Ninja Mom

Well, it has been a busy busy day for me! Since feeding time will be coming soon and I want to catch some Zs before then, let me get to it. 

-I was feeling well enough to eat breakfast with the other moms in the lounge this morning. Thankfully they were more talkative than last time. I got a lot of insights about their process of choosing a name (goods for a later post) and they asked a lot of questions about America and hospitals there. Anyhow, as we were all leaving to collect our babies, one mom came to me to let me know she speaks a little Spanish. She is part of a group interested in learning foreign languages with their kids and asked me if I would come and participate sometime and if maybe we could even share about our countries (V and I) with the group. So, awesome new momma friend and probably it will be a few months before that comes to pass but what a great opportunity !

-Today I had meetings galore with staff members. 

• A Momma Check to make sure I’m healthy and ready to go home
• A long discussion with one staff member about vaccinations* and the process, where different ones are done, next appointments for the baby and how to schedule them. I have lots of paperwork about that all and she even did research to find me the some of the same files in English! How kind!
• A meeting with the midwife to discuss how to take care of myself and the baby, when to be concerned about things, when to call the doctor, things to watch out for. 
• A meeting with the… pharmacist? To discuss medication, if I requested any prescriptions, what to tell any other doctors I visit, etc etc. 

So I’m a bit Japanesed out today. 

-I got a rubella vaccination- something mentioned many times over the course of prenatal care since it seems I didn’t have the antibodies for it or that they were low or something. So the conclusion was finally understood that today we’d be taking care of that. 

-I learned how to bathe my baby. Well- the nurse knew that I have a kid and so she didn’t really show as go through the motions with me. They do it with all moms, so it had to be checked off the list. It’s been a while, so it was a nice refresher course on how to wash a slippery little human being. 

-Guests popped in and out for visits. 

-I got paperwork and surveys filled out in Japanese. The staff helped answer the paperwork that will be turned into the government– some questions I wasn’t sure how to answer.

And I think that’s my day. Besides time with family and of course my newest daughter and later tonight packing everything up for our “tai-een” (check out) tomorrow. 

Overall, it’s been a great stay, despite the problems. I’ve learned a lot and received a lot of care and help. While I will miss having nurses that I can call at all hours of the day to request a specific amount of formula, warm and ready to go, I’m ready to go too. 

So, yes! Thus has been my Japanese hospital experience, I give the clinic here an A+ in every area from medical care to baby training to facilities to hospitality to bedside manner to everything. To any foreign woman in the general vicinity who may have found this post, I give this place two thumbs up- please use this clinic! 

And to the rest of you, I’ll catch you on the other side of the hospital doors!