Half finished project (with photos)!

Wow I'm back from Australia and it's nearly June - this year is just flying by. I haven't been posting much lately and I'm not sure why but I've been working on a big project and that might have something to do with it. It's half-finished now so I can share some photos...

BTW, it's not really knitting related....although the knits will be following

Project Dudley (that's what we have been calling the embryo/fetus/baby, although I'm pretty sure we won't be sticking with this name)

Yep I'm pregnant. I can hardly believe it - 20 weeks later! We conceived the baby accidentally on purpose if you know what I mean. I ran out of the pill and one thing leads to another so to speak. So the last four and a half months of my life have involved the following:

book reading (thanks Angie!) although it has been quite limited. I totally overloaded on pregnancy-related information on the internet during the 1st trimester and that was my biggest mistake. I had a hard time emotionally and had convinced myself something terrible was going to happen. There are LOTS of sad stories on the internet. My morning sickness was not too bad. I constantly felt nauseous and dizzy but never threw up. I was tired a lot and burst into tears a number of times for no reason at traffic lights. My morning sickness finally abated at about 14/15 weeks and I felt like a new person. So much renewed energy. I could go finally go shopping. Although not for baby goods, I was still too superstitious.

Another pregnant lady at work gave me this badge. It's not the official Tokyo Metro one, but one that is given out by our health insurance company. I wear it on my bag to work. At 15 weeks people started standing up for me on the train. I find that older people are much more aware of my 'condition' and are more than eager to give up their seats even though I'm not about to take the seats of people who need to sit down more than me. Young people are the worst especially young working men - they always pretend to be asleep and wouldn't think about giving up their seat.

Here is my mother and baby book that is given out by the city where you live in Japan. I felt like a real pregnant person with a valid pregnancy once I got my book. You can collect one from the city hall once they confirm your baby's heartbeat. They had an english version but the Japanese version was much cuter so I opted for the Japanese one.

And here are just a few of the EIGHT ultrasounds I've had during the first half of my pregnancy. My pregnancy has been pretty textbook so far, but the Japanese love to give you ultrasounds. Since I haven't been pregnant before I just followed their advice, but next time I don't think I would have this many. It made me worry more sometimes. Especially in the early, early stages.

So that's my big news. Unfortunately after I got pregnant I didn't want to do anything at all, especially knitting so it has fallen by the wayside. I have a couple of projects in mind though so hopefully my knitting mojo will be on the road to recovery soon. Congrats to all the other expectant crafty ladies out there!! I know of a couple of others but they haven't made their blog announcements yet so I'll keep mum. And a big congrats to Erin and JD who just welcomed their bundle of joy - Flynn into the world.

We'll be having the baby in Tokyo, so that'll be an experience in itself. I'm worried of course - mainly about the cultural differences. My doctor has already kind of 'shown great surprise' at the size of my belly compared with Japanese women, but that's the least of my worries.

Oh and you want to see a belly shot. Do you think I look big for 20 weeks? I think I look thick - ha! I like how my butt has grown in equal proportions to my belly (in sympathy perhaps??).

Comments

[たえこ]

ワオ！おめでとう！

[Anne]

Congratulations to you and your man! I just bought a birth present for a friend of mine at Petit Bateau (www.petit-bateau.co.jp)- they have really cute clothes for babys (but I guess there are enough nice Japanese baby shops too :)!
Omedetou!!!

[myra]

Yah!! The pics of baby Dudley are so cool. It's amazing what they can do these days.

Such a sweet badge too. "Have a nice baby" - I love it!

Congratulations again Kat!!

[suzy]

Congratulations again! I can't believe you got to have 8 ultrasounds, I've only had 3... I would have liked to have more, like you I overdosed on internet information and was convinced something terrible was going to happen.
Hope the next 20 weeks go really well, Suzy x

(PS you don't look big for 20 weeks at all, perfectly average for Australia, I think).

[betty]

Congratulations, Kat!!
I'm so happy for you! I'm a steady follower of your blog, although I hardly ever comment.
I live in Spain, and here we have a lot of ultrasounds too. It's nice to have them afterwards.
By the way, do you already know if it's a boy or a girl?

[Carrie]

oh my gosh, congratulations!! this is such exciting news. Hooray for Project Dudley!

[Wannietta]

You look beautiful - congratulations!!!

[Marcello]

Good work!
Congrats, that's great news! See ya round Kichijoji.

[gleek]

oh my god! congratulations!! this is awesome news. i have so much practical advice to give you if you like. you should email me and we'll chat :) send my best wishes on to poppa as well!

[Jan]

I was quickly checking my Flickr this morning and when your shots popped up, I had to rush right over here to confirm what I was seeing! Congratulations to you both...what wonderful news!

[JoJo]

Congratulations! That is pretty much how my daughter was conceived as well... accidentally on purpose ;) Good luck!

[ann]

oh wow - that's fantastic news! congratulations! you look adorable with your bump. :)

[Veronique]

Congrats to you and Darin! Those ultrasounds are so cute :) Love the foot.

[Sandra]

ohmygosh, i'm so happy for you and Darin!!! YAY!!!

Congratulations! And I loove that button. I want to wear one around too when I eventually have a baby in me. :D

[pixiepurls]

Oh congrats! I'm 26 weeks myself. You sound just like me! The internet is AWFUL! The best place I have found to visit is thenest.com and the board called "babies on the brain" or "BOTB & TTC" they have a seperate board for the other things we don't like to talk about so it tends to keep that pretty much out. It's been a great source of comfort for me and pretty much the ONLY Place on the internet I'll read or post, however there are from time to time things I ignore.

I'm jewish and in the jewish culture people are very superstitious. I'm pretty sure I pissed a few of my knitting friends off when at 14 weeks they asked to knit things and I said no thanks. Now I'm much more relaxed mostly because I started knitting things!! I didn't knit for the first 4 months I was pregnant, didn't have any drop of want or care in the world for it! Then ar around 24 weeks I semed to get a whole new love for it. I'm nearly finished with my second cardigan and I've finished a set of cute knit suede baby uggs in pink :)

Feel free to e-mail me anytime you want with questions as I'm a little bit ahead of you and maybe can be a comfort! I hadn't purchased anything for the baby, except when I was in Australia at 16 weeks it seemed REALLY silly to not get something so I did get a few things. Now at 26 weeks all I have gotten was 1 dress because it was way to cute and cheap to pass up, and yesterday I ordered the crib because I realized OMG I have 3 months left! And some people have their babies 3 weeks earlie (and perfectly healthy) so I figure man I might only have 2 months left!! AHH!! So I am feeling the heat on now to go ahead and get the baby's room ready with the bare essentials.

You look great, ya don't look big to me :)

[Julia]

Congratulations!! That's very happy news!

[Jeanie]

CONGRATS - that's so exciting! :) :) :)
Keep us up to date with your progress - it doesn't matter if your blog is about crafts, vacation, or whatever - it's your life that is so interesting and awesome and this is such a new and fantastic part of it.
Best wishes for everyone! :)

[Jennifer]

So now I know that you are just coming out with your secret, and I did not miss anything after all. Congratulations! You and Darin are in for quite a crazy ride. A fun and crazy ride, that is. :-) If you have any questions about giving birth in Japan, I have done it twice, so definitely keep in touch, okay?

[Navi]

COngratulations, you look really cute! and I love the badge.

[frecklegirl jess]

Oh wow! How wonderful!

Congratulations!

[freecia]

Awwww! Congratulations!

I love the button. I still don't see a lot of parking spaces marked for families at the mall. Maybe the younger businessmen are less aware than the older people because they haven't had babies.

[Paloma]

Best secret project! Congratulations!

[erin d]

wow, congratulations! you look so cute! (to match your badge and book)

[kaitlyn]

YAY! Congrats :) This is great news and I admire your trepidation in the beginning. Cautiuos optimism is a good thing! I am looking forward to hearing more as the weeks progress and your life takes that last crazy turn into parenthood. There is nothing better, believe me.

[rae]

Super cute button and 'duh' of course you'll have a nice, and mostly likely, super cool baby...even if the name Dudley sticks : )

Lunch was fun, thanks for the Aussie stuff.

You look great!