A fun Saturday run

After my marathon last month, I wondered if I could run 30 miles. Today I found out.

I got a nice late start and ran and ran and ran. I was pretty confident that I could complete the run. I had an easy course planned along the rivers. I also had a new, bigger hip belt with two big bottles for Gatorade. It also has a pocket for lots of snacks and money. The weather was cool, so even though the bag was heavy, my shorts, long pants, and t-shirt kept me from getting any chafing from the bag.

I have just started researching Ultra marathons (anything over 26.2 miles), but one thing I have learned so far is that it is important to take in lots of calories during the day. My computer says I burned well over 4,000 calories today. One of my main goals today was to see if I could eat Clif bars along the way and not get an upset stomach. No problems there, so I am happy.

One of the tips for long distance running I have read is the importance of taking walking breaks, especially for beginners. I took a five-minute walking break every hour. I think this probably helped, but I was still pretty tired and sore by the end. I am not sure if I just need more training, or something else, but I would like to get to the point where I can run an easy marathon and not feel sore at the end.

It was a great day. The only bummer was the one-hour train ride home. That is when my legs started to tighten up.

I wonder if I will manage a Sunday run.

A trip to the flower shop

We visited Rie's friend at her flower shop today. It was a relatively warm day, but still chilly enough to bundle Airi up.

The Day before Airi

The day before Airi was born, our friend Young Joo and her boyfriend took 201 pictures of us. You can see a few of them here.

Without Avram お父さんはお留守

Avram started to work from today. Airi and I stayed at home.

I didn't know the word "fussy," but I hear sometimes people use the word for babies. Actually, Airi is not so fussy even only two of us are here. She eats, poops, and sleeps. She just does them.
She sleeps, sleeps, and sleeps in the morning.

If you want to see Airi opens her eyes or she is active, you should come or call from 4:00am to 6:00am.

I usually don't do things I should do such as ironing, washing laundries, and showering the day before. I could do them in my pace. Avram sometimes asked me why I don't iron shirts the night before the day.
It's because I had a lot of time before he left for work. As Avram does know, we used to go to bed before nine and wake up around five. I could iron, make breakfast and lunch, and so on. But now I have to think of Airi. I have to do housework very quickly before she wakes up. I guess my family and friends have never seen I look like I am in a rush. Fortunately, Airi sleeps well during the daytime. She doesn't wake up even if our washing machine is so loud and a timer rings loudly. She's comfortable and calm at home.

I'm very happy to see her everyday.

Avram can see how much I worked at home by the bunch of diapers in the trash cans.

It's time to take a nap with her.

今日からアブラムが仕事に戻って、私とアイリは２人でお留守番。

今までFussyなんて単語は知らなかったけど、赤ちゃんを表す言葉でよく使われる。どうやら「ぐずる」っていう意味があるらしい。でも、アイリは寝てばかりいるから今のところその言葉はあてはまらなさそう。

寝てばかりのアイリだから、もしも目を開けたアイリを見たい人は朝の４時から６時に来てくれると見られます。

今まで家事を早め早めにやるなんてことはなくて自分のペースでしてたから、時々アブラムにどうして前もってやっておかないのと聞かれたことがあったけど、今はアイリがいるから、彼女が寝ている隙にすべてをすまさなきゃならない。幸いにも洗濯機やタイマーのうるさい音でもアイリは熟睡。いつも穏やかな顔して寝てる。その顔を見てると幸せを痛感。

アブラムはゴミ箱にたまったオムツの山で私が今日どれくらい働いたか察しがつく。

さて、アイリとお昼寝の時間。おやすみなさい。

Vacation Time

For the past two years, I have been saving up my sick leave at work for Airi. Now that she is here, I had a good excuse to use up three weeks of leave.

I have spent the past three weeks, washing dishes, hanging laundry, changing diapers, preparing bottles, feeding Airi, bathing Airi, shopping, cleaning spit-up, taking out trash, and helping around the house.

Tomorrow, I go back to work and will finally get a chance to relax. :)

Good Hygiene

Rie's sister, Chikako, attends a junior college on their home island of Amami-Oshima. Chikako's school had a school festival this weekend and Chikako's group wanted to make curry to sell. But, nobody wants to eat food made by dirty people, so it is customary in Japan for all of the students to bring in a stool sample for testing before the big day. Rie remembers doing this in high school as well. Rie says they check for the kind of worms that can lay eggs under your fingernails.

Unfortunately, Chikako was constipated and was unable to participate with her group in their fundraising activity.

Now, I am worried about those rice balls she made a few years ago.

Our new life with Airi アイリとの新しい生活

Three weeks ago, only Avram and I were at home. Now we have Airi here. This is wonderful.

Avram and I compared who changed Airi's diapers the most, but now we do it too many times. We can't count it.

Airi is a good girl. It's easy to take care of her. She cries only when she poops. Other times she is just sleeping or calm.

Now Avram and Airi are taking a nap. I am having lunch by myself. I like this quiet time three of us together.

Our life here is very peaceful.

３週間前まではアブラムと私だけの生活。今は振り向くとアイリがそこにいる。すごく幸せ。

アブラムとどちらが多くオムツを換えたか競争してたけど、今はもうあまりに頻繁だから数えられない。

アイリは世話のしやすいお利口さん。ウンチの時以外は穏やかに過ごしているか寝ている。

今、アブラムとアイリはお昼ね中。私は一人で昼ごはん。この３人の静かな時間が好きだな。

すごく安らかな生活。

My happy delivery :D 幸せ出産

We say delivery is like a giving birth to a watermelon in Japan. Watermelon was not enough. I felt a big and hard log was coming out.

Avram and I wanted to have natural delivery, so I said the doctor I don't need an epidural. But the log gave me so much pain. I was not sure I could stand it until the end.

I didn't scream, scratch, and break Avram's hands. I couldn't say anything from the pain. I had no energy for them. I just stood the labor quietly.

At the end of my delivery, the doctor saw I was having a lot of pain and recommended to have an epidural not only for killing the pain but also for c-section in case. I liked his suggestion. Thanks to the doctor, I got a good excuse to use an epidural.

The doctor said he will send some nurses for the epidural, but they didn't come. The pain was getting worse and worse. I said "Why don't they come? He said they will come soon. How long do I have to wait? Why don't they give me epidural now? Then it would be useless."
I was not going to use an epidural, but I complained about getting the treatment too slowly at the end of my delivery.

When I got the epidural, I could be in heaven. I was surprised at the effect of the epidural. It was like magic. I felt like I could have a few more babies then. I thanked the doctor even though he kept saying the baby has a big head like her mother every time we visited. He was right. Airi's head was round, but I made it. I delivered her safely:) Avram, Airi, and I worked together for the first time on Nov.2nd.

Now I respect every mother and thank many people who support us. I thank my husband Avram a lot.

Airi is a beautiful girl. She often smiles these days except when she poops. I guess pooping is like labor for her, so I understand how she feels then. She can cry and complain then. It's our pleasure to help her for it.

日本では出産はスイカを生むようなものだというけれど、スイカなんてものじゃなかった。大きな硬い丸太がころころ転がり出てくる感じ。

アブラムも私も自然出産がしたくて麻酔は要りませんっていっちゃたけど、あまりの痛さに本当に乗り切れるのか自信がなくなってきた。

私は泣き叫びもしなかったし、アブラムの手を壊すぐらい強く握りもしなかった。それより痛くてもう声が出せし、力が出なくて静かに出産に耐えた。

出産が終盤に入ってきた頃、ドクターが「麻酔はいらないって言ってるけど、万が一のことがあったら帝王切開に切り替えるから、今麻酔をうっておいたほうがいいと思うけど。」

先生、うまいこと言うねぇ。「万が一」って言葉に心がいともたやすく折れて、あんなに拒んできた麻酔を受けることにした。

「じゃ、看護士さんに来てもらうから。」と先生は去っていった。痛みはひどくなるのに看護士さんは一向に来ない。「先生、すぐ来てもらうって言ったのにぃ。なんで来ないの？あとどれくらい待てばいいの？今うたなきゃ役に立たないじゃない。」麻酔を受けるつもりはなかったのに、その痛さに声にならない文句が出る。

麻酔を受けるとそこはもう天国！その効き目はまるで魔法。あと数人は今出産できるよって感じ。先生が毎回「お母さんに似て頭の大きな子だから・・・。」って言って失礼だと思ってきたけど、でも、先生のおかげで幸せな出産ができたからすごく感謝。先生の言うとおり、アイリの頭は少し大きめだったけど、アイリとママの初めての共同作業で安産だったから本当に幸せ。

今は本当にすべてのお母さんがすごいなぁと思うし、祝福してくれたすべての人に感謝。そして何よりずっと私を支えてくれたアブラムに感謝。

アイリは本当にかわいい娘。最近、うんちを踏ん張る以外のときは微笑を返してくれる。ウンチの生みの苦しみはどうやら彼女にとっては産みの苦しみみたいだから理解できる。だから、ウンウンうなって文句を言ってても喜んでお世話をするよ。

Family Time

I took the past two weeks off from work. The three of us have been hanging out at home and getting to know each other. There has been lots of diaper changes and feedings at all hours of the day and night. Airi and Rie are both recovering well from their big introduction. Rie is up and moving around well. Airi's head is more round than cone-shaped now and she is one beautiful baby.

Happy 2-Week Birthday, Airi

Well, I guess birthdays and anniversaries are a good time to look back and reflect on where we have come from and where we are headed. Today is the two-week anniversary of Airi's birth and all sorts of memories of her first days are coming back to me as I sit and reminisce.

I remember two weeks ago today, when we headed to Jeil Women's Hospital in Haeundae Beach to wait for Airi to arrive. We checked into our private room and waited until Rie said it was time to go down to the delivery room.

After a bunch more hours, Rie announced that the wait was over and it was time to call in the professionals. The doctor agreed and the nurse transformed the bed into a birthing table. When it was time, I held Rie's hand and looked into her eyes. I was telling her how great she was doing and that we were almost there, when our eye-to-eye contact was blocked. One of the nurses had jumped up onto the head of the bed and was facing backwards. She was straddling Rie's head with one knee next to each ear. When the doctor said "Push", Rie pushed, and so did the nurse who was pushing on Rie's belly.

After a bit, the top of Airi's head was visible and after some more pushing, not much more had come out, so the doctor ordered a rest break. We all just waited for a few minutes in silence. It was a bit jarring to go from all of the activity and hubbub to nothing. I almost expected some elevator music to start up. Music for waiting. Once we were all recovered, and ready for some more, Rie and the nurse pushed and the doctor pulled.

At 8:26 pm on November 2nd, Airi was born.

She was 2.8 kg and 45.5 cm long. Airi was also a lovely shade of blue. After a few seconds of crying, she started turning red. The nurse held her up in front of Rie and counted off fingers and toes and other bits. I got to cut the umbilical cord, while Rie and Airi had some quiet time together.

Airi was whisked away for her inaugural bath and the doctor finished up with Rie. A bit after 9pm, we were all reunited and Airi lay down for her first meal.

Airi (愛理) CJ Fox