As in finding out if we are having a boy or a girl, LOL. Last time we went to the Dr.s we had two different types of ultrasounds- the regular kind and what I think is called the 3d kind (sorry, my Japanese isn't good enough to figure out what is going on all of the time). So I just assumed that we would do the same this time and that we would get to see if it was a boy or a girl. But unfortunately we only did the old fashioned kind and the dr didn't comment one way or the other. If I had been with DH I would have asked him to ask for the other kind of ultrasound, but because I was with MIL and SIL, I didn't want to seem pushy or take up too much time. And I was happy in seeing that the baby was still fine and growing at the normal rate.
Despite me not wanting to take too much time I ended up having to see two other Drs all because I asked the main OBGYN two questions. A) At this point in my pregnancy, how many calories should I be consuming? B) Are there any nearby excercize classes for pregnant women? I seriously thought these questions would take about 5 minutes to answer but the Dr insisted on me going to a health & diet specialist for A) and the head of maternity nurses for B).
I felt like I wasted the health specialist's time since I really only had the one question. I'm not super worried about weight gain at this point (though I have already gained 5 of the 20 pounds Japanese Dr.s say I should gain) but am curious since I haven't been especially hungry during the day. I think part of it is that I have started eating breakfast which I didn't do before and school lunches are so big. So dinner time I don't feel hungry. But she made sure to go over in detail what I should/shouldn't be eating and how much of what food group. I wanted to laugh when she asked me what was the main part of my meal: bread or rice? Japan is carb. obsessed and they base their meals around that. I said that mostly I base my meals around whichever veggies I have on hand (and refrained from telling her that I also base it on meat or fish). The carb. is the last thing I consider and half of the time I leave it out.
Anyway, I was really excited to meet the head of maternity nurses. I think usually I wouldn't have met her until much later in the pregnancy but because I had my question she went ahead and did a quick intro to the maternity ward where I will have the baby. I have heard horror stories about how some nurses can be a little strict or not accommodating to foreign wives, but this lady and I got on super well and I feel so much more relieved. She said she delivered for a Peruvian once (whom I know since I teach her daughters) so it wasn't a big deal if I didn't speak too much Japanese. She also said that my weight gain was fine and that since the baby seemed average I shouldn't worry.
She went over a lot of information and was really patient when questions came up. She wasn't able to help with an excercise class (the one they have is at 2pm on weekdays which is when I have work) but she did tell me where I could get the local government pregnancy guidebook in English and she told me about different birth plans that the hospital offers. She also talked to me about brestfeeding and cloth diapering, both of which are things I am curious about but thought might be considered a hassle in Japanese hospitals. It was a little awkward when she started showing me how to "massage" myself to get milk. Not because of her touching my chest, but because my MIL and SIL were there and I don't really get topless in front of them too often. Not to mention that Japan is kind of conservative.
But anyway, glad things are going fine and that I got to learn more about where I'll give birth. Bummed about the sex (especially since my Facebook birth club were waiting for my announcement) but it's not so bad. I want to keep it a secret so that we can all guess at my US baby shower, anyway, so it's probably better that I don't have to have a secret on my shoulders all month.
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