【新年】Welcome to the new year

[kurikuribebi]

あけましておめでとうごあいます。
Welcome to 2022, everyone. May this year be at least slightly better than the last.We didn't do anything special to celebrate new years. We relaxed in a warm scented bath, made Temaki-sushi and Miso soup for dinner, and then Ryu watched TV while I took a nap. He woke me up at 5 minutes till midnight to do the countdown together and

Comments

[x_deadlylettuce]

Best of luck to you in this year of 2022! That would be so cool to go to a shrine like that!

[kurikuribebi]

We go every year. This one is hardly as impressive as other ones, but it draws less of a crowd comparatively, so we stick with it, lol.

[memoryofpetals]

I've heard from other friends Japan is really hesitant about epidurals! I hope everything goes smoothly. When I was having a baby everyone kept asking about my birth plan but to be honest it just goes however it goes and the doctors tell you what you can and can't do. I'm sorry to hear about your test results but I'm glad they seem to be on top of things.

I just wanted to throw out a random product recommendation - Keep Cozy 3-in-1 Grow with Me Bouncer & Rocker Infant to Toddler Seat. I ordered one in Australia and one via Amazon and it seems the safest for when you need baby to be held but also need free arms.

Love it when you post about shrine visits! Happy New Year. :)

[kurikuribebi]

Yeah. A lot of my co-workers went as far as to say that if you use one, you aren't even really bonding with your child. It's the pain that makes the experience. No thanks, lol. I'll take the epidural if possible and just tell my kid more frequently that I love them.

Right? When I had to write my birth plan, I was really at a loss as to what to write because in the end, it's my first child -- I have no idea how things go, and my kid doesn't know he has a birth plan to follow. I guess it's good to think about what you do and don't want? But for me it was more of a hassle.

I know about the Keep Cozy!!! We wanted to get it after someone else recommended it also, but it wasn't available on Japanese amazon, and if we purchased from the western one, it was a bit out of our budget between the price and shipping (The bouncer itself was only about $45, but the shipping was almost $70!) We ended up buying a similar one, so hopefully it's just as good.

[blastofserenity]

I'm glad you guys were able to keep your shrine tradition this year! Terrible it took over twice as long than previous years. D:

I never heard of the manicures being a no no before. I can see not wanting the patients to wear like fake glue on nails like I wear because those will come off sometimes at the slightest wrong bump but like professionally done nails should be ok in terms of safety.

I saw in the comments some of your results weren't as good as you hoped. Wishing you a safe birth and healthy birth!

[kurikuribebi]

Next year won't be as bad, hopefully. The long waits are usually tolerable thanks to the delicious food stands and warm drinks lining the streets. But this year...the three hours felt like an eternity!

That would make sense to me. But we can't have professionally done nails, nor can we have nails we simply painted ourselves, be they finger or toe nails. They said it's because they need to look at our nails for health reasons or whatever, something about monitoring oxygen.

Wedding rings and such are also a no no, and will be cut off if need be, but I understand why those aren't allowed.

Thank you!

[mymimikyu]

No epidurals on weekends or holidays? That's so silly... babies are going to happen when they happen, and It makes no sense to only offer birthing-things during limited hours!

[kurikuribebi]

Exactly. It really blew me away when they told me. Here I am being told I needed an appointment and even then it wasn't guaranteed, meanwhile my sister decided mid-labor she wanted it and BOOM, she got it.

It's because of a shortage though, it seems. Epidurals are new compared to other places, and there aren't enough trained anesthesiologists. I understand, but it seems a bit foolish. Give them a pay raise and have them be on call. Insurance doesn't cover it, so they stand to make a pretty penny.

[mymimikyu]

Its understandable, if not fair. I hope they offer you other options? I'm pregnant and anticipating not using any drugs, and only intermittent monitoring (instead of getting the hydration IV, heart rate monitors, etc.), but I'm low risk anyways. My friend who is pregnant for the second time now said she was happy with just the IV drugs, and an epidural was too much hassle for her to deal with at the time.

It would be nice to have "future vision" and know exactly what we'd want!

[kurikuribebi]

If I were low-risk, I'd definitely go the all natural way, even if only to save a huge chunk of money. It wasn't even an option for me though, from the beginning. It was always either C-section or epidural, but they're worried about doing a C-section because of the pre-existing conditions.

I'm not sure what all natural birth here entails. It would make sense that they use IVs for hydration, but even with the epidural route, they've asked me to bring a weeks worth of my own electrolyte drinks.

It seems that there's also a difference between how general hospitals and maternity hospitals handle things.

It'll be an experience! We'll have to see!

[estelle]

Being able to sleep through fireworks is impressive.
Why does it cost $300 to set up US citizenship?

[kurikuribebi]

They didn't do fireworks -- at least in our area -- this year. They haven't done fireworks since the start of COVID in order to prevent people gathering to watch.

It costs $300 because unfortunately, nothing here is free :/ :/ Every document we submit comes with an added fee, a processing fee, and then a currency conversion fee. We have to submit a slew of documents to apply for the baby's citizenship, and it all adds up.