present

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20w heart shot

it’s about time for my eggs to get back in business.

i nursed elijah for full two and a half years. i thought i completely turned into a mother, but i was still a woman after all.

at the beginning of december, i got a severe stomach flu thanks to elijah (he’s full of germs, this child). one bright side of this stomach flu is that it lasts only a couple of days.  but long after i expected to get better, i was still feeling nauseated and had no appetite. my first instinct was “am i pregnant?”, but you don’t want to put your hopes up too high just in case the result is otherwise.

the nausea continued for the next two weeks and i couldn’t eat a thing.  i decided to get a pregnancy test and check. i bought it secretly and i didn’t tell paul that i was checking, in case the result was disappointingly negative.

11 weeks
(11w ultrasound)

a morning of 23rd, i got up early and took the pregnancy test to the bathroom.  the result was ready in one minute, but i couldn’t make myself look for about five minutes.  i must admit that i tried to get a glimpse at it with my peripheral vision.  i was talking myself into believing the worst case scenario so that i wouldn’t feel as disappointed as if i imagined the best.

finally i made up my mind and looked at it.  POSITIVE!

i dashed into our bedroom where paul was still sleeping. i told him that i was pregnant. he gave me the biggest hugs and kisses.   it was the best christmas gift ever.

20w
(20w pregnant)

that was already three months ago. i’m 21w pregnant this week. i started to feel the baby moving early — around 15w. the baby is very active. when we went for an ultrasound at 12w, the baby was rolling around and i couldn’t stop laughing with happiness. as i laughed, it was bouncing around as if my womb was a trampoline. i kept laughing until the radiologist jokingly settled me down.

12 weeks
(12w ultrasound)

at first, i thought about naming this baby, “peko chan” since i was very hungry! (‘peko peko’ is a sound to describe ‘hungry’ in japanese)  “poko chan” was elijah’s nickname when he was in my womb. “peko chan” and “poko chan” would be perfect, i thought. but the name was strongly rejected by elijah saying 『ちがうよ、ママ。ベービーちゃんでしょ!(no, mama. it’s baby-chan!)』

so, i’ve been saying “baby-chan” ever since.

elijah talks to baby-chan every day through my belly button.

『ベービーちゃん、今な〜にしてるの?』(baby-chan, what are you doing?)
『ベービーちゃん、ヨーグルトあげますからね〜』(baby-chan, i’ll give you yogurt.)
『ベービーちゃん、はやくでてきて、おにいちゃんと遊ぼうね〜』(baby-chan, come out soon and play with your brother.)

elijah tells me he’s pregnant too. he gives birth every day. he’s been pregnant with many things — baby, alligator, digger, panda, etc… if i accidentally bump into his belly, he says,『おなか、さわらないでね。ベービーちゃんいるからね。(don’t touch my belly, will you? there is a baby inside.)』

cherry mustache man
(2 and 7 months old cherry mustache man)

my happy second pregnant life continues…

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 panda backpack

this is one of the christmas presents i made for elijah.  it’s a panda backpack.  elijah really likes the pandas we’ve bought him.  he has three panda cuddly toys from ikea.  he really looks up to them, he’ll follow whatever they’re doing.  when his panda sits down on a chair without making a fuss, so does elijah.  when his panda eats quietly takes a few bites of supper, so does elijah.  so pandas are very helpful for elijah’s mama.

happy elijah with happy panda

 

elijah is happy when his pandas are happy.

sad elijah with sad panda

and he feels sad when they are sad.

i don’t know if he can really use this as a backpack, since it’s made out of felt.  but that’s okay, it’s just another useless toy from his mama.

panda backpack (back)
(back)

panda backpack (abdominal incision)
(abdominal incision/zipper)

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dear elijah,

your mama is still horrified by the idea of putting her hand into a beheaded and skinned dead bird. so there will be no turkey dinner for you this year.

as a compromise, your mama asked santa to give her a super power to make ‘maximum team power duck headgear’ free hand. she had been thinking about how to make this headgear since you were still in her body. in her mind, ‘beheaded’ and ‘bird’ parts are all covered. so it’s basically the same thing.

i hope this headgear will keep your head warm all winter and you find it somewhat festive. it’s a festivus for the rest of us.

best wishes,

yuka-mama

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