My Thought about Japan and Australia – Pregnancy

Posted October 8th, 2010 in Ume's Pregnancy 4 Comments »

I think my belly is getting bigger and bigger.  All my college don’t know that I am pregnant, so they must be thinking “oh… she put on lots of weight!”.  As it’s getting warmer here, I’m wearing just 3/4 sleeve T-shirt and it shows my body shape too well.  I’m wrapping my thin hoodie around my belly, but is it time to tell them that I am pregnant?  Or maybe I just wait until they figure out…

I read many articles and magazines about pregnancy, both Australian (Western) and Japanese.   Some of the things they say are the same, but some are totally different.  I also found that the treatment you get at hospital (or by doctor ) here in Australia is different from what you get in Japan.

Japanese pregnant women seems to be super careful about their pregnancy – if they notice something different they run to the doctor immediately to seek the advice and treatment.  But here in Perth, pregnant women seems to be more self-controlled and prepared.  The doctor here seems to be doing less compared to the doctors in Japan – this doesn’t mean that the doctors here is not as good as those in Japan.  I agree that we shouldn’t be totally depend on the doctors.  

But, I have something that keeps staying in my head for almost 1 year.  When I started bleeding during my first pregnancy, I run to an emergency hospital near my house.  I waited for a doctor for 12 hours there (true story), and when doctor came to me she just said “I’m sorry, but you seem to be having a miscarriage”.  The doctor didn’t even touch my body – she just asked me a couple of questions, “are you still bleeding?” “How badly are you bleeding?”.  That’s it, and I left the hospital.  

No advice, no medicine were given.  Maybe there was nothing they could do to stop the bleeding.  But, I had no idea what I should be doing: the doctor said that I’m having miscarriage, so is it over?  Or do I still have a chance?  I didn’t know, and  I went back to work on next day – still bleeding.

If it was in Japan, the doctor would have said “stay in the bed, and don’t move around.”.  Some pregnant women bleed, and it is not a good sign.  In Japan you’ll be forced to stay laying down on the bed (only get up when you go to toilet or take shower) and wait for doctor’s next advice.  Some pregnant women get out from the danger of having miscarriage after the doctor’s treatment.

I didn’t know about it that time.  I had to go get blood test, ultrasound, and go back to the hospital few times. At the hospital nurses just kept asking me “are you still bleeding?”.  Few days later (bleeding everyday and working everyday), my miscarriage was confirmed. 

So, to think about it, my first pregnancy could be saved..?  I don’t know if I should be thinking about it now as I’m carrying another baby here, but it just keeps staying in my head.  If I was in Japan, would she/he be saved?

Now, here is the ultrasound photo taken at my 11th week (the first ultrasound screening).  I like this photo because the baby is kicking the leg to the air and I can see the tiny leg.  🙂

I saw the baby in 3D at the second ultrasound screening, and at the third screening my baby was looking much bigger.   According to the baby watcher app, the baby is about the size of a sweet potato at the moment !

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