Saw cradles in Lalaport last weekend so we somehow have some idea already on the price range. Online shopping though, is still cheaper. Amazon has the swing varieties to boot.
From Rakuten’s global page. It’s for the Japanese household so more compact style.
With all the choices, I do hope we get to buy the best for baby, at a reasonable price of course.
Just like during wedding preps, I’ve decided to post here pegs for baby stuff that we like, for our (very near future) reference when we actually buy already. And yes, we probably really need to buy within the next month or so.
Diaper bags!
all photos were from Amazon.com where we probably are going to make our purchase for these bags since so far I haven’t seen a diaper bag that I like in the malls. Saw one before in Greenbelt in Manila but alas we didn’t buy it – a reminder to really buy what you wanted to buy when overseas)
I love this Coach messenger diaper bag. But it’s pink so Hubs may have slight hesitations in carrying it. đ
This Timi and Leslie tag-a-long Farah bag is pretty as well! And it’s blue so Hubs won’t have hesitations in carrying it. It has lots of compartments too for baby’s needs.
But this JJ Cole diaper bag is both our favorite so far. And it has the color/theme that I’ve been planning for baby.
Think. Think.
Hi Baby. Your Obachan visited us during the weekend and very thoughtfully first went to the Ward office last Friday to inquire further of the benefits and help the government now offers to pregnant moms.
Of course we all went together to the maternity clinic the following day. It was nice that your Obachan can also see you directly from the monitor. And oh did we see you! Your daddy was so happy. Because it seems his wishes about you are coming true: you’re a girl (!) and you have such prominent eyes! It’s really big baby. And, it seems his other wish, that you take after me, is also coming true – you look like me baby. But I’m hoping it’s still too early to say. I’m still hoping though you’d look like your dad, girl version. đ
Mommy have to take iron supplement from now though. No wonder recently, mommy gets tired easily and on two occasions almost fainted. But everything’s fine now. The important thing is you’re healthy. I’m sorry I took too much Vitamin C last Thursday and Friday. I was afraid I’d get the virus that seems to be circulating last week in the office. And up until that time, i haven’t read yet of the negative impact it will have on you. Thankfully, I read about limiting Vitamin C friday night so it was so timely to ask the doctor the following day. True enough, mega doses of Vit C is not allowed. We hope you’re ok baby.
After the OB visit, we went to Lalaport to seriously window shop for baby stuff on several baby shops there although of course the main intent was Akachan Honpo.
Supposedly, it was just window shopping at first. But, well, your excited Mom and Dad just weren’t able to control ourselves from purchasing needed stuff. Thankfully your Obachan was there to stop us from buying what shouldn’t be bought yet at the moment haha.
Still though, we weren’t able to stop your very excited Daddy from purchasing these (expensive) gadgets:
The one on the left is a stethoscope, so that we can hear you move around, and hope to hear your heartbeat as well. See the ribbon on the cover? It says the Emperor’s family also use this gadget for their babies. As your Obachan has pointed out, you’re also the princess in the noble house of Yuasa. đ
The one on the left is a prega-phone, which we can supposedly use to wholly transmit our voice to you. Here’s your dad assembling his gadget.
Your dad looks so cute as he talks to you with it. I sang to you earlier using it and oh how strongly you kicked! I just hope you liked my singing because it seems that you kick a lot when my lying position in bed is not good haha.
Found the perfect stroller for you! We still didn’t buy it yet though.
Look at how part of the flap can be raised during sunny days. Isn’t the design just pretty?
We finally found the red version of the baby carrier I’ve been seeing around. You’d look even cuter with red. đ
Would you like this crib?
This cutie Pooh bear futon would probably be very comfortable.
And since we can’t put up a hammock in our house (all your uncles and your mom as well and your cousins besides grew up in a hammock), we have to buy you a rocker.
These are nice to have but we saw in a magazine that we can rent these out. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if we just rent these and not buy.
All these, we didn’t buy yet Baby. But we did buy you new inner wear and a wrap! Aren’t they cute? đ
And oh, since we’d probably be in Akachan Honpo a lot for your stuff, we applied for membership. They gave us this starter set.
With lots of freebies! đ
So excited for you Baby. đ
If truth be told, during the first few weeks of pregnancy, I had to make peace with a lot of big differences of prenatal care here in Japan as compared to western countries and in the Philippines. To name a couple, no maternity hospitals/clinics are open on Sundays (as are some other hospitals for sickness except for those hospitals designated for emergencies) and that maternity hospitals here as a general practice don’t prescribe prenatal vitamins. Yes, even folic acid.
I felt that there was disparity on how one of Japan’s most pressing problem is its ageing population owing to lower birth rates and yet we didn’t feel any government support on the pregnant population. One would have thought that Japan would step up on this pressing issue. But there seems to be no action.
Apparently though, we’re just uninformed. The Japanese government of course had already taken action. No, they don’t give out vitamins. But they give support alright.
When we visited the ob-gyn last month, we were advised to go to the ward office/city hall to register our pregnancy. I thought it’s just as brief as when we go there for alien registration which usually takes just about 10 minutes max. But it took me one hour this time! Why so?
The ward officer had to explain to me everything he gave me in this package after I had filled out the necessary forms.
In the package, one of the things I was giggling is this.
Supposedly I’d attach it on the sling of my bag to earn me a seat on the train. Unfortunately though, as is typical with most Japanese who doesn’t have a culture of staring at other people, most of them are so busy reading their books or with their phones that they don’t notice the woman in front of them wearing the badge. The badge only earned me a seat once. Nevertheless though, I’m happy just wearing the badge.
What the hospital really wanted me to get from the ward office though is the boshi kenko techo (æŻćæćžł) or the Mother and Child Health Handbook.
The ward office employee asked me if i wanted the Japanese or the English copy. Of course I chose the English one. Inside the book are pages used to contain information of your history prior to pregnancy, your record during pregnancy (the checkups you had, weight gain, tests you undertook and even dental checkups) and record of your baby’s health after birth (the developments, the immunizations administered).
Since it contains all the record of the immunizations of the baby, obviously I need to keep this handbook with me until baby is well into kindergarten. Or thereabouts.
The guidebook that came with it was really helpful. It showed some advise on how to take care of yourself during pregnancy, your diet, who to ask for help in your area etc.
I was most thankful though on the section which tells about the law and your rights at work.
It was clearly stated that it is prohibited by law to dismiss from work or discriminate pregnant women or women who gave birth. They even gave a contact number if in case you meet some problems.
The government really had to take care of that fact. Otherwise they’d find themselves in a worse predicament than they are now what with women deciding to work instead for self fulfillment.
Now this is sweet. The guy in the ward office gave me these two pads.
The one in the left I should bring with me during my prenatal visits. This booklet contain slips of „4700, „7000 and „12000 which will subsidize the expenses incurred during our checkups. In our last checkup two weeks ago, I had to take all the routine tests. And even with our company insurance and the „12,000 slip, we still ended up paying ~„10,000. So really, the subsidies helped. Without the „12k slip, we would have had paid „22,000!
The other booklet on the right contain slips for every immunization that baby needs. I just take out one slip designated for a particular immunization and baby would get it for free.
These two booklets however are given only once so if you loose it, you can’t ask for another one again.
By the way. These subsidies are only acknowledged in hospitals in our area or in some hospitals outside Yokohama which are approved by the Yokohama city government. Meaning i can’t use these slips in Tokyo if ever I decide to have my checkups there. The same goes for Tokyo-issued boshi techo and subsidy slips.
I was also advised on the parenting and birth classes available in the area and the schedule. They have no English classes however. I just might have to request hubby to translate during the class! Haha. I’m still hoping though we’d catch an English class, even if it’s in Tokyo.
I was also advised that once I’ve given birth, we should register the birth within two weeks so that baby and mommy can enjoy more privileges (will share more next time).
Anyways, the government does care after all. đ
Excited to see baby again on the monitor in our next prenatal visit! Hope you’re growing healthy and fine baby.
Statistics from the United Nations Stats Division shows that worldwide, the number of men top the number of women by just a mere 1.75%.  I can’t make some trend though on what gender has more number in a particular country depending on how rich the country is. Perhaps we need to refer to Hans Rosling’s GAP Minder to relate the gender with the country’s per capita. đ
In Japan however,  there are 5.3% more women over men. This statistics is not obvious in our office though; there’s roughly 5 women out of 30 men in the office, I think. Albeit it’s just inside the office. Outside, there’s definitely more women.
If you’re a newly married couple and you’re in a country where one gender has more number over the other, and IF it’s really true that one can plan the gender of their babies, would you consider planning your baby’s gender so as to help “even” things out?
I came across this “planner” about a year ago I think, source unknown already at this time (memory gap!).
 
I’ll be 32Â next March. Based on the above chart, we have higher chances of having a girl over a boy hence adding up to the 5.3% more women over men here in Japan.
But then again, like what any parent would pray for, what’s really important is to have healthy and normal-birth babies. For all we know our baby may one day be among the LGBT community, so planning for whether they be boy or girl really doesn’t make sense.
Yet, if I may so boldly wish for it, I hope our babies would look like Atsushi. However, I may have to wish harder since Atsushi, for his part, also wishes our babies to look like me. haha!
And oh, to the curious, no, i’m not pregnant yet.
Every now and then, Atsushi and I daydream on what sort of persons our kids (hopefully!) are gonna be. We wonder if they are gonna be geeks and become scientists or be engineers like their parents. Or, they can be gifted with triple the talents in music Atsushi and I have and establish a successful career in the music industry. There are lots of possibilites for them.
I wondered though if there’s possibility for them to be models. I’m only 5 feet so if ever my child would inherit my height and yet would grace the modelling industry, she/he’d be probably modelling only baby wear or kids wear. But if she/he be gifted with height and the beauty and has interest, would I allow my kid to be a model?
If truth be told, I can imagine myself glowing with pride if I see my baby making the catwalk on the stage. And I can imagine myself telling everyone that my baby has been in the cover of some fashion magazine. Yes, I think I can be quite a stage mom.
Yet again, if truth be told, I am afraid for my babies to have an interest in the fashion industry lest they grow up insecure. Not that I’m saying models have peronality problems. It’s just that I do think it takes a strong and grounded person to be in and survive the fashion and entertainment industry.
Given this, here lies the question: if your baby, your 10-year-old baby be asked to pose alluringly and suggestively, and dress up in sexy and provocative dresses, wouldn’t you worry for your baby’s well-being? Wouldn’t you think that your child has been robbed of her/his right to being a child, robbed of the opportunity to mature in time so as to gear themselves ready when it’s time to mingle in the adult world? If you are Thylane Lena-Rose’ parent, would you allow her to post like this?
(a stickler for copyright issues that I am, I decided to screencapture the article and post it here, rather than copy the pictures from the article and embed them here. I could have done what I usually do – watermark in the photo the website where I took it but I figure for this one, a “clipping” of the article might be better).
Looking at Thylane’s photos, wouldn’t you get fearful on how she’d fare in the future?
But then again, one would argue that a hundred years or so back, women as young as 12 get married and have babies. But then again, it’s not the 19th century anymore. I do think that the world now is a lot more complicated than how it was back then.