Birthdays!

[rkold]

Happy Belated Birthday to bwinter and to my cousin Miriam's new little girl!!! I wonder what the other pregnancies in my family are going to be.

Happy Birthday to kosquarepelli! I hope I get to see you next week!

So today since I was feeling more alert and it was no longer 103, I decided to finally go back through my voice mail on my cell phone where I discovered I had 10 messages waiting for me. Several of them were from a "Nurse" at the doctor's office who declined to leave a detail message. Being the neurotic person that I am, I was worried this meant there was sugar or protein in my urine from my last urine test and there was concern about gestational diabetes. After spending some time playing phone tag I got a nurse and... it was that some of my tests had not been forwarded from my last doctor's office which I already knew from my nurse's appointment yesterday. ~.~ I wish they could have just said it in my voicemail! I'm a bit ticked that the office in Westchester could not forward these tests, and it's not like I have no idea what the results must be.

I also went on a tour of the Birthing Center and... they sound so wonderful! My mother is of course nervous about the whole thing, but I really think I am going to pick the Center over Danbury hospital. For one thing they allow water births which I think is something I am interested in! I've also signed up for a Childbirth class! Now to look into Lactation classes to make sure I can nurse. I think my favorite thing about the Birthing Center is when I shared the fact that my pre-natal vitamins tend to make me nauseous and I have a hard time keeping them down instead of the reaction of both the doctor's office in Westchester and in Danbury (change when you take them, make sure you take them with food, change brands, yeah they just suck like that) they had a fast absorbing LIQUID VERSION! I had been wondering why if we can do all sorts of other amazing scientific achievements we could not make liquid pre-natal vitamins since I've noticed a lot of women get nausea from pre-natal vitamins. It does cost more than the pills, but seriously, I just don't care, so worth the money!

Comments

[winter]

Thankee for the wishes :D Your card got here today!

[rkold.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad it made it to you! *hugs*

And I hope you have an amazing time when you next go to Japan!

[ad-exia.livejournal.com]

Liquid vitamins sound like the best thing ever! That's awesome, hopefully those will take care of at least some of the nausea~

Also, I got your postcard the other day, thank you! <3

[rkold.livejournal.com]

They so help with the nausea, instead of lasting for hours the nausea is much shorter and since it is liquid I get to absorb the vitamins faster!

I'm so glad it made it to you as well! I really wanted to be sure to send them since I don't know when the next time will be! *hugs*

[ad-exia.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a great deal all around, then. :D

I do love getting postcards~ And hopefully you'll be able to get back there in the not *too* too distant future, though clearly you will have other things taking up your time in the meantime. ;D

[rkold.livejournal.com]

I'm lucky in that Japan is a relatively baby-friendly country in certain ways and it is completely first world. There are things you can't do with a baby in Japan, like say go to Comiket, or to karaoke (unless you are using it as a nursing room but most bathrooms in Japan do have an area to nurse), to a movie, to a play or to a seiyuu event, but those are all fairly obvious things.

You can still take babies to temples and shrines and even to a lot of stores in a carrier. The sort of restaurants I like to go to, I have seen mothers with babies.

Honestly, it just takes me around 4+ hours to get all 40 postcards I normally write written and even if I make it back to Japan I'm not sure I will have the time to do that.

[ad-exia.livejournal.com]

Yeah - there are definitely things you can't do with babies, but it's good to hear that there is so much you can! Hee, you'll have one very well-traveled daughter, if you end up taking her sometime~

Wow - well, clearly you are popular. ;D I wouldn't blame you if you don't always have time for that!

[rkold.livejournal.com]

..That or I have a a lot of family as well XD; I try to always make time when I am in Japan because it's something small and nice you can do for others. But if I have a baby with me, I just might not have the energy.

I feel like she is already a well traveled daughter even though it has mostly been in utero. lol She's done 2 trips now! I look forward to showing her the pictures and telling her that is her in Mommy's belly. I hope to do a comparison from February to now. :D

[ad-exia.livejournal.com]

It is really fun to receive postcards, and I try to send them when I go on trips too! (Unless, like in Rio, post offices just don't appear to exist. XD) That's still understandable, then - I'm sure the baby will appreciate priority over postcards. ;D <3

Aww, that is so cool! You should start a little travel book for her, that would be cool!

[dilettantka.livejournal.com]

Ah, I'm glad you may have found a good solution for the pre-natal vitamin issue!

I think my sister-in-law did a water birth for her third baby... I... seem to remember a TMI post from her on her old blog which sort of destroyed me. XD

[rkold.livejournal.com]

I promise to LJ cut any birth stories I want to share XD;; You should probably avoid the newest LJ comm I joined though, naturalbirth, though so far I am enjoying it.

I just really want to do my best to avoid ripping and I've heard water births can make a huge difference in that. (and this is prob TMI as well!) And ohhhh I finally saw the pictures I took of us in Japan and wow, I look so pregnant!!! ♥

The video I have of me singing some of bad romance is hilarious because I just look so pregnant.

I miss you but I'm so glad I got to see you when I was there before I have baby. I really hope to introduce you to her in the future!!!!!

[twotone]

Yay for the liquid vitamins! And thank you for the postcard, it just arrived!

[rkold.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you got it! :D It's always interesting to see the order things arrive since I'm pretty sure you were in the first batch since I have your mailing addy on the first page of my 5 page list.

I'm have my new liquid vitamin waiting for me to take it once I am finally ready for bed. I accidentally took a nap a little earlier and now I feel achey ;;_;;

[aboutallmydolls.livejournal.com]

Well, how is that perineal massage going?? A good job for your partner - and proven to reduce the sort of problem you mention. Do it! - twice a day - if you're not already on it. Plenty of time to get full benefits.

Good news about the Birthing Center and the classes. I think the nursing will click and it will be fine - persistence and support in the beginning is key and I think you've got that going.

(sorry about doll things)

And as a distraction - about those baby shower plans and the MIL who prefers kittysitting for travelers instead... what if... just what if... she was Insisting on Being There for the birth? and you did not fancy that? Sort of the opposite problem and that would be even harder to take.

The PG singing romance video sounds very funny! Please just baby yourself when you can & feel free to share your birth experience (behind cuts is a nice idea) - I think moms do have real a need to describe their birth experiences & that lasts for some time - not forever - but still, it is very real and necessary, I think, but yes, ideally the audience should be self selected! Take care.

[rkold.livejournal.com]

We should be doing that but I've no idea how to do it and the only info I've seen on it is some doulas know how to do it. I might see if the Birthing Center can recommend a doula once we have officially transferred to it. (Probably next week post my appointment.) Did you do it with your children? Without sharing any bad details, what did you pick for your births? I was reading that some of the pain from childbirth is our own self-fulfilling expectations since so many people take great delight in scaring the bejeebers out of pregnant women.

Well, I am definitely persistent if nothing else! :D But I just want as much help to make sure I know what I am doing as possible since nursing is very important to me. I figure it helps that I am not employed and have no other children so I won't feel rushed or stressed.

(Not much to be done about it, so I am trying to work on more positive things.)

I dont think she plans to be here for the birth since I can't imagine her wanting to come out and wait around to see when the baby finally makes an appearance. But she is hopefully planning to attend the naming. I think my husband managed to guilt trip her into coming to the shower while I was in Japan though. The kitty ended up having to be put to sleep a few days ago, so now we're all going to Boston next week end to see my SiL and my in-laws. On the bright side, I'm staying at a B&B with my husband and we're going to go to baby stores before seeing the in-laws. I've been desperate to see the crib I want in person and the expensive stroller I've fallen for is from a company based in Boston. :D

The video is hilarious. My singing is not as bad as one would expect, but I look very pregnant, at least to me. :D

I definitely am going to use LJ-cuts since I know birth stories tend to get TMI. That and they tend to be long and I always feel guilty making super long posts that are not LJ cut even when they don't have TMI.

I am finally enjoying pregnancy though the kicks also feel sort of weird. lol I'm not use to sharing my body with someone else like that still.

[aboutallmydolls.livejournal.com]

Your birth attendant/doula could certainly do it at the time of the birth - but right now perineal massage is a couples thing. In a long ago child birth class at TCEA Tokyo Childbirth Education Association back in 1991, (baby will be 19 next month) the teacher was a Bradley Method person and the class was in her Homat near Hiroo Station and she was a fan of this massage.

Both #1 and #2 were born on the same room at Aiiku Hospital - #1 was slow and #2 was FAST - so I was exhausted after #1 and dancing out of there with #2. For me I liked visualization and deep natural relaxation breathing - we practiced contractions in the class (and at home) and I thought it was plenty useful - overall I remember thinking birth #1 was just the max of what could be managed - in that it could be managed but not any more!
Visualization(s) can be practiced - especially since you really don't know ahead of time what is going to "work" for you. You sort of have a method or approach for each contraction and deal with them one at a time and "rest" in between.

I will hunt for that Bradley Method book - they have some suggestions...

[rkold.livejournal.com]

Ohhh thanks! I should see if Kennis bought a book on Bradley as well. He went on a book buying tear while I was in Japan and I can't keep track of everything we now have. Right now he is reading me happy natural childbirth stories. I've been reading Baby Bargains (to start thinking about baby purchases) and What to Expect (which is quite useful when you notice something different about yourself since in my case, the answer to nearly any symptom is, you're pregnant! lol)

I have heard good things about it and I have a college friend who is a pretty strong proponent of Bradley. My sister is sort of down on it right now though :/ I'm trying a more general class and I'm thinking about hypnobirthing. :D I just know for me, I want something where I can soak in warm water since I honestly think that is one of the most amazing things ever. I only wish it could be outside in a pretty garden or at night under the stars. >>;

I know my Mom didn't have such a hard time me but I was her longest, about 4 1/2 hours. Her biggest regret is she picked anesthesia with me (some sort of general) not knowing she only had like another 45 minutes left and she says she could have definitely kept going. My brother was the perfect baby. He came out fast, he was born on his actual due date, he had perfect sleeping patterns, he was just pretty hard to beat. My sister came right before they were going to induce and took around 3 hours. My siblings were medication free but did involve epistiotomies, like me, as they were de rigeur back then.

[aboutallmydolls.livejournal.com]

Nobody really knows how it will go, so it's always good to be optimistic and prepared for whatever unfolds. Sounds like a good family history - my mom was hypnotized for me (I was #2).

Total body relaxation is a skill that improves with practice - to me that's the guts of the Bradley method. It's the opposite of distraction methods.

I'm not sure what your sister is down on - but there are parts of the Bradley method I would just ignore if they don't fit what you want. What I liked about Bradley was focus on the woman, natural breathing, signposts, being prepared (what to expect), and lots of choice about what to do - trying different things (changing positions) since at different times different things are going to help and others not so much. Like back massage - absolutely no use to me - the idea just annoys me - but total body relaxation - very helpful.

I hope you find a place with a hydrotherapy tub for labor at least, if they don't do the actual birth in the tub - I think some places ask the women to get out for the birth - maybe they think gravity is helping more when they are out of the tub!

In Tokyo there was a separate labor room and delivery room, so the moms would get up and walk (and everyone changed slippers) when they went into the delivery room - and that short walk helped move things along too, so I imagine just getting up out of the tub near the end would help as well.

I hope you get the water birth you envision (if you decide you want to go for it).

PS good idea about low lighting - controlling the lighting - when in labor.

[rkold.livejournal.com]

Responded to your email, got it after I'd already fallen asleep. ^^;;;