The 4th prenatal check-up....

hehehe....setelah sebulan menunggu degan sabarnya...bley tgk baby lagi....n this time no more transvaginal check ups or ultrasounds ....sukanye...serioulsy sape yang suka kan

the day started as usual with a urine test n then amik blood pressure and timbang berat....
blood pressure :138/82 (妥当=normal)
weight: - 1.1kg (yeaaaaa.... tak naik berat and i'm closer to my full term target weight)
urine : protein +
         sugar   -
edema: -

all in all doc suruh kurangkan salt dalam makanan and banyakkan minum air because of the protein in my urine...sgt cuak okay...sbb before this seme - je...
 and then we did the ultrasound ...tp sbb ni ultrasound dr atas perut pic dia tak clear like the transvaginal ones

 baby at 15 weeks and 3 days ,CRL: 98.1mm (CRL: crown rump length, panjang baby from head to punggungnya). kalau ikut baby growth chart fetuses at 15 weeks should be at 101mm..tapi diorang kata as the baby grows kadar tumbesaran dia akan lari dari growth chart tu.... sebab eikyou genetik seme....haha...baru 3mm punya gosa mommy dia pikir mcm mcm....baby ikut mommy dia kot ...pendek...hihi

 ni plak scan area kepala baby... baby's BPD is currently 32.3mm (BPD:biparietal diameter, diameter between the 2 sides of the baby's head)..haa yang ni right on schedule 32mm....hihiiii

after that we discussed my blood test results...ijyou nashi...alhamdulillah... and my blood type B+...no surprise there lah kan...

n last skali they gave me this

what???? igt modern sgt Koishi ni...you gave me a video tape...why not DVD mcm kat Jun...manalah i nak cr video player nak tunujk ultrasound anak dia kat hubby.... dah lah salah eja nama SHAZWANI? SY lah people...MISS plak tu...aiyoyo....hiiiii

kitorg punya lah dok pesan kat baby .... 見せてね.... posisi baby dah alright dah..tp maybe lemak mommy dia tebal sgt ke....scanner tu dah furui ke...tak nampak pun...apekan daya
..tapi mommy gi gak shopping ngan your abah... and even though your father thinks your a boy..hence barang2 yang dah beli sblm ni seme ke arah boy....mommy beli jugak baju girl...and your father mengalah je...saying that if you are a boy baju tu leh simpan for your adik...haha..don't know why he's so sure our baby is a boy though....saa na....another reason i think hubby gave in is sebab skrg ni tgh nak tukar musim so baju natsu sale...itu yang dia tak kisah kot kita angkut 9 helai hahaha....

the next check-up seems so far away..... so far dah stop vomitting since first raya...yea....skang kalau vomit pun sbb angin... yes angin is still a big problem semlm sampai tak bley tdo..... and i've had migraines everyday when i wake up since week 13..so i got some medicaton from the doc ...tp stakat ni tak pakai lagi..but it's a comfort to have them around if i do need them.... my breast have swollen bnyk gile n are tender to the touch...i can only fit 2 of my pre-prego bras so semlm beli baru..hehe yeayea... for those of you out there be prepared..swollen breast are no fun..haha

so targets for this month...watch my weight...drink lots of water...kurangkan garam...rajin2 buat 胎教.....and start exercising more!!...uish banyaknya target...hiiii

Mommy's first prenatal class.... 胎教教育 (How to educate your unborn child)

胎教教育　(たいきょ うきょういく） i didn't really know what it meant when i signed up for the class...but since the nurse said that for mothers pregnant 4 months and onwards the classes available was this one and the 母親教室 (mother's class), i decided to sign up for both..

with raya falling on friday and my mind stuck on baby's fourth check-up...I totally forgot about the class until the tuesday when i opened my little blue binder and realized that the class was on wednesday...arghhh...memang tak de kokoro jyunbi langsung la...

arrived at maternity clinic early and even though i wasn't the first there i was the first to sign up...sbb ibu2 lain dok bura2 kat cafe haha..so i got to pick a nice seat..paid 500 yen for the photostated syiryou and went off to find the toilet hahaha...masa tu excited...ye la dah lama tak masuk kelas lah katakan...seronok plak...

anyway the class started a bit later than scheduled because a few mothers arrived late and pf course the class started with a jikosyoukai (introduce yourself) session...we had to tell them our name, our due date, how far along we were, how many children we have and our kansou....so sorg2 berdiri lah mak2 buyung ni...i thought everyone who came would be around 4 months prego jugak..oh silap besar...there were some who only had a few weeks to go and as pregnant women will do...we eyed everyone's bellies when they stood up..masa tu lah kinchou sorang punya nama pun saya tak igt...but there were 3 women who's due dates happened to be the 1st of January... n then class started..

first came the benefits of 胎教教育
- the babies are easier to raise, has a high level of curiosity, and learn to speak earlier
- strengthens the bonds between child and parent
- stimulates the unborn babies brain

second was preparing yourself to start 胎教
- you have to sit in a comfortable position and relax yourself..play some soothing music if it suits
  you
- close your eyes and breathe in and out  and calm yourself
and so on and so forth you get the picture...

another thing you need to remember when talking to the baby is to use a loud voice and to speak clearly and slowly and to put your heart and soul into every word....nurse cakap cuba imagine kita dok dalam air dlm swimming pool ke ape kan , n ada orang trying to talk to you dari luar...susah kan nak paham...imagine baby dok dlm amniotic fluid tu surrounded by layers of tissue lagi lemak kat perut mak dia lagi....that's why it's important to speak using a loud voice...pastu dia kata suara laki lagi senag baby nak paham....

after that ada aktiviti 'visualize baby'..diorang pas plastesin sorang satu kat kitorang and then suh buat bentuk baby kita yang kita dok terbayng tu...which i thought was a stupid aktiviti...tapi tak cakap la kan...masa ni lah baru open up sikit kat org2 semeja yang lain...borak2 pasal baby masing2 ...laki ke pompuan...ada alahan tak....

next diorang pas around this pin tubes mcm pic kat blog kak nadia ni (kalau tak silap gambar yang nombor 3 tu)...haa benda ni satu kita letak kat perut satu kita pegang kat mulut...kind of focuses our voices to the baby's ears lah kot.... so after that aktiviti baca pantun kat baby...ada pantun pasal grape and lagi satu pasal aisatsu...anyway..kata nurse tu...baby yang dlm perut ni dia belajar guna deria2 mak dia .. so atas setiap pantun tu ada gambar..and lepas baca pantun tu kitorg kena warnakan gambar tu sambil cakap kat baby...' mama warnakan grape ni warna purple ye' ,'baju baby mama warnakan warna pink ye'..at first we all felt silly...tapi ikut je la kan...kononya buat mcm tu sampai lah mesejnya kat baby...Allahualam....

next aktiviti ni menarik sikit...dia panggil 'kick game'...unfortunately aktiviti  ni nak kena tunggu dah boleh rasa baby baru saya leh start try..hihi...dia ada 3 steps
step 1
bila kita rasa baby gerak, kita tepuk (jangan kuat sgt ye) tempat yang dia gerak tu sambil cakap 'kick'...step 1 ni nak ajar baby yang bila dia bergerak mak dia akan bg respon

step 2
bila kita rasa kita dah cukup dah buat step 1 bolehlah move on to step 2.
start with doing step 1 pastu next kita tepuk tempat lain plak sambil sebut 'kick'..kalau baby tu dah faham dia akn respon dgn menendang tempat yang kita tepuk tu...lepas tu kita tepuk temput lain plak...konsep dia mcm main kejar2 lah kot

step 3
kalau baby dah faham konsep step 2 kita start step 3 plak...mengajar baby konsep nombor...
tunggu baby bergerak....bila dia gerak kita cakap 'satu' n then tepuk sekali bila dia bagi respon next kita cakap 'dua' n then tepuk dua kali... kalau baby respon tendang dua kali...next kita ajar dia 'tiga' n tepuk tiga kali..kalau dia kick tiga kali you can move on to the next number....nurse cakap dia pernah jumpa one mother yang baby dia leh respon sampai 10...(tsugoi ne ) the only mom yang hadir hari tu yang pernah buat aktiviti ni kata baby first dia respon sampai 2...maa setia baby itu lain deshou....

aktiviti ni kalau start masa baby berumur 6 months most probably it will take the baby 4 weeks to understand the concept, kalau baby 7-8 months mungkin 2-3 weeks baru dia bagi respon.... mama no otanoshimi da yo baby...cepatlah mama leh rasa nye you nye kick kick hihi

last sekali dia ajar macam mana nak ajar baby hiragana....haa ni payah lah for me...your suppose to trace the letter while explaining to the baby how to write it....hmm bab nak explain tu yang susah tu....anyway dia kata kalau ajar hiragana start dgn あthe next day ajar balik あ lepas tu い. n then esok tu plak ajar balik あ　dan いlepas tu baru ajar う....kira everyday kita kena fukushu balik la kat dia ape kita dah ajar....hari tu baru borak ngan hubby nak ajar jawi nak cite cam ne ek kat baby...kalau alif tu okay lagi lah kan kalau ba..'hmm lukis cawan pas tu letak satu titik kat bawah'...'haa...ni lah ba'....ohhh my mommy dia ni..serius tak reti nak explain...hihi

anyway ...all in all it was an interesting class...even though at some parts i felt a bit like a kindergartener...main ngan plastesin and warna warna lukisan....it was also kinda fun....

oh ya buku biru kat atas tu text book dia..tp kena beli..dlm tu ada macam pantun jepun..one for each day...right now we're up to day five..and seriously mommy dia ni dah tak faham dah maksud poem jepun ni.....waaa...malu i...hiii

plus-size & pregnant.....

i'm plus-size (hah...no surprise there) and pregnant!!!!

so how do you know if you're plus-sized? haaaa...sila check kat sini (it's in pounds and feet though so pandai pandai lah convert).... if your bmi is below 18.5 you're underweight, 18.5 - 24.9 = normal, 25.0 - 29.9 = overweight, and above 30 is obese.... i happen to fall into the third category..... never really cared about bmi before you know....

so when i went for my third check-up and the nurse sat me down and told me that my target weight on my due date should be 2 kgs less than what i weigh now i was a bit speechless...yes very speechless...i thought the number she wrote was wrong.... you see i had read earlier at babycenter that if i was overweight i should gain between 15 and 25 pounds ( 6.8 - 11.3 kg )... which made me twice as panicky about the whole thing....

imagine...i have to lose weight while gaining the baby weight...so katakanlah baby roughly 3kg and the amniotic fluid and placenta weigh 2kg and i have to lose 2 kg..which all comes down to 7 kg if i wanna be at the target weight on my due date....punyalah tension mlm tu...plus s few choice words from a fellow pregnant friend didn't help matters.....terus jadi down...

so i talked to my mom and a few other experienced mothers and all of them agreed that being less stressed about the matter would be wiser than me trying to do things that could harm the baby just because i want to lose weight....so my current goal is to try and maintain my weight and if i do gain i'll try and keep to about 5kg....i owe the baby that much...TRY....

being overweight before pregnancy means a higher risk for gestational diabetes and preeclampsia and a higher chance for getting big babies but it doesn't mean you can't have a normal beautiful baby.... that much i know..and worrying unnecessarily will just do us both no good.... we plan , we try , but the rest it up to Allah.....

buku buku peneman check-up

u see the three books...oklah it's just one book and two binders but tak pe lah...

buku paling penting ada kat tengah tu diorang panggil 母子手帳　(maternal and child health book)

..dalam ni diorang catat pasal
- the mother's personal particulars
- the mother's pregnancy health reference (height, weight, immunization record, history of prior pregnancies, etc.)
- the mother's blood pressure, weight gain or loss, dental report
- parenting class record
- baby's particulars at birth
- baby's development and health record from birth to 6 years of age

all in all senang nak keep up dengan perkembangan masing2 kan

nak dapatkan buku ni first kena dapat surat sah hamil from the doctor and the kena bawak surat tu pergi 市役所　(city hall) atau tempat2 seangkatan dengannya...n then baru dapat this book and along with it you get this booklet of prenatal check-up voucher so you only have to pay or medication or extra tests that aren't included in the voucher.

the white binder on the right is the one Koishi gave me which is my personal pregnancy schedule..it tells how far along i am、when my next check-up is scheduled and special 犬のマークの日 (dog mark days) marked in it...kita bukan pakai pun 'dog mark days' tu..according to the nurse...if you wear a maternity belt on these days it is belived that you will have a safe and easy delivery...tp tu kepercayaan org jepun

and finally the blue binder on the left is my personal pregnancy binder...it's where i keep the baby's ultrasound pics...keep track of my weight daily, jot down my thoughts for the day and so on..

ijyou .... peneman2 setia masa ke klinik setiap bulan...looking forward to friday...leh tgk baby hihi...

choosing the right care provider.....

kalau ikut website

you should schedule an appointment with a doctor as soon as you know you're pregnant...however they might not actually do the check-up until the eight week... so yours truly started asking around...called up my mom to ask when i should schedule an appointment seme and she said go ahead and make one when you feel you're sure...


and then came the debate of where i should go...most of the malaysian moms here in toyohashi go to Jun's Ladies Clinic but i googled around until I found Koishi Maternity and Children Clinic which is a bit farther away. Little did I know that the other mother's have also tried Koishi but changed their caregivers later because their due dates were fully booked....yes people..nak branak kena book in advanced..i really didn't know that haha....


So finally after much debating we decided on Koishi mainly because all the OBGYNs are women and the staff for the maternity clinic were also all women. The only male doctor works in the children's clinic which is in a separate part of the building.. .Manalah nak tau yang diorang punyalah nak jaga that 'no men'  policy tu sampai hubby deary pun tak leh masuk dlm check-up room....huahua...sian dia tak leh tgk video baby...


Anyway I've been to Jun before sebab temankan Kak Su so the atmosphere of the place wasn't new to me.. these are just some of points in differences about the two clinics that i made note of when i was making my decision


first of all... the waiting room...mesti you all pikir apalah penting sangat waiting room ni kan...trust me you want to be comfortable sebab you'll be spending a lot of time here...

Koishi's waiting room...modern was what i had in mind..but after going there a few times i felt the atmosphere was cold and unfriendly...made me feel like i was waiting for a 
dental check-up

Jun's waiting room....warm...feels like a place my aunts would feel at home in....

The check-up room.... nuff said

Koishi's check-up room...this is the special room where they carry out internal examination...that chair rotates and elevates you until your at the doctors eye level..this is also where they conduct the transvaginal ultrasounds...mcm dentist nye office kan...they have 2 rooms like this...the other room where the doctor sees you is a lot like the one at Jun..there's the doc's table, a bed and the regular ultrasound machine...

 Jun's check-up room...couldn't find a pic of the internal exam room and i've never been in there...but the best part about Jun is that they give a video of your ultrasound everytime you get one...kat Koishi you just get a printed out version of the ultrasound...tak besh hmmmmm


The birthing room.....i thought carefully bout this one but in the end we decided that i'll be giving birth in Malaysia insyaAllah... but let's put it up anyway..

Koishi's birthing room is equipped with a light and sound relaxation system and in the most ideal condition you'll be spending time here from labor, delivery up to the time of the kangaroo care...

Jun's birthing room...Kak Su said you only go in there when you're really about to give birth...laboring is done various other rooms adjacent to the birthing room...


All in all that's about all the information i got about the two places...but all in all Jun has a warm cozy atmosphere and Koishi was all about modern...but all in all choosing a caregiver is not something you should take lightly...sit down with your partner and have a good long chat about it... as for me choosing the care provider in Malaysia...my father made that decision for me...haha klakar tak... over ruled by a mile but since he's the one who'll most likely be driving..tak pe lah kan...hiii