Still waiting...

Yesterday was my due date!! And apparently the cold weather has our little guy convinced that it's not quite time to make an appearance. :-)

I have done a much better job of getting out and taking some long walks... the only problem was the weekend got pretty chilly and I didn't quite get out as much.

I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. I wouldn't have to go if I'm already checked into the hospital, but I have a feeling I'll be making that appointment.

I can't be too worried as I was born 3 days after my due date and plenty of my friends have had babies later than their due dates. From the beginning I wasn't really counting on the 28th of January anyway... but I would have loved to have been proven wrong!

T-minus 5 days...

We are getting down to the last few days before baby boy arrives... and I'm trying to get all the little things done that I haven't managed to do yet. Like...

-go through old teaching materials and throw extras or unwanted papers away.
-organize under the crib (one of the places where we have storage) with all the new baby stuff
-find places for all the new baby stuff that we've bought
-finish packing my hospital bag (the only things missing are clothes to leave the hospital in!)

Somehow even though I'm just a few days away from my due date... I'm not feeling the stress or like I should be doing a whole lot more to get ready. I wonder if I'm weird in this way. I feel fairly prepared for what is ahead of me, I have been practicing my relaxation program and feel like I can use it when the time comes. I've got Shimon prepped and (somewhat) ready.

All I can do now is go about my day and wait patiently! Wish me luck!

Getting ready for baby!

Warning: Men may want to be careful (or refrain from) reading this entry!

We are down to the last few days before baby arrives. And I feel pitifully under prepared for the main event. I am just now packing my hospital bag (after not being entirely sure what to include because I wasn't able to discern what the "must have" section and the "hospital provide" section were on the handout from said hospital), which seems strange since I think a lot of people get right on that once they hist month 9. Oops!

I have had to purchase some strange things in preparation for baby boy. Things that when you get pregnant you don't really think about. Like ginormous pads! The package of 10 is the same size as a package of 30 "normal" pads. Also, the pads for bras when you get leaky. I know I didn't really think about that until recently.

These are my goodies... sideways... if anyone can tell me how to fix this problem (I have problems with pics taken on my iphone), let me know.

My next surprise were the specific underwear they told us to purchase. And wow! I have found the country that will simultaneously turn you into a mommy and a granny all in one fell swoop. Check these babies out!

Not only are they massive (thus the granny allusion), they have a velcro-ed area for easy changing... of things that need to be changed. It's amazing! My cat was even intrigued by them.

Suzu and the really silly granny pants!

To be fair, there's this stain resistant lining that makes a funny sound similar to a rustling plastic bag (one more reason to love them!), which is probably why Suzu was so interested.

I'm actually really glad that there's all of this stuff out there to help us ladies after the babies are here and are bodies need recovering, I just didn't realize what it all was like. And now I have a bit better idea. Maybe in the States things are a little different, not sure. It sure would be funny to know the differences in postpartum care between the US and Japan... maybe not funny, but at least enlightening.

Baby bed...

I realize that picking a baby crib is probably pretty agonizing when you have so many options and space is not your main consideration. In my world, space is the first consideration. Baby boy is not going to be getting his own room until he's quite a bit older. Our crib is really quite compact and has a nice little shelf underneath so that we can store baby things.

Right now the crib blocks the bookshelf, but it is also on wheels so we can move it if we need to.

To back track a little bit... we actually considered two options for sleep earlier on in my pregnancy. As most Japanese families co-sleep, I thought that initially we would be doing that. (We haven't ruled doing a bit of co-sleeping if necessary for sleep considerations.) The biggest problem is our bed. It's not really that big and my husband moves a LOT in his sleep. He sometimes nails me in the middle of the night! He was very worried about the baby.

The second option, and the one we ultimately chose, was the crib. It's currently located in the dining area of our apartment, but I expect that might change once we don't have any help with us (my mother-in-law is coming first and then my mom is coming... giving us about 6 weeks of help initially). I kind of wish that we were doing co-sleeping, but I think that in the small apartment that we live in we'll still be in pretty close proximity.

How did other people choose a crib or sleep method? I'm fairly interested since nothing is really set in stone (other than the existence of the crib!) as of right now. :-)

Diaper bag...

Over the course of preparing for baby, I haven't mentioned much about diaper bags. Mostly because there's only one place I've managed to find bags that seems suitable. And they all seemed quite overpriced. Alas, I have not found another place with other viable diaper bag options. SO... with our "due" date about 3 weeks away, I committed.
I got a Skip Hop messenger style bag in (no surprise) lime green. There were a couple other ones that were quite nice, but considering the bigger the bag, the more things go in it and the heavier it gets。. So I was motivated by convenience and weight to purchase the bag I did. And the fact that I haven't found anything else that compares to the bags at this shop.
I hope it works out for me... if not... oh well!

Getting Ready for Baby... Japan style!

When getting ready for your bundle or joy, mothers and fathers generally encounter lists of things that "must" be purchased in order to be prepared for welcoming a newborn home. I have found in my experience that these lists are really not that helpful. Instead, I have found advice from friends to be much more valuable. Also, living in Japan and having a very different lifestyle than the average American has led to a lot less money spent on baby things.

There are a number of "musts" that due to my lifestyle, I just don't need.

1. Baby monitor - Our apartment has three main rooms. There are three sets of sliding doors. One set of doors has been removed in order to open up the space. Our apartment is nowhere near big enough to warrant a baby monitor.

2. Car seat - No car. No car seat! Not that we won't purchase a car at some point, but now is just not the time. Since I'll be taking the next year off from work, we thought it might not be a great time to have car payments to make.

3. Changing table - As mentioned above, we don't have a lot of space. Instead of a changing table, I will most likely be using a fold away changing pad in combination with any flat surface... sofa, floor, bed, etc.

4. Baby swing - While I've heard that these can be a godsend (and I'll sound like a broken record!), many of the swings take up far too much space. So in lieu of a swing we're going to get a Baby Bjorn bouncer. While expensive, they take up much less space.

5. Stroller - Now, don't get me wrong, I'll probably be getting a jogging stroller at some point, but for the immediate future I'm not getting a stroller. I'll be doing a lot of baby wearing instead! The more that I see strollers in Japan, the more that I'm convinced I don't want a "regular" stroller. In Japan, strollers block the flow of traffic, are used to carry shopping as often as to carry children, and are generally quite inconvenient to both the operators (moms) and people around them. Also, from what I've seen many stroller handles seem to be positioned really low and mothers and fathers often are hunched over when pushing them. All in all... those are enough reasons to keep me from buying the standard stroller and aspire for just a jogging stroller a bit later on.

I'm sure there are other things that I'm leaving out as far as things I'm not going to be purchasing to get ready for baby... but those are the biggies. Things I still need to purchase... diaper bag, post-bath essentials (nail clippers, q-tips, etc.), baby bath, bedding, etc. So there's plenty of things still to do before baby arrives... Luckily I've finished with work, so I best make my list!!

New year, new look.

So I've been spending the last few days trying to find a nice and convenient way to change the style of my blog. Many of my attempts have failed completely, but I think I found a way that I like and will be able to stick with as I move forward. After all, this new year holds lots of busy-ness and changes for us around here.

I decided to rename my blog "The Happy Katei." (Still not sure how to make katei italicized in the title! Eek! As I said, updates/changes have been hit or miss.) Katei is the word for home in Japanese. And while all relationships, couples, families... have ups and downs, the ultimate goal at the end of the day is a happy home.

My goal with this blog update is to a) keep up with it and b) allow friends and family from far and wide access to stories, pictures, and movies (a video camera is one of the things that we'll be purchasing very soon) of us and our new addition. Since he's due to make his appearance at the end of the month, I figured that taking care of blog maintenance early might be smart!

So here's to the New Year!

The Yamamoris - Christmas 2011