Hospital Stay

Elodie and I were able to stay in the hospital for 5 days following delivery, which is a pretty standard length of stay in Japan after a normal delivery. When my doctor asked me how long I would like to stay, I responded "how long can I stay?" He said, "well... Japanese stay for about 5 days, but foreigners tend to only like to stay 2-3 days." I said, "I'll gladly stay for 5!" I actually really enjoyed staying in the hospital. The nurses and midwives took great care of me, and despite the huge language barrier - they really tried their best to communicate. They even made a document that had several English words and their Japanese translations - so that if I had a problem or concern, I could simply push the nurse call button and point at the page. It was very convenient and helpful! They were constantly checking on both of us, which was reassuring to me that everything was going ok.

I actually didn't stay in a "hospital" - it was my doctor's clinic. It was small, private, and personal. Not only did the clinic provide excellent care for both Elodie and myself, but they also had gourmet chefs that would cook meals throughout the day. I had heard rumors that the food was really good at Kato Clinic, but never in a million years did I think it would actually be that great! I was expecting "hospital food"... only the Japanese version of whatever that is. But I was pleasantly surprised and finished every single bite of every single meal... it was excellent! :) Here is a picture of the chefs from the clinic's website:

And they really did dress like that when delivering the food to my room each meal! Very cute :)

My room was small, but comparable to a Japanese single hotel room. The bed was pretty comfortable, and there was also a table and chairs and good size TV in the room. I even had my own private toilet & sink, which I feel fortunate to have had - as some of the ladies at the clinic had to share a room, and others had to share a bathroom. So I feel lucky to have had my own private room and bathroom!

As I said in my previous blog post, I had a really great experience at Kato Clinic. I would be happy to delivery a baby here again! My doctor was fantastic, the nurses were helpful, and we were glad to be there.

Here are a few pictures from our hospital stay....

One of our first family photos :)

Sleeping beauty

She loves to sprawl out!

My friend Louise, who was due 3 weeks before me,
had her baby 2 days after me. So we were able to
share a couple days in the hospital :) Pictured
here are very proud Dads Cal & Joe.

In her game day apparel!
Watching the UofM vs. ND game with Daddy

Elodie & Dr. Kato