeous little boy. I can’t wait for my first cuddle with him. Counting down the days!
I think your PIL and mother are amazing – they have (and will be) offering you so much support with your two little boys. You are so lucky to have them Lulu!!
Noah and Alex’s birthday party was awesome by the way. I was so glad we could be there to help celebrate his birthday in Japan. Oh and GW, that green icing was just fantastic!!
You mentioned that you don’t have a picture of your invitations, do you want one? I still think I have ours if you do… Let me know and I will look for it!
It’s so wonderful to hear that Shion is making such progress. I love the pic of him smiling!
My little one is still keeping me on bedrest and attached to a drip but has gone from 900g at 26w2d when we were admitted to hospital, to 1230g 2 weeks later. So far things are going well for a birth much closer to the due date.
When my mum was looking into likely scenarios if the hospital wasn’t successful in keeping bunny-chan inside for long enough he heard that preemies are often discharged from hospital around their original due date so maybe that’s a sign that Shion is doing extra well if they are saying that he can come out early.
All the best for the coming weeks. I’ll certainly be thinking of you and sending happy, healthy vibes for your whole family your way.
Yes, Shion is gorgeous! And fattening up so nicely! Cool party idea, might steal it!
The signs are fun, aren’t they? Erica still does a few from time to time, and she gets such a… hard to describe, kind of warm nostalgia from doing them, like she remembers how happy it made her to communicate, or perhaps the supportive reaction from her doting big sisters! She still LOVES doing the ‘I love you’ signs, and ‘more’!! (she says it too now of course).
I have a Montessori book but have been pretty slack at setting things up, and now she’s off to kindy. Oh well. Sometimes I look at the mess in my living room, and label it all Montessori Activity Stations: there’s the reading corner (pile of books spilling out of the cupboard) there’s the Art Section (old calendar plus marker marks on the carpet) you get the picture!
I gotta say it, Shion is SO SO SO cute.
Are you sure you and Shun are gonna stop at two, you make such good looking kids ;P
Glad to hear he is fattening up and I can’t wait to meet him as well.
Its going to be an adjustment, but then so COOL for Noah and Shion to have each other. They are going to be the best of friends I just know it.
It’ll be nice to have your Mum staying as well.. hoping that the adjustment goes smoothly! Once things get all settled I wanna come meet Shion too
So so happy to hear things are going well for you and your family. The change in Shion over only one month is amazing. He is very handsome! Congratulations!
Wonderful to hear that Shion is making such great progress!
And the pictures are lovely, the one of Shun giving Shion a kiss gave me chills, and that one of his little smile- precious!
shion is gorgeous!! such a little fighter.
and handsome noah! looks like a fabulous birthday party!!
So glad Shion is doing good. He looks gorgeous! It will be so exciting when Noah finally meets him. Kids can be so fascinated with other babies. Hopefully he won’t mind the new ‘attention-seeker’.
Awww.
And I want that birthday cake!
Yay! I’m glad everything is going well. Such a lovely birthday you will have with your mum there as well as Shion-kun’s homecoming the next day! I am also a big fan of The Hungry Caterpillar so love the theme of party! Where did you get all the cool decorations?
Shion looks great, he’s certainly making excellent progress! It is so good to read such a positive update from you. It won’t be long now before he’s home!
My mom — and brother, aunt, and uncle — are all Montessori teachers so if you ever have any questions about Montessori stuff let me know. We are planning on putting Dylan into a Montessori school starting this fall (the one where my mother will be working as she’s moving out here in August). Montessori has some great lessons for toddlers and a lot of the stuff you can definitely do at home, so go for it! Annika probably won’t go to Montessori school till she’s three like her brother, but we definitely encorporate the Montessori method into our daily lives.
Thanks for the update — was getting a bit worried, I must confess, when there were no posts for a while.
You are such a lovely-looking family, all of you, from the big down to the small!
That picture of Shun and Shion is adorable. So glad to hear all is going well with him and I hope to read about him coming home to you soon!