My parents visited us last week and they stayed at a nice hotel in downtown Tokyo.  Why did they choose to stay at a fancy hotel?  So we can take E on her first dip in the pool!

Actually, in Tokyo, most of the public pools require that the baby be potty trained first before they can use the pool.  I guess they don’t like having diapers in the pool for sanitary reasons?  Anyway, my parents hotel didn’t seem to mind so on Saturday, we took E to the pool.

I was hesitant at first about taking her into the pool.  She’s never been in cold water and I can never tell how she would react to the new sensation.  So we let her get her feet wet first just to test it out.

She actually didn’t mind it too much.  In fact, she was sort of enjoying herself so I decided that we should change her into the swimsuit my parents bought her and go into the kiddie pool.  Plus, knowing me and my love for swimming, I just couldn’t resist going into the pool that day since it was too hot and humid.

Here’s me and E enjoying her first real dip.

My mom saw how much fun she was having and decided that she wanted to go into the pool too so she went all the way back to their room to grab their swim stuff.  It was during this time that E got a little bored and started to fuss around.  Plus, there was a punk kid in the pool who kept kicking water at us on purpose.  Jason “accidentally” kicked the kid to make him stop.

While we were waiting for my mom to come back, E actually fell asleep sitting there in my arms and in her very wet diaper.  I couldn’t resist how cute she was so I had Jason take a picture of us.

She is pretty darn cute when she’s sleeping.

My mom missed all the swimming action so she woke Ellie up when she got back so we can take a few quick family photos in the pool with her before changing her out of her swimsuit.

Here’s one of the rare pictures of the three of us together in a photo.

It was a fun day, though a bit tiring.  I’m glad that E had a good first dip.  I hope I can teach her how to swim when she’s a little older and I really hope that she loves it just as much as I do.

By the way, her diaper can REALLY absorb water well.  Go pampers!

Where has all the time gone?

I’ve been wanting to write a post-labor story about our hospital stay but things just keep popping up.

First, Ellie passed her cold to me. Then, my parents came to visit us. Now, Jason’s got her cold and we’re dealing with the aftermath of my parent’s visit. Ellie’s been acting a bit strangely since they left so we’re trying to get her back on track again.

Hopefully, I can get back on track too. So much to write about, so little time in the day….

The following morning, the nurse came in at 9am to check on us.   She found that the foley catheter had worked and I was about 5 cm dilated.   It was then time to move me into the delivery room where I would spend most of my time until the delivery.

The delivery room wasn’t too far from where my room was.  So it was a short walk down the hallway, which was nice since I was tired.

I wasn’t allowed to eat all day but I was allowed to have something to drink to keep me hydrated.  I think it was to prevent any bowel movements during labor and to keep me from throwing up since I had a high dosage of Pitocin injected into me.

Here’s me and Jason before they hooked me up to all sorts of IV’s and stuff.

At around 9:30, my doctor came in to check how I was doing and to tell me they were going to start giving me the Pitocin to help me along with labor.  The nurses were having a hard time finding a good vein to inject the IV’s into so the doctor had to use a vein in the back of my hand.  Very, very painful place to be injected, by the way.  They also had to put a splint and wrap up my arm so that I don’t move my arms too much and accidentally pull out the needles.  I had a total of 3 things injected into me:  the Pitocin (to help speed up contractions), the Apresoline (for the blood pressure), and saline (to keep me hydrated).  Before she left, my doctor told me that if I’m lucky, Ellie will be out by 5pm that day.

It actually wasn’t too bad in the morning.  They started the pitocin at a low dosage so that my body would get use to it.  Because of that, the contractions weren’t too bad at first.  In fact, I managed to get a little sleep in.  I also joked around with Jason a bit and tried to con him to bring back some food for me but he didn’t.

I think around 11am, the anesthesiologist came in to give me a very light dose of epidural to keep my blood pressure from going up every time I had a contraction.  Epidurals are very painful and it made lying down very unbearable.  It was a very light one since I could still feel my legs and the contractions though.

The midwife came in maybe every hour or two to check how far along I was as well as to up the pitocin level.  It was around this time that time became one big lump and I couldn’t tell what time things were happening to me.  I think by the 3rd or 4th time she came in, she had upped the dosage to max and warned us that my contractions were going to get more painful soon.  Nice to know but didn’t help make the pain go away.

I think it was around 12:30 or 1pm that my contractions started to really kick in because they were really hurting like heck.  I was actually doing pretty well still.  I managed to continue with my deep breathing since my contractions began to hurt and even at that hour, I was still holding on pretty well.  I had to grab onto Jason’s hand for support though but still, the contractions were bearable enough that I didn’t have to scream.

I’m guessing it was around 2pm that the doctor came back to break my water since I was at 7 cm dilated.  It was at this time that the contractions had started to become so painful that I was digging my nails into Jason’s hands, causing all sorts of injury to him.  I was trying really hard at that point to continue breathing but I was also getting lightheaded from breathing too fast and from not having had food all day.  At one point, the midwife came in to help me walk around a little to help with the contractions but it just made me nauseous and want to throw up even though I didn’t have anything to throw up.

She came back after what felt like a lifetime and checked me again, worried that I was still not dilated enough for labor but yet was in so much pain.  At that point, I was delirious and was telling Jason that I don’t want to do it anymore and I want to give up.  I think at that time I also asked the midwife to just give me an epidural since she said that I still have a few more hours to go and I couldn’t take the pain anymore.

Luckily for me, the doctor came in just to reconfirm that I wanted an epidural.  When she came in, she also checked my cervix and noticed that I was already at around 9cm dilated and that I was ready for delivery.  She asked me if I still wanted the epidural since I’m almost to the finish line and I told her yes, just give it to me.  She gave me an incredibly light one though probably since she knew I didn’t want to have one if I wasn’t so delirious.

From that point on, my doctor told me to push every time I felt a contraction.  She also had the midwife and nurses prepare for the delivery.  This is where things start to get fuzzy for me since I was in pain and my head was in another plane of existence.  I remember I pushed and scream every single time I had a contraction.  The midwife and Jason each held on to my leg to help me widen my pelvis a little before they put up the stirrups.  I think at one point, the midwife told me that I would push a lot more efficiently if I didn’t use all the energy in screaming so I tried to do as she said.

I think I must’ve passed out mentally at one point because the next thing I knew, I was surrounded by nurses and the doctor and midwife and everyone was telling me to push and that I was almost there and that I was doing a good job.  When Ellie’s head was coming out, my doctor asked me and Jason if we wanted to touch her head.  I said no and all I could think of at that moment was “get her out of me!”

When it came to pushing out her shoulders, I remember just how painful that was and I kept pushing even though the doctor told me to hold on.  I remember yelling out that I can’t wait and I have to push right now!

As I was pushing the last few times before she came out, I remember mentally passing out for a brief moment.  I still remember the last moments before Ellie was completely out of me….I had momentarily lost all feeling in my body and my mind felt so numb.  I think my ears also plugged up or I went deaf but the sounds of the freeway and the cars buzzing by were the only things I heard…..and then I was back to reality.  It was a very surreal moment.

Anyway, at 3:13pm, Miss Ellie was born….2 hours earlier than the doctor had expected.

Everything happened so quickly soon afterwards.  The doctor placed Ellie on my chest and Jason took a quick photo of the two of us.

I could not believe that this little person in my arm was just inside of me hours ago.  It was a very weird feeling.

They had to take Ellie away after I held her for a few minutes because she had swallowed some of the fluids and they needed to clear it out so she can breathe properly.  During the time when they were cleaning her up, my doctor had to stitch up the tearing that had happened during labor.   Jason was watching her and commented to me that I was bleeding quite a lot.

My head was still dizzy from everything that had just happened but I still remember the midwife bringing the placenta to show me.  It was weird that this massive bloody mess was all from me.

I guess it took about an hour or so for them to clean me up afterwards because by the time I was back in my room, Ellie was brought back to us.  She was crying from hunger so I fed her instantly.  It was painful the first time she latched on but she was hungry.

Karen and Koichi came to visit us a little bit and helped us record the moment since we didn’t have any family with us.  This is one of the first photo of the three of us as I tried to nurse Ellie.

Here’s Jason holding her…

We were both tired from the days activity but we didn’t get a good first nights rest since Ellie kept crying all night.  It was a very tiring first night for the both of us since we did not know what to do with her for most of the evening.  She did have 2 big poos and it was quite an interesting sight for the both of us as it oozed out of her.

Labor was by far the longest and worst experience I’ve ever had but I think it was worth it.  Sure, Ellie is a fussy baby and she is quite a challenge compared to almost every single baby I’ve met but when she smiles at me, it makes everything worth it….

Jason and I had about 3 1/2 days between my last doctor’s visit and the day I was to be admitted to the hospital.  We spent those last days the best we can as just the two of us, knowing that our lives will change really soon.

On March 3rd, we spent the morning getting ready, mentally and emotionally for the days to come.  It was really strange looking at our apartment before we left, knowing that it was the last time we would be in the apartment alone.  This was the last photo we took before we left.

So hard to imagine that I was once that big….and that our apartment was once that clean and organized.

We took the subway to the hospital.  It was around lunch time when we left so there were quite a bit of people on the train.  The hospital is only 15 minutes from where we live so it wasn’t that far a train ride.

When we got there, we had our last pre-baby lunch at Subway’s.  It’s a strange choice but we don’t get to eat there often so to us it was a luxury.  Afterwards, we stopped by a cafe to have a cake dessert.  The both of us were nervous because we knew that it was getting closer and closer to 2pm, the time I was to be admitted into the hospital.

A little before 2pm, we went to the hospital to get checked in and for the doctor to start the induction process.  The way I was induced was through the use of a foley catheter.  It’s a long silicon tube that the doctor inserted into my cervix.  She filled the inner end with saline water to make it bloat up.  In theory, that is suppose to simulate the baby’s head adding weight to the cervix so that the hormones would get stimulated and my cervix to open up and get ready for labor.

When I checked in at 2pm, I was already 2.5 cm dialated though only a small percentage effaced.  The foley catheter was suppose to help get me to about 5 cm dialated.

It’s actually suppose to be a better method of induction than many other ways that are used in the US so it wasn’t too bad.  It hurt like heck though since the other end was stick out of me and I had to waddle a whole lot to keep it from hurting.

We were brought up to my private room, where we geeked out and acted like tourists, taking pictures of things that made us go “ooo, shiny!”  Here are some images of my room:

This is my bed.  Not where I delivered but the bed I would be sleeping on for the next 7 days.

I got a tv, kitchenette, mini fridge (hidden), free internet and the smiley bag full of stuff I would need post-labor.

My own bathroom with a bidet and shower which I will need during my stay there.

Jason had a sad looking chair pull-out.  He later on moved it next to my bed so we can be next to each other.

My view out the window.  Unfortunately, it was rainy pretty much the entire time I was there except for the day I left the hospital.

My last meal before the big day.  It was Hina Matsuri (girl’s festival) so they had a special dinner made.  Pretty yummy but very, very small.  Jason had to go out and get his own dinner but he brought back some food for me!

After I was checked into the hospital, it was pretty much just a lot of waiting.  Waiting for my cervix to dialate some more and waiting for the next day to come.

Jason and I actually spent our time at the hospital that day, joking around and chatting with people in his game to help ease our tension.  We were both nervous about the next day but we made the best of our time together by goofing around like we normally do.

Around evening time, I was starting to feel some contractions and we were starting to time them.  They were a bit irregular at first but it went away after a while.  The both of us went to sleep that night in anticipation of the long day we were going to have the next day.

More next post….

I never really thought about writing out Ellie’s birth story. Not sure why. Maybe because I feel like I’ve talked about it to many people already that I don’t feel the need to. It wasn’t until Melissa mentioned to me that she’s never actually heard the entire event and would like me to write about it that I gave it some thought.

Now it’s been 4 months since her birth but I can still remember the day she was born pretty clearly. For me, giving birth was a very traumatic event. I think it has to do a lot with the fact that so many things didn’t go as planned for us. One thing for sure, I’m glad I didn’t have an emergency c-section.

This is probably going to be a series of posts since there’s a bit of ground to cover so just bear with me.

Anyway, before I get into the details of the actual birth, I should give some background info in case you don’t feel like going back and reading my pre-Ellie entries.

Around my 28th week of pregnancy, the doctor noticed that my blood pressure was a tad high. She prescribed some Apresoline to help me keep it at a steady low number and wanted to monitor me the next few checkups. It just so happened that around that time, Jason brought home the flu and all hell broke loose in our apartment. Anyway, I managed to make it through the flu while pregnant (not very fun, by the way) and at my 32 week appointment, my blood pressure had remained high even though I did not have any protein in my urine or any of the other signs of pre-eclampsia and PIH. I was swelling a little bit but only in my ankles.

The doctor showed more concern and had me hooked up to an electronic fetal monitor to make sure Ellie was doing ok. She was doing fine except for the fact that she was growing a little bit slower than the average baby at that stage. Still the doctor wasn’t too worried and wanted to continue monitoring me.

Unfortunately for me, my blood pressure kept going up during the next three visits, though very slowly each time. Oddly enough, I didn’t seem to be having any other symptoms other than high blood pressure and Ellie was still doing pretty good, though the doctor had already determined that she will be a small baby.

At my 36th week appointment, my doctor told me that I should seriously consider inducing the following week since my blood pressure was starting to worry her. Unfortunately, I was at the doctors on my own that day and the way she broke the news to me made it sound like I was going to die so I knew I couldn’t make a clear-headed and well-informed decision at that moment. I told her that I needed to talk to Jason first. So with a stern warning, she sent me home where I cried until Jason came home from work. It was a very stressful day.

At my next appointment, Jason went with me because he knew how scared and intimidated I was by my doctor. The doctor actually argued with Jason when he asked for more information about what is going on. Essentially, everything was fine with me and Ellie except for the blood pressure but since I was already at 37 weeks, it would be best if I just induced to prevent anything bad from happening.

My doctor actually gave us an ultimatum: we induce on the 37th week or we find another doctor and hospital to deliver because she is not going to do it.

Upset, Jason demanded a second opinion and we were sent to see this other doctor (much nicer and the one that all the expat wives went to for prenatal care) for a second opinion. He basically said the same thing…though in a much nicer and non-threatening way. Everything is fine right now but since Ellie is at 37 weeks and will basically be fine outside of the womb, it would be better for the both of us if I induced since it will prevent any unnecessary complications. He did say, though, that if we really wanted to wait and see if natural labor happens, he would take our case but it might be easier if I just induced.

After much thought and discussion, Jason and I decided that for Ellie’s sake, we will induce as my doctor had wanted. It was a hard decision and one we weren’t prepared for but we knew it had to be done. So we scheduled the induction date and my doctor explained to me the procedure and we went home to spend the last of our days as just Jen and Jason.

More in the next post….

Poor Ellie….

She caught her first cold last weekend.  At first we thought it was teething because she was coughing a little bit.  We had read that sometimes teething has cold-like symptoms and since she was extra cranky that weekend, we had assumed it was because of a tooth.  I even took her to the doctor (not her usual pediatrician but a GP) who couldn’t find anything wrong with her.

Then on Thursday morning, she slept in really late and was still coughing except this time with the sound of phlegm.  This is what I ended up waking up to and spending the day with.

It was a really rough day since she cried every time she coughed.  She even spit up phlegm and cried harder because of it.  Luckily, she was also tired so I managed to get her to sleep a little bit at a time, though she was never down for more than 40 minutes.  That night she even threw up all the milk she had drank.

On Friday, not sounding any better and me being exhausted from the lack of sleep and from worrying all night, Jason took a half day off and took the both of us to see another pediatrician.  He didn’t require any appointments so we were able to see him that day.  He checked Ellie and told us that she has a cold but no other infection and that she is growing quite normal.  He gave us some decongestant to give her when she is too phlegmy and we went home.

We gave her a little of the medicine which helped her sleep in addition to making her less phlegmy.  It was a godsend, I tell you!  When you live in a country where Tylenol for Infants cannot be found anywhere, you really need to take your baby to the pediatrician to get the correct medication!

The next morning, after a good nights sleep for all three of us, I woke up to this

She was still cranky from the discomfort of coughing but was doing much, much better.

I tell you, having a sick child is a very stressful event.  The worrying never ends and it’s awful not being able to do anything for your baby when she is miserable and coughing.  I’m just glad that Ellie is almost back to normal again…..though normal for her is still her being cranky….