Vaccinations And Whatnot

Sumo K at four months. Bust those buttons!

...and another four months passed with no posts...

BUT, K is starting to sleep on her own, and I'm working on her napping on her own, too, so that should free up some time. Right? Right? Please tell me free time becomes more attainable.

Yikes, yikes and yikes

Anyway, when I left off, K was due for some immunizations. Ouch. The HIB was pretty standard and didn't faze me at all. K took it pretty well, too. The BCG on the other hand, well, that thing is terrifying. Imagine one of those prickly brushes they have to comb sheep wool. Imagine it shrunk down to about the size of a fat marker, and round. Then imagine someone pressing it, using all her body weight, into a baby's upper arm. Twice. Then some vaccine is rubbed on and you wait until it air dries. THAT is a Japanese BCG vaccine. Scary stuff. I did my best to remain calm in the face of it, as I have read that mummy's reaction affects baby, and I think I did a pretty good job. K didn't actually cry too much. And it really does look fine after a few days. Just a few days. After that, it swells and goes all red and looks terribly infected. Not having ever been exposed to such barbarity (I know, it's not really barbarity, but it was horrid nonetheless), I didn't know what to expect and was pretty sure K was going to keel over due to a terrible infection. I explained as much to our doctor during a visit, and much to my relief, was told all that swelling was normal. Yikes! The doctor was right, and now K just has the normal scarring. Still red. Still sad-looking. But no longer threatening. They marks will fade to white, and will remain, as a friend said, as a reminder that she's protected. How nice. The upside is that the mark is still a good sight better than those old polio scars. At least K's marks have character.

Next up was her 6/7-month visit. Not being able to read the information that came, K ended up on the 7-month side of things. It was a bit of a debacle, too, as I didn't realize that I had to fill out a form and bring it with me in order to have it be free. So, we paid the ¥5000 or so yen, and after H found the forms, headed back to get a refund. I will be prepared for the 9/10-month visit (which is coming up - ato yuma! (time flies)).

The fam in Kamakura.

In the meantime, I have joined a mamma's group. While sitting in the park one sunny March day, K stared down a Western woman and her two sons (aged 3 and 3 months). Oh, K. She loves to stare at people until they acknowledge her, at which point she usually gives a great big smile. This time, as usual, it worked, and the woman, M, came over. I cannot even begin to explain how nice it was to have a chat, even a little one, with another Western mother. Please don't think I'm narrow-minded or anything, but it is nice to chat with someone who grew up with the same ideas of safety and whatnot. It reminds you that you're not insane for thinking all babies/children should be in car seats, and children should wear bicycle helmets - and wear them properly (Yeah! Children not in car seats! "Newborns are too small to ride in car seats. It's dangerous... The straps are far too tight - loosen them so that K can wriggle around... Bike helmet? She'll look ridiculous and all the kids will laugh at her...) H is not the only Japanese person to feel this way - it's virtually everyone!!! Gah! So yes, it was nice to meet someone who felt the same way.

Becky/ベッキー♪♯

M invited me to join the mamma's group. So far, I've been out... twice I think. I wish I could make it out more often, as all of the women and kids are wonderful, however, between work and weather, it can't always be done. Such is life. One thing that surprised me (and made me realize that I am somewhat stuck in "half" stereotyping...) was that all of the babies are fairer than K. I thought K looked pretty Western, but wow, blond/blonde hair galore! Of course, K's hair seems to be lightening: it's coming in red and blonde. So perhaps she will end up just as fair. Only time will tell. And I learned my lesson: not all "halfs" (I think I will call K a double-double, or a half-and-half - both good Canadian-based expressions) are like Becky.

Oh, How Things Change...

My, it has been a while. I didn't mean to let things go this long, but between laziness and a new baby, things are just not getting done.

My last entries were on the earthquake, almost a year ago. Time flies. Japan has been moving on as best it can. Over the New Year holidays, there were lots of programmes on progress that has been made up north, as well as stories about individuals and families and how they are faring. Lots of video clips as well. It's strange to think that that actually happened; living in Tokyo, we just don't see reminders very often. When we do, for me at least, it's very surreal. But, we cannot dwell on it forever, and so neither will I in my blog.

Sitting on my lap right now (because every time I put her down, she starts to cry) is my little angel/pork chop/sweet pea/call-her-what-you-will K. K turned four months just the other day. For her four-month check up, I had to take her down to the local health centre where all the other babies born in September, along with their mummies, were waiting to see the doctors. We got a lecture on the introduction of solids and even got a plate of samples (vegetable soup, rice cereal ("okayu"), mashed potatoes, carrots and spinach). Surprisingly delicious. From there, we were visited in small groups by library volunteers (and even given a little board book), and then called in to see a doctor. Let me tell you, a room full of little nearly naked babies is a pretty adorable sight.

Next up are K's immunizations. The paperwork that came to explain how they're given was mind-boggling, especially for me, since my ability to read kanji (Chinese characters used in Japanese) is pretty pathetic. Even H had trouble figuring all of the information out. In the end, we had hospital staff explain it to us. So, coming up this month is K's HIB vaccine ("heebu uwakucheen" is how it sounds in Japanese - confusing!) followed by her BCG next month. The BCG given here is different from back home. Kids end up with a mark on their arm like someone pressed a piece of Lego against them until it left red spots. The spots then fade to white and then disappear (or so I'm told). Anywho, thanks to K spending five days in the hospital for an unknown infection in November, resulting in numerous needles (three to her spine - ouch!) and other unpleasantness, she'll be all over this immunization business. Not that she remembers at all, but still.


Anywho, immunizations are only one of the many parts of pregnancy, childbirth, child rearing, etc., that are different from back home. I'll try to make a few more entries about the joys of doing things in a different culture over the next while - if K ever lets me put her down...