February 2013 Newsletter

A "Full Course" Delivery

      First off let me just say that I am overwhelmed by God’s amazing mercy and love. In this post I will detail (mostly) the events of February 7^th and how Samuel Philip Cook came to join us in Japan. Stephanie’s water broke around 4 am and the doctor told us to go ahead and come on in. We got to the doctors office around 6 am and learned that Stephanie was probably going to have to go through at least 8 hours of labor before the baby would arrive. After about four hours of labor we decided to go ahead and get an epidural. The doctor was concerned that Stephanie might have trouble with a natural birth and he also said Stephanie still had at least 6 hours of labor to go. Because of these and other factors we decided to go ahead and have an epidural. Around 5:30pm they attempted to vacuum Samuel out but his head became lodged on Stephanie’s hips. The doctor then proceeded to perform an emergency c-section because they were concerned about low oxygen levels for Samuel. The c-section went smoothly but Samuel swallowed a lot of fluid and was having a very hard time breathing and was not crying at all. They had already called in a second doctor before they began the c-section and then proceeded to call in another doctor that would take Samuel to a nearby hospital where they have a Neonatal unit. Samuel was stabilized but still struggling to breath before he was transported by ambulance to the hospital. After about 2 hours at the hospital the doctor explained that they would need to keep Samuel for about a week to monitor him and make sure there were no lingering affects of the low oxygen. After a week in the hospital Samuel received a clean bill of health and we were allowed to take him home. It is truly a joy to have Samuel home with us and we praise God for his continued health.

     The Title of this post came from a statement that the doctor made about Stephanie. He stated that it was a very difficult birth and that Stephanie was a "full course" patient. Stephanie was in labor for several hours without an epidural, labored for about 8 hours with an epidural, attempted to have him without the c-section, and then had an emergency c-section. Even though Stephanie had a "full course" delivery we praise God for both a healthy baby and a healthy mom.

Sewing

I am lucky to have learned to sew and mend things from my father when I was in high school. I also got a lot of practice working in a costume shop during my second year at the Word of Life Bible Institute in New York. 

I brought a little bag of a few sewing items so that I could mend things by hand for us if needed, because I did not know if I would have a sewing machine in Japan or if one would be available to use. 

I was so excited when I was told that there was a sewing machine left by another English teacher that I could take home and use, in addition there was a whole box of fabric that was with it and I was free to use any of it that I wanted to.

This is the beautiful, about 40 pounds, 1968 Singer FashionMate sewing machine. Still in great condition and in English. After downloading the instruction manual from online, and reading about a few differences than my Kenmore machine from home, I was ready to sew. 

This is the box of fabric and cover for the machine.

I hemmed up some curtains that were dragging the floor.

I made 2 tablecloths for our table.

2 burp cloths for Samuel from extra blankets David's mom sent to us. 

This was one of David's blankets that I sewed a piece of padding into and folded it over to make a burp cloth.

I have a few other odds and ends that I made and a few items that were suggested to me to make for gifts for some Japanese people here who have helped us. It had been wonderful to be able to sew and mend things. I just think it saves money if I can hem some pants, or fix a button, or repair an item myself!!!

Picture Post

These pictures are from various days spent so far in Japan. Some are even from our time in Tokyo when we first arrived here. They are not in any order, just downloading from our phones and cameras. Enjoy!!!

Our favorite toothpaste...

I think that we used every bit we could!!!

One day I heard children playing while sitting at our kitchen table. I did not know where the sound was coming from. I looked out through our balcony and saw, for the the first time, children playing on the roof of this apartment building behind ours. I thought it was interesting that kids play on the roof, but we live in a city and there are no yards and the closest playground is a bit of a walk away. 

Choices, Choices

Beautiful sunset in Shimonoseki

Another view of the sunset

In Tokyo visiting a coffee shop with Kazu Kato. 

All of the different kinds of coffee. 

The view from a very high building Kazu took us to in Tokyo. 

So thankful to get to spend some time in Tokyo with Kazu and Amy Kato and Naoki, Makiko, and Shuna 
Kagawa. 

Shuna enjoying her food :)

David driving around