Almost Halfway!

It is hard to believe that I'm almost halfway through this pregnancy! We are so excited about this little "tummy baby", and can't wait to find out whether it is a boy or a girl. We will go to the doctor in three weeks to find out! I'll keep you posted. We've got some names picked out, and it will be fun to call the baby by name soon.
Here is a photo of our baby from just a few days ago. You can see the right hand up by the face covering the right eye. This seems to be a favorite position for our little one. Since it is standard procedure to have an ultrasound every visit - we've seen this pose several times.

A few interesting differences I've noticed in the medical care here:

1) I had to go to the OBGYN earlier than in America. I started going when I was just 5 weeks pregnant. The reason is, you need to register the delivery date. Hospitals only accept a certain number of deliveries per month, and then they don't take anyone else. Since we are due at the end of March, all of the women due earlier in the month had a "head start" at registering their deliveries! We actually had trouble finding a doctor in Chiba because of this, but God did provided a doctor who we feel very comfortable with in Tokyo. He speaks fluent English and seems to have more of an American-style approach to medicine.

2) By the time I was 13 weeks pregnant I had gone to the doctor 6 times. Actually, I'm not sure that this usual for all women. Several of my Japanese friends think that the doctor here really wants to deliver a foreigner's baby, so he was trying to "court" us into delivering with him!

3) Most of the OBGYNs here seem to have their offices in the hospital. I guess this is most convenient when they have to deliver babies. I have had to take someone with me at every visit to help translate for me. It has been such a blessing to see God taking care of us in this way.

4) At about 13 weeks, you receive a little book in which are written all of the important things relating to the pregnancy. This little book is a record for the child through his/her life. What a great idea! So many times medical records are scattered around, but this simplifies things!

5) Here in Japan they count the pregnancy as taking 10 months! It took us a little while to figure out that they count months as only 4 weeks, rather than calender months. So, currently I am in my fifth month ... with only five more to go! :)

Thank you for your prayers for our little one. We are well taken care of here and are eager to find out who this little one is. We'll let you know!!!