All set! Finally after N years of procrastination, hospital bag is ready and set (still sans the fluffy slippers).
Now for the looong wait before I go into labor. Truly so near yet so far.
baby cabinet and baby bed
Finally, our baby’s cabinet has been delivered! I so love the engraved mickey head.
It came already assembled but sans the mickey head handle. So while brother and sister (hubs and Mayumi) took care of assembling baby’s crib (baby’s crib is just right beside my side of the bed. Perfect arrangement),
I installed the mickey head handles. Voila! 🙂
Giggles on the mickey heads.
After roughly more than one hour of assembly, crib is all up and ready! 🙂
One thing I love with this type of crib is that one side can be lowered. So while sleeping, I can lower down the slide for easy access to baby.
No worries on baby falling because baby’s bed and my bed is jammed up tight (foam is askew in the photo hence the seeming gap).
Now we just have to wait for the futon that we’ve just ordered from Rakuten. Cutie isn’t it?
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I’m a very satisfied Rakuten customer actually.
The Mickey baby cabinet we bought at 29,800 yen is really reasonable considering the price of the cabinets we’ve previously purchased from our friendly neighbour furniture shop. You can also select the color of the cabinet (either black or white) and the mickey head handles (comes in white, semi-transparent, blue, pink, black, yellow and of course red). The best part is that it’s wooden and not plastic.
The 7-set futon is at 21,000yen compared to the 5-set futon sold in Keikyu mall at 39,800yen.
The Katoji baby crib we bought at Akachan Honpo at ~13,000yen, courtesy of Otosan. Arigatou Otosan. 🙂
moments
When in the middle of the night, there’s a sudden pain on my abdomen and I can’t help but whimper and moan. And yet even when he is sleeping soundly, his arm would be around me and then his hand would rub my arm or my back to comfort me. Joyfulness.
When I can’t sleep and I just stare at his face and he happened to wake up. And then he’d smile and say twice, “pretty ne”. Well that really lends me some self-confidence especially now that I feel and look so bloated with pregnancy. Joyfulness.
When in the wee hours of the morning I’d get up because I’m thirsty and needs to go to the loo as well. He’d get up also, pour me a glass of cold water before pouring a glass for himself. And after which hug me really tight. Joyfulness.
When before leaving for office he’d always make it a point to kiss and hug me goodbye and say “i love you” even when the remnants of my dream still lingered and I’m still cross-eyed from sleep. It’s like having a very good dream before going back to sleep again. Joyfulness.
Thank you A for making me really happy. Baby is so lucky to have you for a father. 🙂
girdle it out
Growing up, and because those whom I personally encounter are not really celebrities, most of the moms I saw can be identified easily – they all sport this protruding belly even if some of them may be thin. I don’t look down on it though. I considered it way back then as a kind of champion belt like boxing champions have; sort of like something to be proud after having a baby, I thought so at that time when getting married and having babies was still so far removed from my mind.
When I was two months with baby though, it started to concern me. Yes of course I still consider it as an achievement. But my prevailing question was that isn’t there a way not to make it appear so obvious??! A Filipino colleague however who gave birth a little over a year ago said that there really is no escaping it; that moms would have to deal with this protruding belly for the rest of your life. Kind of like a sentence for imprisonment isn’t it.
And so I chewed on my lip, worried. And then I thought, how does Japanese women do it?? I mean, sure they’re gifted with slim figures and they’re gifted as well with the genes of still being trim even when heavy with baby. But surely at 9 months their bellies expand as well, even when the other parts of their bodies doesn’t. So how do they make the stretched muscles compress back in?
After much browsing with baby magazines, Okasan confirmed as well what I have had suspicions on – right after giving birth, moms wear a special kind of belt or binder to squeeze back their uterus and figures in.
Our maternity hospital gave us a list of what we should bring and what the hospital will be providing. This girdle practice is so engrained in the Japanese pregnancies that the hospital is even providing me one set of this binder in my whole stay in the hospital – 5 days at the least.
Seeing how effective it is for the Japanese women, I do hope that this practice will also be done in the Philippines albeit a far as I know, for those who have had cesarians, they are also required to wear binders.
Why I’m hoping so is so that more Pinay moms would be more aware that they do have a choice – that they can have their old figures back after having a baby and that they needn’t be a celebrity nor exercise to death (although of course exercise is a big help) to get rid of the baby belly.
It isn’t just genes; a Filipino friend-colleague could attest the boon of these binders. She now still have her old figure, even after having her baby. And I so dearly hope it will have the same effect on me.
Last working day for the year
It’s my last working day in the office before I take my maternity leave / baby care leave. I shall miss work. It’ll be hopefully middle of spring next year already when I go back to work. I shall terribly miss my teammates in the project too (especially those that I have worked closely with) and I’m happy to know that they’d be missing me in the same way. Being part of this mega $17B project wasn’t just technically enriching. It also blessed me with great relationships along the way albeit it has been a looong journey of valleys and hills.
Here’s (a representative of) me and hubs commemorating my last day at work for the year. And we say THIS IS THE BEST GINGER ALE EVER!!!
Earlier, when I was still packing my stuff in a box, Jon bought me and Me-an this super delicious Greek yogurt. I haven’t eaten yogurt for the longest time already because I got saturated with it already after consuming tons during my first trimester. But this one’s different, with no sour aftertaste and would still be good even without the honey, we think. It’s more expensive than your usual yogurt at 189 yen, where usual yogurts are only at 105 yen or so. Thanks to Jon, Me-an and I had a nice yogurt break right there on my desk; sharing good conversation over good yogurt.
And so from tomorrow, I’d be in full swing with the baby preps. Looking forward to see Otosan and sis-in-law as well!
I do wonder if the “blue moon” would have its effect on baby’s amniotic sac just like how the full moon affects the tide. Let’s see.
Mikoshi Festival
It’s August and hence the Mikoshi Festival season again. Here in our neighbourhood, the festival is this weekend. Since yesterday up to today, we’ve been hearing the beat of the drums and the people’s ho-huh-ho-huh as they walk around carrying a divine palanquin: a Mikoshi or a “mobile” Shinto shrine.
Men (and women) in action.
The priests at the head of the procession.
Photos above were taken last year. We didn’t get to watch this year since we went to the hospital yesterday for my regular checkup and afterwards went shopping for baby goods.
We did catch the ending part of the procession though.
Our house is very near a Shinto Shrine hence during the festivities, the way to our house is lighted with lanterns. Can’t explain why but I really find lighted lanterns magical and charming.
The lanterns are lighted all the way up the hill where the shrine is. (the car in the photo is parked on the second level)
Summer is still lingering (hubs and I call it the “revenge of summer”, a way of saying goodbye before it makes way for Autumn) and hence it was soooo hot yesterday. I can just imagine how tiresome and dehydrating it must have been for the participants. Back in 2007, a friend-colleague invited us to participate in the Mikoshi Festival. We suffered the heat. And yes, for a time, I also had to have my turn in carrying the Mikoshi. And honestly? I don’t want to do it again (blush). 😀 I’d say it takes dedication and also deep belief in what you’re doing for one to happily participate in it. Perhaps if it’s done during colder seasons, I might reconsider. Albeit it’s really similar to the processions we have back in the Philippines during Holy Week and other religious festivities. And when I was still living with my family (before moving to Manila to work), I did participate in those processions almost yearly. And if truth be told, I missed participating in it. It’s all rooted on faith I guess.