I’ve missed this space. It’s been almost 2 months and I feel like I need to slowly introduce myself to Tokyo Terrace all over again. While it has been difficult not spending as much time here, I can’t complain. I’ve been busy taking care of a very small, very important person. He has big blue eyes, soft, dark brown hair, and the sweetest little smile I’ve ever seen. I may be biased, but that’s a mother’s right.

After a long and somewhat trying recovery, I’m finally able to find time to share a little bit about what it was like to have a baby in Tokyo as a foreigner. I’m sure my experience is different from others, but it is worth sharing just the same and isn’t so different from stories I’ve heard from the United States. I’ll keep it brief and to the point…

I went into labor on Friday, December 2nd around 7:30am. My contraction were only 5 minutes apart…much closer than I had heard they would be. My husband called the doctor and he said that he would see us at the hospital. We called a taxi and made the long drive in the rainy rush hour traffic to the hospital. The 45 minute drive went quite smoothly because the driver phoned a friend to find out the best route to take to avoid traffic. An excellent move on his part.

We arrived at the hospital, checked in, and went to a small room designated for waiting things out until time for delivery. I was in that room for 17 hours. My contractions were about 2 or 3 minutes apart the entire time and were quite long. I had gone without any interventions for the entire time, but when my doctor said it would still be at least 3 more hours, I knew my body couldn’t handle it any longer. I was completely exhausted. So, I got an epidural. At that point, the doctor said that Riley had not dropped low enough for delivery. His heart rate was getting dangerously low and he didn’t seem to be making any progress, so an emergency C-Section was required.

At 1:21am, little Riley (or not so little…he was 9 pounds!) entered the world. I’ve never been so happy to hear crying in my entire life! He and I both made it through the operation without any complications, thank God. I spent 5 days recovering in the hospital. We had a private room where Brad could sleep, which was wonderful. He took such good care of Riley while I was confined to my bed for the first 2 days. The midwives and nurses spoke broken English, but enough that we understood most of what they said to us. They were so attentive and kind to us, making us feel right at home. It was difficult to leave the comfort of the hospital, where someone would come help at the push of a button and each meal was brought to us each and every day.

On the morning of the 6th day, we packed up to go home. Riley lost quite a bit of his birth weight and was only 7.8 pounds when we took him home, so gaining his birth weight back was an important goal for us. I can happily say that he has regained his birth weight plus some!

Riley is coming up on 2 months and has grown into a squirming, smiling, crying, eating baby boy. We are completely smitten, as new parents typically are. There have been a fair number of challenges, but nothing worth complaining about. We feel so lucky to have a healthy son in our lives.

We are gradually getting into the swing of life again, but it is still tricky to find the time to do things like blog and photograph new posts for you here. Right now, for example, I have a post ready but no photos. It is challenge figuring out how to organize the day when there isn’t yet a predictable schedule. But I am still here, hoping to be blogging just as I have for the past 3 years! Thanks to those of you who have waited patiently!

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