Being Pregnant in Japan (A JET ALT Perspective...)

Now that the cat's out of the bag (heh), I thought I'll try to write about my experience of being pregnant in Japan, especially from an ALT perspective. I remember how I tried to find information on the internet even before I was pregnant, to give me an idea what might be in store if the stork did decide to put us on its list of up-coming visits, just to realize there was little to none. The only thing I was able to find (and thank goodness for this little piece of treasure!) was a blog called "industrious ants." In her "Made in Japan" series, Martine writes about her situation in great detail and it has provided me with amazing information! If you're generally interested in this topic, please check out her blog first. Don't worry, I'll wait... (^.~)

Done? OK... So about being a pregnant ALT in Japan. Where can I start? I guess first and foremost I should mention the conditions of pregnancy in my situation. What the JET General Information Handbook (GIH) says about pregnancy has been pretty spot on for me so far, so give that a look too if you can. For everyone else, here's what this means:

I was very lucky that a fellow ALT in my area knew an English-speaking OB/GYN doctor in Fukuyama, so I was able to get confirmation of the pregnancy pretty soon after I did my home test. I even got an ultrasound!

August 6th - The first time I saw you...

At this time I wasn't far along enough to get the official confirmation I needed to register myself being pregnant at City Hall, but I only needed to wait another 10 days for that. Once I had the confirmation from the doctor, I headed to City Hall to get my boshi techo or "Mother and Child Health Handbook," which is something I need to have every time I go to the doctor while I'm pregnant and later with my child until she or he turns 6 years old. (Luckily my City Hall had an English/Japanese version of this book. YAAAY!!!) I also received a book full of coupons that made all further visits to my OB doctor free. (Visits would cost around ￥2000-3000 otherwise.) 

Once doctor visits were settled, the next thing I wanted to find out about was maternity leave. Though DH doesn't work and will stay with the baby, I wanted to make sure I would be able to take some time off, hopefully without any fear of a terminated contract and being sent home. After talking with my supervisor and the big boss of my contracting organization, I was very happy to realize that their first concern was to make sure I was OK, and it seemed that as long as I wanted to stay, they won't send me home. I also found out that, according to my contract, I get 6 weeks of maternity leave before the birth and 8 weeks after, with the understanding that any extra days that the baby is "late" are freebies. While the maternity leave is unpaid, the National Health Insurance (NHI) does do a sort of partial "reimbursement" for that time, but only about a month after I return to work. What this comes down to is that I better darn make sure we saved up enough to get through 3 and a half+ months worth of no-income, paying rent, bills, for food, and any baby-related stuff, including whatever extra we might still need to pay after the NHI's payment for the birth (shussan ikuji ichijikin) kicks in. The Shussan Ikuji Ichijikin is a fixed payment of ￥420,000, which (as I understand it) can generally either go straight to the hospital/birth center or to my bank account, and usually covers the most basic birth and hospital stay. If I want a private room or something else extra that raises the bill though, that's on me to pay. Fair enough, I guess, or at least it's something I can work with and make due. These are the basic conditions I have to deal with while being pregnant in Japan.

Now I'd like to mention a few interesting things I learned on my own. Let's start with the positive ones:

• A typical OB appointment (so far) includes checking my weight and blood pressure by a nurse, then an ultrasound and internal examination by the doctor, who takes all kinds of measurements. Notice the ultrasound is done by the doctor, not a specialist, so I can talk about what I see and the results right away, which is really convenient and fun.
• The idea of men in Japan not accompanying their partners to any of the OB appointments really is nothing new, and I was nervous about whether or not DH was allowed to come with me to mine. So it was a very pleasant surprise when I found out that it was no problem at all, and he could come and be in the room during the ultrasounds.
• Speaking (some more) of ultrasounds and pleasant surprises, at our first hospital (I'll explain in another post), we received an ultrasound picture of our baby every time we had an appointment. This was really nice, since as far as I've heard, in the US, parents only get some around the 22nd week, and that's it, unless there's cause for concern.
• I also got the go-ahead for eating sushi from my doctor (she practically laughed herself silly, when I mentioned how women in the US are banned from eating raw fish), which was really good, as that was one of the very few things I was able to tolerate once morning sickness started up. Of course, I stayed away from high-mercury fish like tuna nonetheless, but there was no ban on salmon!
• After some research I found out that Japan is one of the best countries to give birth in for several reasons. For one, Japan is #3 (according to the United Nations) and #4 (according to the CIA World Factbook) best in the world on the List of Infant Mortality Rates. The infant mortality rate (IMR) is the number of deaths of infants under one year old per 1,000 live births. On these lists, Canada is #24 and #36 respectively, the UK is #25 and #32, and the US is #34 and #46.
  Another reason (at least for me) is how even the hospitals in Japan are much more geared towards natural birth, instead of pumping mothers full of drugs (both PIT and EPI). People here seem to believe birth to be a natural process, something the body knows how to take care of in its own time and way... or at least that was the viewpoint of my hospital. They told me right away that if I wanted an epidural (which they thought all foreign women do), I'd have to go to a different/bigger hospital. That was not something I was interested in, so I stayed put.
  Finally, the last reason (again, for me) Japan seems pretty great about having a baby is the 3-5 days of hospital stay, which from what I heard from a few different people is pretty comfortable/full of pampering. Though I can't personally confirm these last two reasons, it just seems much more inviting than the hospitals I've seen/births I attended back in NYC.
• Being pregnant in Japan also meant I got treated super special when we flew back to NYC for the holidays. We were able to pre-board both our planes, and the cabin attendants kept checking in on me (but not intrusively), making sure I was comfortable and happy. This meant getting water refills without asking and quite a few bananas (fresh fruit on a plane O.O)! (^.^)v  They also gave us a tiny wooden airplane toy for the baby. YAAAY!

As for the not completely positive things:

• Japan is really careful when it comes to pregnant women. No, I mean REALLY careful. As in, when I tried to join a gym so I could swim during my pregnancy (one of the safest exercises there is for pregnant women), I was turned away. That was quite upsetting until my then-doctor told me to try YMCA. I did, and after some negotiations, I was able to sign up and allowed to swim until a month before my due date. Some of the interesting things the manager asked me before I could fill out the paperwork was "Will there be someone who will come with me to help me into and out of the pool, making sure I don't slip?" or "Are you sure, as the water might be too cold, especially during the winter?" or "Please come and talk to me once a month about your condition, and tell me the doctor still allows you to swim." He also almost had a heart-attack, when I told him I'm still working and will continue to do so until my maternity leave kicks in mid-February. (This was after I chose the "evening time" for my swimming and explained my reasoning.)
• Continuing with the "theme," it kind of threw me off guard how worried all my fellow Japanese teachers look and sound when they hear that I was/am/will continue biking to work while pregnant. Telling them that I don't really have much of a choice doesn't calm them down either. (Forget about me telling them I actually seek out exercise, like swimming...) While this constant worrying and fretting was nice and sweet initially, it's starting to become a bit.... well, old. It makes me feel like I'm a Faberge Egg, that needs to be locked up at home and protected.

So there you have it: my so-far experience of being pregnant in Japan. It has been a pretty positive experience until now, so much so, that if the last three months turn out to be more or less the same, I would seriously consider slipping in our next baby before we leave Japan for good. Only time will tell.

The Loot

I haven't talked about anything yarn related in the previous post for one simple reason: It needs it's own post.

While Fukuyama has a couple of actual local yarn stores and a general craft store (think Jo-Ann or Michael's), the variety of yarn seems quite limited. Most of the available yarn (about 90-95%) has a least a considerable amount of acrylic in it, if it's not completely it, and the colors are quite muted and simple. Good, natural yarns that have no acrylic in them are limited to merino wool, alpaca, and maybe cotton. These actually wouldn't be bad choices if there were more vibrant colors available. (I actually found a 50% wool/50% alpaca yarn that's really nice and warm, but the colors are limited to cream, brown, gray, and black. That's...it.)

All in all my point is that I'm yarn/color/inspiration-starved and have been making all kinds of yarn related plans for our NYC trip for weeeeeks in advance. Since I knew our funds were limited, I concentrated on future baby projects only. I searched for patterns, possible yarn combinations, and made notes. I even made a list of LYSs I planned on visiting while I was there, which ended up as a yarn crawl with my friend, Lexie. We hit a handful of stores, like Annie & Company, Knitty City, Purl Soho, Loopy Mango, and La Casita Yarn Shop and Cafe. Purl Soho and Loopy Mango were new to me, but the rest were old favorites that I couldn't wait to visit and enjoyed browsing through their shops immensely! Here are a couple of pictures I took in Annie & Company:

Look at this wall of pure cashmere!

Despite being a Japanese yarn, it's almost impossible to find Noro in Japan.

Malabrigo... How I missed you so!

So gorgeous! One day (within the next 10-15 years) I'll have a store like this. ....I'm serious! (>.<)v

Anyways... After a whole afternoon of visiting all these yarn stores, this is what I ended up buying:

Please excuse the bad picture quality...

There's madelinetosh tosh merino light, madelinetosh tosh vintage, Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted, Brooklyn Tweed SHELTER, and even Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere 2-ply, but that was a gift from one of my favorite yarn stores. These, along with a few additions from my stash, will be used for various baby knits.

Speaking of yarns I got as a gift, there are two more that I must talk about:

Look at that Jade Sapphire, sneaking into this picture too... (^.^)

Juniper Moon Farm Findley and Briar Rose Fibers Fourth of July both came from Lexie, who is generous beyond words! Fourth of July is a yarn she got me from Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival (will I ever be able to visit?) and it's soft and puffy, with beautiful colors reminiscent of forests. No idea just yet what I'd make out of this, but I'll keep looking.
As for Findley, with its 800 yards a skein of 50% merino wool and 50% silk for less than $30, it's an absolute must have! Lexie and I found this gem in Loopy Mango and were fortunate to hold a sample stockinette stitch stole that was made from this yarn by holding two strands together. Not even the word "luscious" can describe what we held in our hands! And the colors! Unfortunately my picture doesn't do it justice... it's so shiny and beautiful! (*.*) I left this yarn behind that day with a very heavy heart, knowing full well I could not justify such a purchase just now. Then Lexie sent these to me as a last-minute surprise present, and as soon as I saw them I was on Ravelry looking for possible patterns that were worthy of such an amazing yarn. And the winner is.... the February Lady Sweater (which really is a cardigan, but whatever...), with short sleeves, if the yarn doesn't last (I'm planning on holding two strands together just like in that sample stole we saw).

I have two more days left of my four-day-post-vacation vacation, and all I'll be doing is swatching for this sweater and for the Betty Lou Lace Cardigan I'm planning on making with the Jade Sapphire cashmere yarn for the baby. A good plan, no?

Here I go again...

It's been over a year since I wrote anything on this thing. There are a few of reasons for this, but in all honesty, it is mainly because I generally don't like to write... well, anything really. Emails, blogs, reports for work, you name it, if it involves writing, I generally put it off to the last possible minute... or not do it at all.

However, I've been wanting to write things down lately, since soooo much has happened the past year and so much is going to happen in the next. So, as a New Year resolution of sorts, I will aim to post at least once a week. 52 posts for 52 weeks. Let's start...

This week's post is about catching up with the past.

87 Days to Go

Probably the biggest news that I want to share with you, if you don't already know, is that I'm pregnant. And not just "OMG-the-stick-turned-positive" pregnant, but as in "less-than-3-months-to-go" pregnant.

Picture from late November (22nd week): From the left side, arm curled up to hide the face, folded in half, toes almost touching the forehead. Acrobatic this one.

DH and I found out late July and I'm due around April 2nd. We don't know for certain if we're having a boy or a girl yet, but during the appointment the above picture was taken, the doctor tried to check and gave us a "maybe a girl" answer. Because my primary care provider is a midwife (the doctor is only a back up), we haven't had the opportunity to check/confirm since that time (as there's no ultrasound machine at the birth center), but hopefully we'll be able to get a better answer in a couple of weeks.

As for spreading the news and why this might be a surprise, we told our parents about the pregnancy pretty early on, but we have been working tirelessly to keep it a secret from our friends in New York so we can tell them personally when we visited over the holidays. The surprise went really well, many couldn't believe we were able to keep it a secret with Facebook and all, and I think everyone was really happy for us. We got a lot of really nice things for the baby from many of our friends and especially from our families, and we're really grateful for it all! Everyone was just so kind and amazing, I have no words for it really, other than thank you!

About the pregnancy itself, it's been pretty standard. The first trimester was hard because of the constant nausea (whoever came up with the term "morning sickness" was an idiot... (>.<)# ), food aversions, etc. DH was a trooper though, and I can't thank him enough for putting up with me during that time, especially when situations like me suggesting something he could make for dinner that I think I could eat just to completely reject it sometimes even before it was done, was an almost daily occurrence. Frustrated as I know he was, he kept calm, rarely complained, encouraged me and felt my miserableness full-heartedly... after all that, I can honestly say, if there was a "World's Best Husband" award, he should be the one receiving it!

The second trimester has been great! We were able to go and visit Kyoto early November, which was really relaxing and fun! We even did the whole walking route of Fushimi Inari!

Fushimi Inari - One of the many Kyoto pictures where I tried not to look pregnant.

...and one at Kiyomizudera, which was deliberately kept off from Facebook.

Being pregnant has been pretty awesome so far, with a lot of surprises and few annoyances. Feeling the baby kicking is just pure joy. Nothing like it really. Hopefully the third trimester will be pretty standard as well, with all its ups and few of its downs.

New York, New York

It's no secret that I spent half my life living in New York City, and that I haven't been back since I came to Japan. But since DH was going to turn 30 this past December and he wanted to celebrate this occasion with his friends and family, we decided to save up and spend the holidays in New York City. We left Japan and arrived in NYC on the 21st, after a good 20-22 hours of traveling (hour and half to Hiroshima Airport, hour and half flight to Narita Airport, 15 hours flight to NYC, and all the waiting times). While it was a long flight, it wasn't unpleasant. ANA was one of the best flights I've been on, and I've flown a lot.

The highlights of this trip were quite a lot, so I'll just sum it up quickly. There was no reverse culture shock for me, it felt like nothing has changed, like NYC was on a pause while I was away. No surprise there really. Seeing our family and friends was amazing and though I'm sad I didn't get to see a couple of our closest friends, I'm glad we were able to meet up and spend time with most of them.

A Family Christmas

Together on New Year's Eve

We also did a lot of shopping, especially for maternity clothes, yarn for baby projects, and foods we missed. We flew back on the 4th, arriving on the 5th (time zone change and all) much more tired then expected, as our NYC-Tokyo flight back with Continental Airlines was no where near as good as much worse than when we flew with ANA. (Note to self: Never, EVER, flight Continental EVER again.) Overall the trip was really good, but we were so busy with errands to run and people to see, that we're both glad we have four days at home to ourselves before I have to return to work.

Now if you'll excuse me, there's still plenty of things I need to put away before I can get into my bed again for the night. To be continued...