Stories from Sendai, Issue #13, January 13, 2003

Okay, so we didn't write at the end of November.  Or even in December.  Call it "MBP."  This has become Barbara and Todd's way of referring to anything out-of-the-ordinary possibly related to the pregnancy. (Stands for "Must Be Pregnant.")  If Barbara feels strange, lethargic, absent-minded, lazy, ill, you-name-it - well, MBP.  And finding the energy to do another newsletter...you guessed it.  Those of you who are already parents are probably thinking "Just wait 'till they HAVE the baby!  Try finding energy for anything!"  We hear you.  But hopefully no one just hangs on every word of these letters.  We will enjoy doing them, even if there are a few months in between. 

Since the last letter, Barbara has been to see her new doctor three times.  Since she had to change doctors, she was a bit nervous about what the new doctor would be like.  The clinic is a small hospital with about 5 floors and the office on the first floor.  The entire building is dedicated to obstetrics and delivery.  The best part is that the clinic is only a 3-minute drive away.  It is even within 15 minutes walk - not that she will really DO that once the baby is ready to be born!

The new doctor is pretty traditional in his treatment.  He gives all the normal tests, takes an ultrasound at every visit (this is routine in Japan) and talks briefly at the end.  Rather than a patient waiting in a room for the doctor to come by (as with the U.S.) all patients proceed through the same set of rooms.  It is a bit like an assembly line, somewhat impersonal, but pretty efficient.  A normal office visit:  A patient arrives at the office, and places a patient ID card in a little box.  While you wait, you use the blood pressure machine, and stand on the scale, writing down the information.  Sometimes the receptionist will give you a cup for a urine sample, which you take care of in the waiting room bathroom!  After about 30-45 minutes, the nurses call your name.  The first thing done is the ultrasound and doppler to check the baby's heartbeat.  Often a nurse takes care of the ultrasound, but sometimes the doctor.  They check your measurements and swelling, and then give you a copy of the ultrasound picture.  Finally, the patient sits down at a table (while the next is ushered in for her ultrasound on the other side of the curtain) and briefly chats with the doctor.  Then a blood test is taken, and the patient goes back to the waiting room while the bill is being prepared.  In Japan, pregnancy is not covered by the national health insurance.  It is "not a disease" after all.  This is the reason why coupons for 2 free visits are given to each registered patient.  We do have international insurance, so we can get reimbursed for the bills.  So far we haven't met our deductible.  It will take several visits to do that.  But hopefully the entire birth will be covered, regardless of how complicated it is.  Japanese families shoulder the entire cost of the birth, unless surgery and lengthy hospitalization are required.  After paying about $80 at a regular visit, the patient is free to go.  This whole process takes about 2 hours on a Saturday morning, probably the busiest day, but the only good time Barbara can go.

There are good and bad things about the new doctor.  Barbara likes him - he is pleasant and polite, and speaks very good English.  He also seems to be well-trained, and well-equipped to handle whatever comes up.  There are always many, many patients in the office, so he must be competent as well.  The bad?  Well, most of it is probably the Japanese way of looking at pregnancy and childbirth, a little different from the American way.  First of all, he has lectured Barbara twice about gaining weight too quickly.  According to the World Health Organization's charts, a person with her height and weight should only gain 5 kgs (about 12 pounds)!  Every American pregnancy book Barbara has borrowed or bought gives a range of 15-25 pounds for her height and weight.  After a bit of concern and disagreement, the doctor conceded that in his experience, twice as much weight could safely be gained without resorting to a cesarean section.  Apparently, the Japanese are reluctant to perform C-sections unless very necessary.  They also are great believers in natural, unmedicated childbirth.  If everything goes normally, Barbara has no problem with that.  They will give pain-killers if the patient requests them, but it is not done routinely by any stretch.

Another bad thing - if the delivery takes place between 9PM and 9AM, Todd will not be permitted to be in the delivery room.  The reasoning the doctor gives is that there is no waiting room available during the labor section of the birth.  Barbara suspects it is also because the delivery room is shared, and strange men in the room would be very uncomfortable to the other women.  Barbara plans to ask about mothers - are they allowed?  One small comfort is that Todd will be given a small video phone, which will transmit the birth to him as it happens.

While Barbara's pregnancy is certainly the primary reason that we've let the newsletter slide a bit, it isn't the ONLY one. We've been pretty busy celebrating the various holidays that have taken place in the interim -- Thanksgiving, Christmas (at least five times over), New Year's, and Coming of Age Day (though not officially). Our Thanksgiving feast was at our church on the Sunday before the official day. While eating turkey, dressing, salad, bread, pie, and cake in a classroom behind the sanctuary, Barbara sought advice from some of our friends who are "new parents." As a dessert, one of the Japanese members of our congregation had made a chocolate sculpture! The food was a small taste of home, and the gathering of our friends kept us from feeling too homesick. We returned to the sanctuary afterward for an hour of singing. 

Enjoying real turkey and stuffing at the church Thanksgiving dinner.

Our Christmases -- as they were -- included a staff Christmas fete complete with an international array of foods and a white elephant gift exchange that kept everyone guessing. Todd's white elephant gifts were stolen on a couple of occasions. Even a dancing, singing Santa Claus doll was stolen from him! Barbara was the luckiest one of all. She was the last one to choose a gift! Of course, Barbara directed a Holiday show on Dec. 12th with K-8th grade performing the first half, and two other groups directed by others.  Our TIS Christmas gift exchange took place on the half-day before the holidays, and true to form it snowed (almost like last year). After school, we had lunch at Mojadar (an Indian buffet) in the Azur Building with two other teachers. The following Monday, we were fortunate enough to be able to return to the States for Christmas with our families, and were extremely pleased to see and visit with them all. 

The K4 and K5 classes doing a simple "hora" dance. / Barbara's small but so so cute class of 4 boys on gift exchange day.

This past weekend we spent shopping and sleeping, which goes to say that we should have just stayed in bed! The stores were packed! A lot of the big sales take place in the first two weeks of January.  It seemed to us worse than before the Christmas holidays. Monday was "Coming of Age Day," where 20-year-olds shed their daily clothes for the more formal kimono. Ceremonies at the Shinto temples are attended in hopes that the coming years will bring prosperity and luck for these individuals.     

Only in Japan - We have two entries for this newsletter.  The first is Taiko video games.  Last February, our school went on a trip to a nearby town and saw a taiko drum performance that was quite impressive.  Then everyone was allowed to try the drums themselves.  In November, Barbara was introduced to a video game that simulates the experience!  The game can be played single or two-player.  As one watches drum symbols go across the screen, each color symbolizes: hit with one stick, hit with two sticks or quickly strike with both, like a drum roll.  No music reading is required, just a good sense of beat and quick reflexes.

Barbara jams along with the Sailor Moon theme song.

Next, odd English slogans on SUVs.  We see these everywhere, and laugh.  Each one strives to be uplifting.  Usually they are printed on the wheel cover in the back, but sometimes they appear across the side doors.  But they rarely make any sense.

Just in case you can't read it: RASHEEN.  4WD with the feeling of nature and the sense of urban, having a wide range of activities as daily space.

Miscellaneous pictures:

Komatsushima's playground near the end of the fall, Nov. 10, 2002, and on the first snowfall this winter, Dec. 10, 2002.

We have a big event coming up - both of us take driving tests for our Japanese driver's license!  This should be an experience worth writing about (even the paperwork beforehand has been a story!) so we'll see you next time!

Barbara and Todd Thomas