Sunday, December 29, 2013

Hiatus Over: Blogging A Go-Go

Alright! My attempt to blog while pregnant failed miserably. This was partially due to my own laziness and exhaustion, but the two months I spent in Japanese hospitals with no wifi didn't help my ability to update my blog. I wasn't updating regularly before that anyway, though. Things must change!

So, to summarize the rest of 2013:
April was spent hanging out with my brother, finishing my work at the eikaiwa in Sendai, and having many short adventures.
May saw a bit of a break as I tried to wrap my head around the concept of being a housewife and preparation for a trip to Texas that was abruptly canceled when we found out that my cervical length was terrifyingly short only a few days to take-off. Bed rest finished off the month.
I spent June splitting time between the hospital where my husband was born in Shiogama and a bigger Red Cross facility in Sendai. No one speaks English well. My medical level Japanese is not so great, especially when I spend most of the night not sleeping but listening to what could have been confused for a bear being murdered for hours on end. I still think that woman was at the hospital to wait out the baby because no one wanted to sleep next to her at home. I'm not being fair, but I rarely am when my sleep is messed with.
July saw me on a short reprieve at home where I had a baby shower with my friends in Japan. I stockpiled media and crafting supplies in case I wound up in the hospital again.
August saw me back in the hospital again, watching fireworks from my window some nights. Luckily I got to stay in Shiogama where I was at least already used to everyone. The last week of August, my cervix was such that they felt safe releasing me.

I went home that Monday with a check-up scheduled for Friday morning. My husband couldn't take the day off, so my in-laws came to take me to the hospital only to find me in labor already. My mother-in-law contacted my husband's company and got him to the hospital to act as translator on top of caregiver and father-to-be. He was upgraded to father shortly before 1PM as Julia came screaming into the world. Knowing that she was about a month early and what that could mean for her lungs, I was so excited to hear her screaming. The experience was terrifying and incredibly painful, but well worth it in the end.

September was spent recuperating, pumping breast milk, and getting used to things at my in-laws home on the other side of town.

In October, my mother and brother came to visit. It was her first time in Japan but his second. We had a few adventures, spent more money than we absolutely had to, but it had to be done.

November saw me succeeding at Nanowrimo with a few ideas I had during pregnancy including a series of short stories built on the sleeping facial expressions of my daughter. The only problem is the dictation software I used to construct this is so flawed that I will have to spend another month picking through and editing each chapter, piece by piece.

And now we are ending December, a month in which I attempted to clean and relax. This was somewhat accomplished.

Let's hope the new year brings new resolve to me, and health and happiness to those in need, or anyone really. Who couldn't use health and happiness?

Now it's time I got around to cleaning this infant and trying to put us both to bed. Tomorrow promises to be a nice, long day.

Adios muchachos e muchachas.