Go with the flow and learn to be patient.

So here’s what is happening this last week and a half.
ここ1週間半の出来事を箇条書きにしてみた。
励ましのコメント受け付けます…笑。
It would be nice if you could leave me nice encouraging comments…

１．アーロンの手術自体はうまくいきました、でも術後の経過が思わしくない。ドクターは当初、1週間もすれば大丈夫でしょう、みたいなこと言ってたのですよ。体が思うように動かず、二人で参加するのを楽しみにしていた出産準備クラスみたいなのを結局ママと一緒に行くことに…。　ちょっと悲しい。
Aaron had an out patient surgery to take a fatty cyst out of his left back under his shoulder blade. The surgery itself went well but it wasn’t healing well. The cyst was bigger than the doctor expected and the hole in his back was very deep. Originally we were told that Aaron would be able to go back to work the following week but he hasn’t been able to do pretty much anything since Aug 7. I was sad that he had to miss our first childbirth class. Aaron’s mom went with me instead.


2．　術後、ガーゼの取替えを枕に綿を詰めるようにやれ、と指示を受ける。
ママにやってもらっていたが、ママはシカゴに一週間自分の妹(ウツを患っている)を訪ねるためにいなくなってしまうため、私が結局やることに…。　ママが行っちゃうまでにはよくなることを願っていたがそれも叶わず。
A few days after surgery, Aaron was in pain and the wound was swelling. I took him to the hospital and they opened his wound and had to suck the nasty fluid out. Then they told us to that they would leave it open so that mom and I could stuff gauze into the hole to suck the fluid. First it was just too much for me and I couldn’t do it. I even got sick just looking at the hole, so mom did most of the stuffing. But mom had to leave for Chicago for a week so I had to learn to do it. I was hoping that it would get better by the time she leaves so that I wouldn’t have to do it but it didn’t happen.


３．ちーちゃんが2週間オクラホマをベースにアメリカ滞在する間に、こちらに来てウェディングドレスショッピングをする、ということでスプリングフィールドに先週水曜日に来た。一緒にショッピングにお供できることをとても光栄に思ってワクワク。My Christian friend, Chisato visited me during her two-week stay in OK from Japan. This was totally a good thing to me and I was looking forward to seeing her because she was coming her for her wedding dress shopping. She came on Wednesday evening. I was just honored that I could tag along to her for this big event.

４．ちーちゃんを連れて木曜日にBransonのアウトレットでお買い物。その帰りに大雨の中、後ろからおバカな男の子に車を追突される羽目になる。軽いショック状態になりながらも、二人で深呼吸して気を落ち着かせる。早産したらどうしようかと思ったよ。　車10台くらいを巻き込んだ事故の中、幸いにも私達は傷一つなく帰る。　車は要修理だけど…。　その夜、心配する家族に連れられERで赤ちゃんの無事を確認。
On Thursday, we went shopping in Branson. We went the Landing, the newest outlet mall and shopped some and had lunch. Then we went to Tanger for more shopping in the afternoon. On the way home, it started raining very hard and we were slowing down on the downhill. The car in front of us slowed down even more because there was three-car accident that looked like just happened. I slowed down more. Then this young guy that didn’t know how to slow down in the down pouring rain on the hill came right behind us. I saw him coming on my rear view mirror and then he hit us. He tried to miss us but couldn’t and clipped the back of my car and crushed into a truck that was already hit by the first accident we saw. I saw some more accidents behind us and it just a huge mess!

Chisato and I didn’t know what just happened and as we started to clear our mind, I don’t know about Chisato but I went into shock. My heart was beating fast and I was breathing fast. I had to calm myself or I thought my baby would come out. Three or four ambulances came and lots of police came. Police took all the information and medical people checked us. Aaron’s dad left the office as soon as he heard about the accident from Aaron and came to see me. Luckily we were one of a few cars that were drivable, so we got to drive home. Then everyone dragged me to ER to check how baby was doing. We were glad to find out that my baby was ok.

５．金曜日、今日は朝からドレスショッピングに気合が入る。で、私のアコードちゃんが乗れないので、パイロット君で出発～と思いきやバッテリーが上がっててガススタンドで死ぬ。　朝からディーラーに行ってバッテリーを入れてもらうことになり、時間は過ぎていく…。　でも無事にちーちゃんは素敵なドレスを見つけることができ、安堵…。ちーちゃん、とってもきれいでした。
On Friday, we were planning to go wedding dress shopping. We left the house as soon as we could. Since my Accord needs repair, we took Aaron’s Pilot. We got gas and tried to start him and he wouldn’t start!! Looked like the problem was battery. We then had to go to Honda to get new battery put. By this time I was just so down because everything seemed went wrong. I felt so bad for Chisato because she had now less time to shop. We looked several stores but she found THE DRESS at a local wedding dress shop in town. She was so beautiful and we both knew that this was it! It was way over her budget but she decided to get it. I hope you have chance to see her dress.

６．その夜、ちーちゃん、アーロンと食事をし家に帰る。　土曜日にちーちゃんをオクラホマまで送ることになっていたので、早く寝ようと9時半頃にアーロンのガーゼを取り替える。　異常に痛がるアーロンに、抜いたガーゼを見ると膿のようなものがついているので、化膿してるかもしれないということで急遽今度はアーロンがERに行く羽目になる。　私は次の日往復9時間強の運転が待ってるので、休むように言われアーロンはパパに連れられてERへ。　朝まで電話してこなかったけど、やはり化膿してるってことで彼は点滴をして夜をERで過ごす。
私は次の日の朝まで彼が一晩中ERにいたことを知らずにいた。
Friday night, since I had to go take Chisato back to OKC, we were planning to go to bed pretty early. Around 9:30 I was changing Aaron’s bandage. He was screaming in pain and we looked at the gauze that just pulled out from his hole and there was yellow nasty stuff. We were worried whether it got infected, so this time Aaron had to go to ER. I had to sleep because no matter what I had to take Chisato home on Saturday, so Aaron’s dad came to take him to ER. It was the next morning that I found out that they spent all night in ER getting his wound tested and putting IV.

７．アーロンをおいて、私はちーちゃんを送りにオクラホマへ。　1人では帰り何かあったら大変ということで、グロリアおばちゃんが同行してくれることになる。無事にちーちゃんをOKCへ送り、やはりお腹が張ってしまうので帰りはほとんどグロリアに運転してもらう。　無事に帰宅し、またアーロンのお世話。本当はもっとちーちゃんと時間を過ごせるはずだったのに、なんだかかんだで一日早く彼女を送っていかなくてはならず、歯がゆさでいっぱい…。気を使わせてしまって申し訳ない思いです。ごめんね、ちーちゃん。
On Saturday, I left Aaron home and took Chisato back to OKC. Everyone was worried about me and my baby, so Aunt Gloria kindly volunteered to go with us. On the way back to Springfield, since I was exhausted and feeling my tummy getting tense, Gloria did most of the driving and I got to rest with my feet up. Chisato was supposed to be with us till Sunday if Aaron was better by then and we were going to take her on Sunday afternoon, but Aaron didn’t get better like the doctor expected and I had to find somebody that would go with me to OKC, we had to take her back a day early. Nothing has been going smoothly lately and I’m just so stressed and tired. I felt so bad for Chisato to be with us during this time. I’m glad at least she found her dress.

日曜日は、教会に行く気力もなく…笑。
On Sunday I was dead.

明日の血液検査で、アーロンの白血球の数が増えていれば、炎症がまだあるということで今度は入院になるかも…。強い薬でヘロヘロなアーロン君ですが、ぽっかりあいた背中の穴のお世話の度に痛みで叫ばれると、こっちは心が痛くて泣きたくなります。てか泣きながら傷の手当てしてます。　やらなくちゃいけないことだったし、こんなに経過が悪いのもまったく予想できず、交通事故やら何やらであまりにも自分たちのコントロールの域を超える出来事の連続で、ストレス溜まりまくりだけど、試練ってのはこういうものなのか…と1人考えながら神様に祈る毎日であります。　
There is a possibility that Aaron may be put into hospital depending on how the medicine works. Every time I change his bandage, he screams in pain and that just makes cry. We knew that we had to have this done before our baby comes. With Aaron’s unexpected slow and bad recovery, my accident and other little things, it seems like everything is far out of our control and we are so stressed. I know it’s going to get better. I have hope but I just had to write it to make myself feel better.

After the surgery　手術後

After the Infection　I have to stuff gauze into this hole...

　化膿してから開いたキズ（ここにガーゼを私がつめます)

My Accord　私のアコードちゃん

This car clipped us and crashed into a truck.

この車が私達にぶつかり、その後トラックに追突しました。

Chisato trying some dresses. This is not the dress she chose. You can ask her ( if you know her) to show you her perfect DRESS.

ちーちゃんが試着したドレスのうちの一つ。　実際に買ったドレスではないです。

New Addition to my collection

I love Vera Bradley bags. They are both from Aaron's mom. The purse on the left is for my birthday and the one on the right is my diaper bag:) Can't wait to use it!

アメリカのキルトバッグメーカーのベラ・ブラッドリーが好きな私。　誕生日に左側のかばん、見側のダイバーバッグをママからもらいました。　ダイパーバッグ使うの楽しみ！

私のヴェラコレクション

My collection

I'm now week 28. I went to hospital to have glucose test. That orange soda that I had to drink, it was so sweet but I liked it. It was like Fanta Orange Soda which I used to love when I was a kid. I haven't heard from them so far, so maybe I passed the test... I also saw my doctor before the glucose test and he said I'm doing well. I gained 4 Ib so far and looks like my tummy is the only part growing. My face looks a little smaller. I hope my baby will keep sucking off my fat...hahaha.

２８週目に入りました。　妊娠後期の始まりです。　血糖値の検査をしに行きました。　砂糖が５０グラム入ったオレンジ味のソーダを一気飲みして１時間待ち、血液を採取。　異常があれば連絡するとのことで、まだ連絡はありましぇん。　ないといいな。　ファンタオレンジみたいでおいしかった…。　検査の前にドクターとのチェックアップがあったけど、特に以上もなく赤ちゃんも順調ぽかったのでよかった。　体重はまだ２キロ増で抑えてあります。　このまま健康に、赤ちゃんに脂肪を吸い取ってもらって出産できるといいな…笑。

It's been 1 year and 4 months since I got a hair cut...

I finally got a hair cut! It's been more than a year since I did something done to my hair and I was still in Japan. It's just scary to try new hair salon in a foreign country, you know.

Well, my hair was getting too long and unmanageable, and I knew I had to do something about it before our baby comes. My hair would be in the way whenever I try to take care of my baby and that's just going to be another hussle.



So, I did it. It didn't turn out like I wanted but it's ok. Now it's so easy to wash, dry and style:)

Week 26

あるクリスチャンからの言葉 Message from a Christian friend

マイミクのクリスチャンおばさんがこんなことを日記に書いていました。

クリスチャンとしての在り方

クリスチャンである事を隠したりせず誇りに思っていますか。。。。。 私たちには、この世のブランドよりもっと素晴らしい名前があります。それは「クリスチャン」です。 しかしこの名前はこの世の他のブランドに比べあまり信頼されていません。 クリスチャン達は神の目には選ばれた民であり、聖なる民、神の所有とされた民であるにもかかわらずこの世の人々はそんな存在とは思っていません。 其れはクリスチャン達がその名に相応しい生活が伴わないからです。 私たちに与えられた素晴らしい名に泥を塗る結果となっていないで しょうか？・・・・・ クリスチャンと言う名、自体が誰からみても信頼の対象になるような、 生活の中で主に喜ばれるようになりたいです。。。。。 クリスチャンとして私達を見ている人々がいることを忘れないで キリストの中で新たな存在感が持てるように祈っていきたいです。

My Mixi Friend was writing this on her page.

Living as a Christian

Are you proud of yourself as Christian without hiding your faith in this world?
We have a name (or an identity) on ourselves that is far better than having worldly brand name, which is being a Christian.
However this name is probably not so trusted or respected in this world. To God’s eyes, we are the chosen ones, and holy because of the death of His Son, Jesus. But non-believers don’t really care if you are such people. They don’t care maybe because the Christians they have seen or met are not showing to them that they are living by faith and act on God’s teaching. They may even think that we are just a bunch of hypocrites. As a result, we aren’t being the light of the world and the salt of the earth to the people who don’t know God.

We want to show people that we carry the same cross as once Jesus did to save us. Living like Christ is what God wants us to do and people will see God through us making action on faith.
Don’t forget that there are people watching you as Christians, so let’s be responsible with what to do in daily life. I pray that we will be different in the way of how God wants us to be.

July 4th Weekend

Last weekend of June, we were invited to one of our elder's house for BBQ.

うちの教会の牧師トニーの家で花火。毎週木曜日はトニーの家で聖書クラスがあります。独立記念日の前日ということでみんなで手持ち花火しました。　

We have Bible study at our preacher's house every Thursday and since it was the day before the Independence Day, we did some fireworks afterwards.

BBQ at Grandpa's

My favorite dessert is Grandma's Blackberry Cabbler:) She makes one every time I come.

Week 23, 23週目

I finaly bought some maternity clothes...


ついにマタニティ服買いました。　

This is called "Tokochan Belt" and is the savior of many pregnant women in Japan who have pain in their back or pelvic area. You can use this through out the pregnancy and after to help get back in shape. It is supposed to help support your pelvic bone. My friend was using this and she loved it, so I ordered one and my parents sent it to me with other wonderful Japanese stuff. I also bought a different kind of belt that goes with this belt to support my growing belly. It makes great difference! My left hip started hurting whenever I go walking. Once I wore this belt, the pain was gone. This does works! This belt is also for men who have lower backache and Aaron tried it and he loved it, too. This is absolutely the greatest invention of Japan!

日本人で骨盤矯正に興味があったり、妊娠、出産を経験した人なら一度は聞いたことがあるかもしれない、このトコちゃんベルト。　私も親の住所でオーダーし、他のものと一緒にこちらに送ってもらいました。　使い心地はサイコーです。　左のお尻の骨が歩くと痛かったんだけど、このベルトをすると痛まない！！　しっかり骨盤をサポートしてもらっている感じで、最初はきつかったけど今は快感です。　アメリカで同じようなものを探したけどなかったもんね。　やっぱこういう細かいケア商品は日本の物が一番ですわ～。　

Fly, My Baby, Fly!!

Cardinal

我が家の庭はとっても日本サイズ。小さいお庭に、大きな木が立っててウッドデッキに日中暑い時は木陰を作ってくれます。　そんな小さなお庭に、よく一羽のカーディナルが来ます。　オスのカーディナルは真っ赤な体をしてて、目の周りが黒いのでサングラスをかけてるように見えます。
We have a tiny back yard (we call it Japanese size yard). We have a big tree there and it makes nice shade on our deck during the day. We see a male cardinal almost everyday comes around and play in our yard. Since most of the birds I used to see in Japan are just ordinary sparrows, being able to see many kinds of colorful birds made me happy. Cardinals are my favorite. Male cardinals have bright red body and around eyes are black, so looks like they wear sunglasses. 　

動物の種類によっては、オスの方がメスより鮮やかで美しい体をしてたりするよね。　カーディナルもオスのほうがとってもきれい。　メスははっきりしないオレンジ色っぽいくちばしに、茶色っぽい体なんです。 さて、我が家にやってくるこのカーディナル君。　いっつも一羽でいるので、シングルだと思ってました。　でも昨日は違った。なんと彼はパパでした。　ママカーディナルが木から下りてきたと思ったら、なんと赤ちゃんも落ちるように、木から下りてきてパパとママでこの子に飛ぶことを教えてたの。

Well, this cardinal always comes alone. We thought he was single but the other day, we found out that he was a dad. He came down from the tree and then, a girl cardinal came down, and then a baby cardinal came down like it was falling:) They were trying to teach baby cardinal to fly in our small yard.

この子の練習には、うちの狭い庭がもってこいだったらしく、ウッドデッキの手すりから庭の柵まで飛んだり、行ったり来たりしてました。　赤ちゃんも一生懸命飛ぶんだけど、まだ上手にできず柵の上にたどり着けず、地面にボタッと落ちちゃったりして…。　その様子を、ロビン(お腹がオレンジ色の鳥)やリスがじっと見てました。

I think our yard was the perfect place for them to teach baby cardinal to fly. There is a big tree to have nest, and nice distance between the deck and the fence to fly back and forth. The baby cardinal tried so hard to fly with his mom and dad, but he got tired and sometimes just fell on the ground. It was just sweet for the mom and dad cardinal to fly around the baby to cheer him up. A robin and a squirrel were watching them practice on the fence.

今までパパしか見た事なかったのは、きっとママと赤ちゃんは木の上の巣にいて、パパがエサを取りに行ってたからなのかなって思いました。　 早く親子で自由に飛び回る姿が見たいです。　 小さなことからなんだか心が温かくなった日曜日でした.

I guess the reason we saw only dad cardinal was because he was out finding food for the baby while mom cardinal took care of the baby. I’m looking forward to seeing them fly all together.