The First Japanese Doctor Visit

This morning Zack and I went to the Japanese doctor for the first time. I had heard all kinds of things about the Ladies Clinic where American women go to have their babies, primarily good. Now I am beginning to understand what all the fuss is about. The outside of the building looked more like a nice business establishment or a hotel than a doctor's office and the lobby was more of the same.
In the grand tradition of Japanese buildings, we had to take our shoes off in the entryway. They had slippers waiting in a glass shelving unit just inside (I'm told they're heated in the winter). Just inside the door, a sign (in English) informed us of the locations of the examining rooms, "wards" and delivery rooms. There's also a "shampoo room" on the 4th floor, but we only saw the first floor today (I'm told they'll give us a tour eventually). The woman at the front desk, dressed in a cute pink nurse's uniform (think 1940's movies) like all the ladies who worked there, asked for our name, took our referral, and then directed us to the lobby. The lobby was filled with comfy chairs and sofas and a rack full of baby magazines. There was a carpeted spiral staircase in the middle of the lobby, wrapped around a pillar that had been painted to look like it was marble. On the second floor, I could see a baby grand piano. There was tinkly musicbox style music playing all kinds of songs from old 80's loves songs to Disney.
The first appointment at this clinic is always a walk in. We could only tell them what day and morning or afternoon, so we arrived about the time they opened and sat for about an hour and a half before our name was called. In the mean time, we looked at baby magazines in Japanese and watched all the other pregnant ladies wandering to and from the bathroom. It was a busy place! Finally, though, our name was called and we went into a separate waiting room that faced the examining rooms.
Not long after that, the doctor himself walked through and assured us he'd be back to check on us in a few minutes. The nurses escorted us into the examining room and found a seat for Zack (they all seemed to find his leg mildly amusing, but were very considerate of the situation). The room attached to the front desk and had dolls on the wall of various sizes, labeled with the number of weeks. So we found the 20 week doll and determined how big our baby is.
Soon thereafter, the doctor returned and appologized for the long wait. Apparently, a woman had gone into labor that morning, so he was a bit held up checking on her regularly. He got our full names (the referal had only my first and last name, not Zack's at all) and where we were from. He then checked my record to reaffirm that I have no potential complications.
Then it was ultrasound time. The nurses helped Zack position himself standing behind my head so that he could see a screen that was pointed at us. The doctor had his own screen to look at (a vast improvement from the tiny ultrasound machine in the medical building on base). He showed us the baby's head, spine, and heartbeat, as well as measuring everything to make sure the baby was growing on track. Baby measured exactly right for 20 weeks, and the doctor deamed things to be going just as smoothly as ever. He even pulled the 20 week doll off the wall to show us where the baby was sitting and how Baby is positioned (head down) in there. Then the doctor said "I can see if it's a boy or a girl person if you want to know." We, of course, wanted to know, and he told us "80% Girl." So it's a girl! ... probably. She had been very wiggly during the ultrasound process, and it was really fun to watch and to find out. It was also Zack's first ultrasound experience since he hasn't been around for the other appointments, so that was pretty awesome too.
When everything was done, the doctor gave us a tiny little photo album with three pictures from the ultrasound AND a video of the whole thing (which I've been good and not watched yet)! We're supposed to bring both back for each visit and he'll add to them. I think this is super cool. Next time, he says we'll be doing a 3-D ultrasound (which I've heard is actually a little creepy), and he can confirm then that it really is a girl. Somehow, even if he's not 100% sure, that one little piece of information makes the whole thing just a little more real. Zack says that for him, knowing it's a girl tells him a little more about what kind of parents we'll need to be because it's different depending on whether you have girls or boys and which one is oldest and all that. He said it reminded him a little of when Alisa told him that she was having a girl and he was going to be a big brother. For me, it gives a bit more personality to the little being that's been wiggling around for awhile now (it seems like she's in constant motion, but mostly during the day) and affecting everything from what I wear to what I eat to where I go and when.
So the doctor eyed me and decided I wasn't overweight (this is the first appointment where they didn't weigh me or take my blood pressure). He then announced that he'd like to see me once a month for now. He said that next time they'd do the 3-D ultrasound and some bloodwork. He gave me a paper to take back to the Navy medical and reminded me to bring back the video and picture book next time. The ladies at the reception desk helped us set up our appointment and appologized in advance, saying that the times were not especially set in stone because of the occasional woman going into labor or there being a lot of walk ins or something. Our start time is a 15 minute window, and she said that if it looked like it'd be a long time when we arrived, they'd give us a more accurate time if it was going to be a long wait.
Back home, I told Dory that not only is she no longer "my baby" she's also not the only "my girl" in the house anymore. She just wagged her tail and tried to lick my face. She could tell we were totally excited and so she just wanted to be involved.
To celebrate, we went to a picnic hosted by Zack's ship that just happened to be today and Zack told everyone all about the ultrasound. Then this evening I made ginger chicken, and incidentally discovered that I still can't eat chicken. The sauce was yummy on my rice and broccoli, though. At least I can eat a little beef again. I swear our girl is aiming to be a vegetarian. :-)

Ripple effect

We've survived our first week of life with crutches quite well, I'd say. The whole driving to base every morning thing is a bit annoying, but I only had to wake up early for it once, so not so bad. (I am not a morning person. Not even a little, so how early I have to wake up on the average morning can really change how I view a week.)
We've been watching a lot of American news coverage this week as well, using the lovely internet connection. We watched more debates, but we've also been following the economic issues pretty closely. For Zack, the measure of just how bad things are getting is the stock market. For me, a much more real messure is the exchange rate.
For those of you who don't know, I get paid for most of my classes in yen. I don't spend as much yen as I earn, which led to the formation of the "Bank of Anne" this summer when we had visitors. All summer long, my exchange rate at the bank of Anne was 105 yen to the US dollar most of the time. Sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little lower. And in general, I follow what the rate is at real banks (particularly on base) because I figure eventually I'll have to trade some of my earnings back and I might as well trade while the trading's good. So this number means something more real to me than the stock market numbers probably ever will.
When we arrived in Japan, the exchange rate was hanging around 120 yen to the USD. It's dropped pretty steadily since then, but only once in the year we've been here has it hit 100. All summer, as I mentioned, it was right around 105 (probably a little lower, since the Bank of Anne tended to round up a few yen). It was still around 105 when we left for Yokusuka. In the last four days it's gone from 1o3 to 101 to 100 to 97, which is today's rate. That's the lowest I've seen it since we've been here. And at 3:00 every weekday, the rate changes, so I'm very curious to see what will happen today as we approach the weekend. The last time I really followed it this closely was before I was earning any yen. I'm really just wondering how low it will go (and on a more selfish note, at what point I should go ahead and trade over). It's not often that money holds my attention like this.
Anyway, I'm also back into the marvelous world of cooking again. I still don't feel well enough to grill a lot of meat plain. Zack made himself some steak last night that I find myself avoiding in the fridge today, but I made chili and even did some pork chops not too long ago. I consider this a major victory.
My problem now is that Zack's been home so long, I'm ready to eat a lot of foods that he doesn't generally like. In the past, due to our "long distance marriage", I would patiently wait until his ship left (which was never more than a week away), and then cook whatever it was that I knew he wouldn't like. Now with his leg broken, I'm gradually realizing that this particular method of keeping everyone happy at meal time will not work out so well in the long run. So today I'm making split pea soup from a recipe I got out of a crock pot recipe magazine and fell in love with. Aside from the peas, it has onion, sweet potato and spinach in it. It's vegetarian with an "option" to add ham that I've never used. Zack's got leftover steak from last night, so I'm confident he won't starve, and for now that'll work just fine. If I'm lucky, he'll even try some, and may be I can add it to the normal meal circuit... but I doubt it. Oh well. I'm just glad to be cooking again!
One week to the doctor's appointment where we might find out if Baby is a boy or a girl, so stay tuned...

The New Routine

We are back in Sasebo, Dory is home, and we are attempting to readjust to yet another definition of "normal life." This is the version where Zack is not allowed to move from a chair unless absolutely necessary. It wasn't so bad when we were living in a hotel room because there was no where for him to go. Now he's trying to do dishes, or cook, or work on laundry or do a lot of things that kind of require him to at least stand up. It's hard work keeping him in a chair! He says it's good practice for chasing around kids, but at least kids can go from the kitchen to the living room without fear of messing up their little legs.
Zack has physical therapy four days a week, and his ship wants him to come in after that each day and work from a building on the peer. We're still sorting out how to best do this without me spending the day driving him around. (They also would like for him to come in BEFORE his therapy, but that would require me to get up at the crack of dawn, and he'd only really get in an hour of work before he'd have to leave again, so it's probably not worth it.) In the end, I'm hoping that I can just drop him off at PT in the mornings, and pick him up when he's ready to come home at night. This would work out fine for the most part, with only a night or two a week where it could get hairy because my primary teaching time is also primary coming-home time. We'll see. We're still sorting out the details.
Also, while we were away, the land lady contacted us to ask if she could install a rail in our stairway. We had never asked for one, though we've both fallen on the stairs at least once (Zack broke a toe that way earlier this year), so we jumped at the remarkably good timing of it. As I type, two men are installing our new hand rail on the stairs, which will bring reassurance to both of us and make Zack's crutches on the stairs a little bit safer (though I'd still be happier if he'd sit when he went down them since he's lost his balance a few times doing that).
Dory is terrified of the crutches, by the way. They make a loud noise on our hardwood floors and Zack has a tendency to tease her a little with them. She hides from them obsessively, and won't go near Zack if he's within arms reach of them. This has led to all kinds of new Dory-tormenting games, poor dear. On the plus side, if I have to take Zack from PT to work every day, I will probably bring Dory with me and the two of us can take a walk while we're waiting for him. That's what we did yesterday, and it was good times for both of us.
Also, the weather is finally cooling off so that walking outside sounds like a good idea rather than a special form of torture. It's still warm in the sun, but the breeze is very cool. We haven't turned on any air since we've been home, and we actually have to close some of the windows at night or it gets too cold. Yay! I know Zack hates the bitter cold parts of the year, but I actually look forward to it after the nasty summer heat.
Hopefully later this month I'll be able to do a little more adventuring and we'll have something less painful to write about. :-)