In an alley in Osaka...

    Yesterday, we made the trip to the U.S. Consulate in Osaka to put in applications for Quincy's birth certificate and social security number.  I'm a bit let down with the U.S. Consulate--I thought we would be greeted with a welcome basket of Grape Nuts and US Weekly--hey, I can hope :).  They did have a T.V. playing a Bulls vs. Celtics basketball game, though, so I guess that was something!
 
Anyways, afterwards we took an alley to get back to the station.  Alleys here are actually little outdoor malls (some shadier than others) behind bigger buildings, and it's our experience that going down these alleys yields really awesome surprises.  We were not disappointed!

 First, we found  a really cool shrine nestled between two skyscrapers.  I really loved this wishing wall:

  Then, we found a little hole-in-the-wall Okonomiyaki restaurant.  I forgot to mention this earlier but the ferry we took to Osaka left at 1 a.m.  We realized this at 11 pm when I re-read the kanji on the ferry website.  So, we were running on literally zero sleep, and the kids got maybe about 4 hours.

  There are 2 styles of Okonomiyaki in Japan: Hiroshima and Osaka.  I love Hiroshima-style, but Osaka-style is good, too.

This is a shrimp okonomiyaki--they place a large shrimp on top for looks--you don't actually eat it whole.

And finally, we found the most awesome pet shop!  It had monkeys, a meerkat, and a crazy groundhog for sale!

This meerkat can be yours for a mere 600,000 yen--that's about $7500!

   After exploring a while, we were literally so dead on our feet, which is sad because Osaka has really cool shopping areas. We explored as much as we could! The kids were thrilled, because they got to ride a ferry, bus, and train in one day!  Our return ferry home got us back at 1:30 a.m., so it was a quick and exhausting trip--but the paperwork is in and Quincy's passport is on its way!

Hospital Food in Japan--a glimpse

    I am obsessed with food, as are most of the people in my immediate family. Take that food obsession and add in a pregnancy and a year in a foreign country and you get an even more food-obsessed person. A person who was not able to indulge in ANY of her cravings while pregnant--cranberry juice, Cafe Rio, salmon burgers with sweet potatoes, chocolate soymilk, etc. etc. Whaaa... So, I held no high hopes for hospital food here, especially after my previous hospital experiences.

    After laboring all night with Cash, I was presented with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread. Wow. With Cosette, we requested a vegetarian menu, so lunch was an entire plate of only: french fries. Just french fries. "Where is the protein? She is bleeding!!" Fox demanded of the head dietician. "Sorry about that, she'll have protein for dinner," he said. Dinner was a green salad with a side of protein: a small cup of slivered almonds.

        After that, I swore I would have all my babies at home just so that I could have hot lentil soup afterwards. You can imagine my suprise when every single one of my hospital meals here in Japan was not only beautiful but super yummy and nutritious (except of course for white bread and rice)! A nurse came in and told me, "You are nursing and recovering, so everything we are giving you has iron and calcium in it." Yes, thank you, finally!! Granted, I still couldn't recognize all of it, but I ate 90% of it, which was awesome.  Here's a glimpse:

Breakfast: salad with grapefruit and boiled eggs, fish with tomatoes, vegetable soup

Lunch: Salad, rolls, tomato soup, honeydew, apricot mousse, fish w/ zucchini stir-fry.  Zucchini and honeydew are very rare here!

Okay, this one I didn't eat much of, but it was presented in a beautiful layered bento. Orange, clear soup, sashimi, shrimp with okra and kabocha, tempura, and a veggie broth of some sort.

Another breakfast: salad, omelette, clam chowder, and mango pudding. The drink on the top is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine that I had with every meal to contract my uterus.  It tasted like echinacea.

   Also, every day at 3 p.m. was tea--the first day, they brought in a dish of vanilla ice cream with fresh peaches. The next day was another apricot mousse. So yummy! With dinner, they also provided a carton of juice and a pastry for a later snack.  It was so fun to actually look forward to my hospital meals and see how beautifully they were presented. I don't think I've ever eaten as many vegetables in such a short period of time.

  The hospital also provided a free facial on one of the days. A nurse watched the baby, while I went down to the "esthe" room for 30 minutes of hot steam and a face massage. Also, each day the hospital would bring a new-mother present: a new nursing pillow, large towels, a bound baby book. It was awesome. Good job, Inoshita Hospital! You are tops in my book :)

Quincy's Birth Story

      Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I told Fox and pretty much everyone that this baby would be born on January 21, 2012 and that my labor would be 3 hours. My last labor was 21 hours, so I spent time visualizing a much shorter birth and a cool birthdate (1-21-12 sounded good to me!). I use hypnosis for all of my births (and teach it, too, through Hypnobabies), and it has always been really effective for me. So, when my doctor told me on January 20th that I had not dilated at all, baby was still high and that it would be a while yet, I was a little surprised! He told me to get some walking in, so that afternoon, I walked around the mall for about an hour. I also finished crocheting a baby blanket and cleaned out the car, which were the two things I told myself had to be done before baby came.

    That night, I started having really high pressure waves (what we call contractions in Hypnobabies) but nothing painful, so I didn't worry much about it. When they started getting longer and closer together, I knew they were the real thing but was unsure of whether or not to go to the hospital yet, since Cosette's birth took so long even after regular pressure waves. After saying a prayer, we knew right away it was time to head to the hospital. Fox drove to pick up our friend Tamara, who would watch the kids, and we headed out to the hospital (a 45 minute drive) at 12:45 a.m. The drive was good--I stayed in hypnosis the whole time.

Quincy at 1 day old. He has a hematoma from being born so quickly, so no cute beanies for a while!

     As soon as we got to the hospital, we got down to business! My pressure waves were coming every 3 minutes. I got into the hospital bed and noticed that there was a big screen with the words "Birth System 2000" or something on it. The screen had relaxing music playing, with images of bottle-nosed dolphins gliding through waves. It was so relaxing that I really didn't need to use hypnosis to stay relaxed. Also, there were about 2 nurses and 2 midwives in the room, instead of my regular doctor. They directed all their questions to Fox, so no one bothered me, which was awesome. We were very blessed in that we didn't have much communication barrier at all, even though we were quite unsure of medical terms in Japanese. They were also very cooperative when we asked to not be hooked up to the IV. I really loved being surrounded by these women who, whenever I would have a pressure wave, would just quietly soothe, "Hai hai hai hai hai" (which basically means "yes yes yes" but here meant "yes, we know what you are going through!")

 

5 days old

    After about an hour, I told Fox to take me to the bathroom, since having a full bladder can slow down labor. He took me, but as soon as I sat on the toilet, I realized that I was going through transition and the pressure waves were coming right on top of each other. After a bit, I stood up and had Fox do the belly lift on me with my next pressure wave. As soon as he did that, my water broke with a huge pop; I felt baby come down, and I was ready to push! This is why Hypnobabies teaches to not do the belly lift unless you are in place to give birth! I made it to the bed, told them we needed to push, and pushed Quincy out in 3 pushes! The Birth System 2000 was hooked up to my contraction monitor and started playing some breathing noises. I also put on my "Pushing Baby Out" CD but pushed Quincy out before it had been playing for 5 minutes. As soon as he was out, the big screen immediately had a big "Congratulations" come across the screen. I got a kick out of that!

  The only snag we came across was when the on-call doctor came in to see if I needed repairs and started tugging on the cord to get my placenta out. He got a bit upset when Fox told him to stop tugging and asked him to wait to cut the cord, which they do immediately here but which we know is not good! The doctor was so mad that he left the room! The midwife came and caught the placenta and then cut the cord. They gave me a piece of it in a wooden box, which is a Japanese custom. I bled a bit, so they gave me an IV, which I have never had before and can honestly say was the most uncomfortable part of the whole birth experience! I think it was a good thing, though, since this is the first birth after which I haven't fainted! They also do not bathe the baby for the first 24 hours, since they don't want to lower baby's body temperature, which I thought was cool.

1 week old!

So--just as I had visualized--Quincy was born on 1-21-12 at 3:20 am, after only 3 hours of labor. Fox has requested that I visualize any future babies to be born during working hours, so he gets out of work :) I had an amazing and really positive birth experience in Japan, thanks to a great doctor and awesome nurses. It is truly a blessing that things worked out so wonderfully!

He Who Has Now Been Named

The Baby is Here:

Born: January 21, 2012 at 3:20 a.m.

3878 grams, 51.5 centimeters (oh hey there, metric system!)

In U.S. terms, 8 1/2 lbs. and 20 1/4 inches

AND NAMED:

Quincy Parker Makoto Ellis

 

Quincy: French, meaning the Fifth, as he is the fifth member of our little family.

Also, Fox was reading Dracula while I was pregnant. Quincey Morris is a character in it-- the only American in a foreign country.

Parker: Fox's paternal grandmother's maiden name

Makoto: Japanese, meaning strong and peace-loving.

We have loved Quincy Parker as a name for a long time, but it just didn't seem right for this boy at first. Finally, as we were filling out the hospital paperwork, we knew it was because he needed a special Japanese name in there, so Fox chose his favorite and used a very old kanji for it.

Everyone is having a ton of fun getting their kisses and cuddles on with this cutie.

Who does he look like?  He blended in really well in the nursery

with all that black hair!

Yes, that is Cash forcing Quincy's fingers into a peace sign. Oy.

We are all doing great!  I had a great birth experience, and the hospital was amazing!

Birth story to follow...

Catching Up!

Okay--I am finally dragging myself away from the kotatsu (where there is no internet reception) to blog about this past month!
  Starting with Cosette's birthday in November, we have a family birthday/holiday or anniversary every few weeks until Cash's birthday at the end of February. The new baby fits right in there with his birthday (hopefully) being in a few weeks. So, winter is a crazy season for us!

First, Cosette's birthday! Cosette's likes and dislikes change from day-to-day, so I didn't plan a cake for her, since she insisted on doughnuts. After she got her doughnuts, she wondered where her cake was, so I got her one slice of cake. Now I know that she always wants a big cake. Maybe in the shape of a doughnut?

And her presents this year were a stuffed snake from the zoo and a Little Pony from her grandparents:

Fox's birthday is in mid-December. He had a migraine for his birthday and had gotten his presents a few weeks earlier during a black Friday sale, so he had a very sad birthday...but there was cake!

The next week, there was a school Christmas party. Here is Cosette as Santa--she was the only one to keep her beard on!

A visit from Santa-san!

Showing the spoils that Santa brought her--socks, fax paper-?, snacks, and some origami paper.

Fox and I celebrated our 9th anniversary on New Year's Eve. We got a babysitter and went to see Mission Impossible 4.  Good times! And then on New Year's, Cash got a haircut. The kids have learned that in Japan, it's not a true picture unless there is the peace sign being shown.

Next up: The littlest guy's birthday! Here I am at 37 weeks and obviously exhausted. No more winter birthdays, I say! On the plus side, my extra body weight is keeping me really warm :)

Thank you to everyone who has sent cards, presents, and boxes with goodies and baby things to us recently. It means more to us than you know. This time of year is the hardest time to be away from family. We miss you and love you all!

Home Life--Japan style

This blog post is alternately titled, "Life without Central Heating", since that seems to determine how life at home is lived in Japan. Life in Japan is a life of opposites--the toilets have remote controls and more buttons than a microwave, but most homes do not have central heating or insulation. In other words, your bottom is going to be warm and toasty but beware when you leave the bathroom! I used to teach in the home of a doctor who had 3 brand-new BMWs but would lug his kerosene heater from room to room, depending on where his girls were doing their homework.
      We have adjusted to life without central heating pretty well. I credit this all to my Dad, who doesn't believe in central heating anyways. Growing up, I can only remember a few times when the heat was turned on--was it on Christmas? So, I learned to enjoy flannel, layering, and sleeping bags. Here's how we do it in Japan:

Kotatsus:

Cash and Coco after bathtime under the kotatsu. Yes, Coco has fake tattoos and is throwing her signs.

Or as I like to call them "dry hot tubs". Basically the best invention ever--a table with a heater underneath that you cover with a blanket to keep the heat in. Most people have either a kotatsu or a hot-carpet, a rug with a heater underneath that you can sit on.  The Ellises are on the kotatsu team all the way!


Family Bath Time: I think this relates to central heating, because we all want to limit the exposure of wet skin to a non-heated, paper-walled home in the winter. We've adopted the Japanese way of bathing: scrubbing up in the shower and then soaking your scrubbed-clean body in the deep, deep tub full of super-hot water, which is shared by the family. Yep, we all pile in the shower together as a family (our shower is in the school, and it's kind of creepy down there at night!) but Fox and I don't usually bathe with the kids, since we're too big.  We would if we all fit, though.  Sorry, no pictures!

Family Bedroom: Someone once told us that being in Japan is good for your family, since you have to learn to stay in one room at a time, winter or summer.  Very true!  The first time we lived here, Fox and I were crazy sleep-training-obsessed parents and let baby Cash have the bedroom with the heater in it while we slept on unpadded futons in the next room, in front of a bright halogen lamp. For 3 months. Wow.  This time, we all get much better sleep and stay way warmer in the same room.  The kids are on the floor on futons with extra blankets.  We're in our bed. Everyone gets much more sleep and stays warm.  Sounds crazy even to me, but it totally works.

Layering: Japan is the land of layering!  They are all about wool socks on top of leggings on top of "warm-heat underclothes".  All the kids put on their fleece-lined "inside shoes" in the colder months. Japanese layering clothes are big business, and everyone layers!

So that's a slice of home life in Japan--a lot of closeness!


P.S. If you've read this far, here is my 7 month pregnancy pic.  7 more weeks!

Some stuff

I wrote a little (okay, a lot) about being LDS in Japan here for my friend Heather's awesome blog Women in the Scriptures.

Fox is taking his Japanese driver's test tomorrow (our Wednesday).  The test is notoriously hard, and he failed the first time he took it a few weeks ago.  Please pray for him!  I take mine in a few weeks--yikes!

Our branch had a Thanksgiving potluck on Sunday. There was turkey and cranberry sauce! I made Larissa's chocolate truffle pie (amaaazing) and pumpkin cheesecake bars from a very rare find of canned pumpkin in the import store! The lunch was awesome.

And I did take Halloween pictures but not many. Here is one from our school's Halloween party (Fox and I were working the cameras). The man on the right is our boss and our friend Janelle on the left is the other teacher.  The other ladies are the sweet school nurses.  Hiroko, the one in the back, also teaches Cash's hiragana class and can often be found jump roping across the playground, even though she is almost 60. She is awesome.

So there is some recent stuff. My mind is all over the place lately, but I'll try to put up more recent pictures soon!