So, after dropping off the face of the internet for several months, I make my (triumphant?) return. The reason for my absence? Pregnancy!
Or, to be more specific, morning sickness.
Morning Sickness is the Bane of my Existence
Everyone’s experience with pregnancy is going to be different; I am one of the not-so-lucky who gets pretty debilitating morning sickness for a decent portion of the pregnancy. It’s not as bad as some – I haven’t had to be hospitalized, though I have had days that were spent primarily hovering over the toilet. Not pleasant, as you can imagine.
One of the odd quirks of the morning sickness is that looking at computer screens seems to worsen it. Apparently, this is not uncommon – but it renders me incapable of working for at least a couple of months since pretty much all the work I do now is online or on the computer. (A reality I’ve shared with quite a few folks lately.)
I wish I could say it was a relaxing break, but alas! Morning sickness is awful. I am hungry all the time and yet unable to keep most things down. The smell of everything sickens me. I am so glad to be past the worst part of my morning sickness, I have to stop myself from gorging needlessly.
Pretty much the only thing that kept me going during the worst of it was (A) my kids, (B) my wonderfully supportive husband and in-laws, and (C) reassurances from the doctor that despite how awful I was feeling, the baby was doing fine and growing normally.
Totally Going to Give Birth in Japan, by the way
As with my previous three pregnancies, my plan is to give birth in Japan. The first time around, I gave birth at a ladies’ clinic, but from my second onwards I’ve had all my prenatal care and labor at a hospital.
Ladies’ clinics are definitely the popular option for most people. They’re a bit more expensive, but since the government pays out most if not all of the maternity costs, a lot of people will go for the extra comfort and privacy afforded by a ladies’ clinic.
For people with a more high-risk pregnancy or who simply want the cheaper option, you’re better off going to a hospital.
I’ve been fortunate enough that my pregnancies thus far have been very normal; the only bump we’ve had was with my second, who had meconium aspiration syndrome at birth – which, despite its big fancy words, is a pretty minor and very temporary issue. He did have to stay in the NICU for a few days, but he made a swift recovery.
Still, that was enough to make me decide to keep going to the hospital rather than return to a clinic for future pregnancies.
How Japanese Clinics and Hospitals Handle Morning Sickness
I’m going to have to make a whole other (or several other) posts going into more detail about maternity care in Japan because I have a lot to say, both about the good and bad.
In terms of morning sickness, there’s really not much that can be said – you suffer through it, but if you can’t keep anything down in a 24 hour period, you can get an IV full of nutrients to help keep you going. As mentioned before, I haven’t had to do it myself, but I know a couple of women who have.
I typically lose some weight – usually about 10-15 pounds – during morning sickness… which I swiftly gain right back once morning sickness is over. It’s just another part of pregnancy, though, and at the very least it’s only temporary.
Comments
Next time I read a blog, I hope that it does not fail me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, however I really thought you would have something useful to talk about. All I hear is a bunch of complaining about something you could possibly fix if you werent too busy searching for attention.
Author
I appreciate the feedback. Indeed, a post about “Strategies on Managing Morning Sickness” would have been far more useful.