29 weeks...

Only 11 more weeks to go and let me tell you.... I am ready to not be wearing ugly maternity clothes any longer...The rest that comes with not being pregnant, I can wait the 11 weeks for, but it is just not glamorous being pregnant.  At my last appointment, I had, of course, gained too much and am expected not to gain any at my next appointment next week, ha ha, not with those All-You-Can-Eat restaurants we have been celebrating at. I have got to invest in a scale, so the shock factor at the doctor's office is not so strong.  The doctor asked me if I cook and usually, we cook a lot! So... now I am keeping a food diary, so if she says anything, I can show her, except that this week has been really bad. Anyhow, no major aches or pains, still not getting up at all during the night, and overall, I feel pretty good. I am moving a little slower than usual, but when you have to walk forever on the subway in heels, it is expected!

The week in words....

Matt and Kylan came to stay with us for four nights! It was sooo fun to finally have some houseguests! Matt plays for a team in Oita and was on David's team the first two years that we were here.  We hung out, ate a lot, played with Baby Gracie, had house parties, went to dinner with Seikoguchi-san, watched movies, went to their basketball games, went to Costco, and caught up! I also had my first fall (well...my first fall on the bike; I fell earlier, when I was just walking-landed on my side again), while Kylan, Megan, and I were biking to the park. Everything was fine. I landed on my side, scraped up my palm and knee. I was scary though. I may need to start wearing a helmet and I think this little guy/girl may come out with elbow and knee pads on!

For anyone interested in the basketball side of life here, David's team split with Matt's team and we even have pictures of them guarding each other.  David had 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 1 assist during the first game. During the second game, he had 21 points and 6 rebounds, but Osaka lost, BOOOO!!!

I started my Japanese Class, so I have one more thing to do each week and there is another girl who is from Berkeley in the class, so we have a lot in common. She is here teaching English, like I wish I could be doing right now.....She is really nice and is a new friend.

And, lastly, Mr. Nile turned the big 27 this year. He said he felt the same as he did when he was 26 and all of the old guys told him that 28 was the big year for basketball players to start feeling old. I think David has aged prematurely because he has been feeling old, long before his 28th birthday! We went to the same place that we went for David's birthday, which was delicious. Of course, the guys went out for a little afterwards. 

The week in pics....

The sunset from our balcony. It is sooo pretty!

Kylan and Baby Gracie in her cheerleading outfit!

The girls at the game. Those bleachers are definitely NO longer comfortable at all. I had to stand the entire last quarter.....

Dinner with Seikoguchi-san, a friend, sponsor, and team dentist.  Please be reminded that this was AFTER an All-You-Can-Eat dinner, and it has to be a horrible angle!!!

Us at dinner

Matt and Baby Gracie on the way to Costco

Out to dinner for Nile's 27th birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Nile!!! Of course, boys sat with boys and girls sat with girls.  David and Nile started out with us, but once we starting talking about some lady things David migrated to the manly table and Nile followed. 5 huge men squeezed into a booth that size is pretty funny!

Heading to.....

Yes, my weekly highlight is going to Costco-a little piece of home. Supersized everything....We don't feel so large there. Nothing else is going on.....

誕生日おめでとう David!

Kanpai to being 28!!!!

Dinner

David's Birthday Treats!!!

David celebrated his 28th birthday on the 12th. I think he had a pretty good day.  He had donuts for breakfast and I even made him lunch, though he stopped and bought sushi because he didn't know. We went out to dinner to an All-You-Can-Eat (tabehodai) Yakiniki (grilled meat & veggies) restaurant with his teammates. Of course, they opted to get the All-You-Can-Drink (nomihodai) option added on.  After dinner, David and Lynne got a hankering for a foot massage, so the rest of us went to a bar (yes, I have no shame), while they were pampered. Then we were off to home by taxi, of course. We couldn't mess up that good foot massage walking to and from the subway station.  

Snow....

Update: I take back everything that I have said regarding Osaka and Yuba/Sac having the same type of weather. It is remarkably colder here. I just looked up the temperature in the YC and it is 51 degrees at 12:30am.  I just rode my bike to the store (Yes-it stopped snowing-I had to go) and it was only 36 degrees outside at 5:00pm.  I think my nose froze.

I just looked out the window and realized that it is snowing.  I can't believe this.....It doesn't really snow in Osaka; it did when we were here last time (like 3 times), but everyone said it is really unusual. I already told David that if the snow keeps up, I am NOT riding my bike to the grocery store. I don't know how to drive/ride in snowy conditions :).

Current conditions as of 1:00 PM JST
Light Snow Shower
Feels Like:
37 °F
Barometer:
29.85 in and falling
Humidity:
41 %
Visibility:
6.21 mi
Dewpoint:
16 °F
Wind:
W 9 mph
Sunrise:
7:06 AM
Sunset:
5:07 PM

Seventh, Eighth, & Ninth left....

As of January 11th, I have 3 full months left...the seventh, eighth, and ninth month. I know it seems easy to understand, but really, once you start trying to figure out how far along you are, it gets confusing, so...I am doing it this way from now on. It is based on Baby P's due date of 04.11.10. Next week, I will be entering my third trimester, WOW!!!. I am still feeling good, just getting tired very easily and needing a lot more sleep than usual. Bedtime is early and wake-up time is late. Also, with all of the walking and riding bikes, I think my body is still getting used to being so active, which is sad... it means I was very, very inactive at home. Milestone: Just felt hiccups for the first time yesterday and then I felt them again today. Here are three pictures that were all taken within 2 hours of each other. It is all about the angle and the outfit; I can't believe how big my belly looks in one and how small in the other.....And, check out those pants...they are horrible!!!!!

What a weekend, not really...

We haven't been up to much lately....Just putting some finishing touches on the mini-apartment.  I like to call it that because it is not even the size of an apartment, it is mini-mini.  I went to IKEA and thought I had died and had gone to heaven. I was there for hours and now we have cute, clean, new bedroom stuff that I love.  I think David likes it too :).  I went to both of his games this weekend, which ended in a split series.  I like to tell him that at least they won one of the two. I don't think this makes him feel better at all and probably annoys him :). Here are some of the things we have been up to....

Dinner with Seikoguchi-San, the nicest man alive!!!

I took Nina, Dana and Lynn's daughter shopping and we got lost, of course. I was trying to find a specific store to buy some lounging clothes (Walked out with Men's Large-Yes, that is what I am wearing now & yes, Japanese men are tiny, but it doesn't make me feel better). Anyway, we asked for help and instead of telling us, a man wrote this note and gave it to us. It is perfect English; he just couldn't say it.

Man at the game, RELAXIN' with his shoes off???!!

Ms. Goldenrod and I, my new best friend. She is smooooooth!!!

2nd Prenatal Appointment in Japan...

This visit had me laughing for the whole day and it gave David and I a good laugh at dinner. 

I learned.....

the entire "how to start your appointment" process. Apparently, I did not do it right this time. I think that is why I had to wait for 1hr and 15 minutes before being seen.  I was wondering where everyone got the yellow folder from.

that somehow I was not going to be charged for the services I received, because of my coupon. Even though 5 minutes before that, they said I would have to pay for everything out of pocket because I did not have my insurance card on me. This is even more confusing because pregnancy related costs are not covered by insurance anyways.... Some days I feel like I got it and other days I feel like I don't understand anything.  AGHHH! So.... I did not pay a dime yesterday and I got an ultrasound!

that my weight gain was too fast for Japanese standards. I blamed it on the holidays and told them that I started exercising. My weight right now is very, very close to my final weight. Hopefully, we won't need to have this discussion at every appointment.  I told them the projected final weight was "impossible". They laughed. No ladies, I am serious!!!! I get to weigh myself and take my own blood pressure. I am going to start rounding down.....

how to do nipple massage, using a model. I guess it is to toughen them up and it is a standard consultation here. I have all the info if anyone is interested......I don't think it is practiced in America at all.  It was interesting to say the least.

Icing on the cake.... I learned that the optimal nipple length for breast feeding is 2.5 cm to 3 cm .  The massage is supposed to help with this; however, 2.5 cm seems like the longest nipple ever!!!! I am still laughing.

WHERE AM I?????????????

Baby P is doing well. He/she weighs 2 pounds. Everything is on schedule and I will now be seen every 2 weeks instead of once a month. I got another ultrasound pic that shows the femurs and a white mass in between the legs. I have been evaluating it since last night. There is no pee-pee, nor are there 3 lines.  I am not sure what we have. Hopefully, it will be clear by April 11th :).

Off to IKEA!!!

I have been wanting to go to IKEA, since I first came to visit David in October. There are few "must have" items that I will not go without, even though they do not offer us any additional function that we do not already have. I think this is why David has not pushed the trip that much, remember Mr. Practical. I want some cute stuff around here and I think he could care less.  For example, our duvet cover is black, grey, and white checkers, sounds cute, huh? This is paired with the ugliest green blanket I have ever seen, plus I keep telling David it is dirty and he swears the team cleaned it, when they gave it to him. This is paired with light blue curtains.  I cannot stand it!!!! So....goal number one:  a new duvet cover, which I am very excited about. I have also found that I cannot live without a full-length mirror. I need to see the whole outfit on the whole body. Looking at my shoes apart from my shirt, just does not cut it for me!!!! I started researching this trip and everything without a car, is of course, much more difficult. I just realized that I cannot walk from the station to IKEA; it is too far.  So... the other option is to pay for a taxi from the station, which is a rip off! Or, take the subway to another station that has a free shuttle bus to IKEA.  The station where the shuttle is, is actually away from IKEA and our apartment, so I will be back tracking. I am exhausted just thinking about it. All this to make my house a home! Gotta <3 Japan!

Today was a good day...

First off, I got my bike. It is the most hideous looking thing on the road, but I don't care. It rides smooth, the bell works, and the price was cheap.  I feel like a ray of sunshine riding down the road with my red hair blowing back. I like to say the color is Golden Rod. The one good thing about the color is that I can find it easily anywhere I go. Whoop whoop for Golden Rod!!

I got my application for health insurance done and for the pension here in Japan. I understood the stuff with the health insurance; the pension is another story. All I ask is "I pay?" If they say "yes" then I say "no". If they say "No", I say "Where do I sign?"  At the end of the meeting, the man was explaining what was going to happen next and there was some confusion for sure. I am still laughing about the language barrier and how much longer everything takes.  He was telling me that I will recieve a letter in the mail. I must bring the letter in to the office with my name stamp (which is called an INKAN).  I thought he kept saying with my INCOME.  I continued to tell him that I don't have any income, so I have nothing to bring.  This is all in broken Japanese and broken English, as well. This discussion went on for about 10 minutes. INKAN, INCOME, INKAN, INCOME.  We were just misunderstanding each other. Finally he said "your stamp",oh okay, the light bulb went off, INKAN not INCOME.  Gotcha!!!

I found the grocery store all by myself. I got there and got home without getting lost! This is a first, since I have been here and boy, did I feel accomplished!!!!

And, I took my bracelet to Tiffany's to be repaired yesterday. The work order required my phone number, but I did not know it. So...last night I wrote down everyone's phone number and my address, so that I have them on hand when someone needs asks for them. Anyway, I called Tiffany's today went through another round of Japanese, then me speaking back, then more Japanese, then me saying "I don't understand".  Finally, the girl that helped me yesterday got on the phone. I told her that I would like to give her my phone number and she started reciting the phone number to me!!! I was like, "WOW, you found it some how!" Not sure what she did, but some how the sales lady at Tiffany's found David's cell phone number...We may need to have a little talk when he gets home, just kidding. Really, though I have no idea how she got it!