To Our Little One – By Yasu

Dear ‘Aka-chan’ [baby in Japanese],

It is a great time to write how I feel about having you in this world since Mommy has started to wobble and tell me that she feels pain in any movement.

It is nothing but happiness that I feel about having you in this world. I have communicated with you for about 3 months since when I talked to you in Japanese, and you responded to me with a kick in my face. On Christmas Day I posted on Facebook: “Got a kick in my face last night but I was happy. It was a kick from our baby in Louana’s womb! Great Christmas gift.” It was the best Christmas gift in my life. You might have been listening to my voice earlier but this kick made our first communication.

Ever since then, I put my hand on Mommy’s belly to feel you even more frequently. Sometimes you are active, and other times you seem asleep. That’s fine, sleeping is what you have to do. I’m just happy you take sleep to grow healthily.

Mommy and I are just fortunate to have you. We have many hopes and wishes for you, but we just want you to be happy. We want you to be trilingual, smart, nice, have good friends, good-looking, play some sports (baseball is the best), out-going, and more importantly healthy. But these are not so important, you just walk your life the way you like. You are the chosen one out of 200 million competitors. Just as much as we are, you also are fortunate to be in this world. Have a wonderful life quest. Have fun, work hard, relax, love someone, see things, go to places, feel things, and have a baby!

Before we had you, we tried twice. Mommy used several pregnancy test sticks to make sure if that’s what she saw. We were sad, but Mommy was also very worried. She thought we waited too long. This made us extra happy when we saw 2 lines, instead of 1, on the stick at our 3rd attempt. Mommy woke me up one early morning, couldn’t contain her lovely smile in her face. She asked me to see the stick. I saw it and the box to make sure the result we got is what we hoped. Checked once, twice, and 3 times,,, it’s POSITIVE!! I knew it would come at some point, but still it was overwhelming happiness. We hugged and kissed, and of course, Mommy was crying :).

We kept this news secret for a couple of days because ‘Oma’ [grandmother in Dutch] Lia and ‘Oom’ [uncle in Dutch] Djamo were coming over soon. We wanted to see their reaction live. When they came here, we were watching pictures and movies on TV. Next moment, we showed them pictures of us holding the positive pregnancy stick. First they seemed confused, but noticed what it meant, and congratulated us with hugs and kisses. Soon we called ‘Overgrootmoeder’ [great-grandmother in Dutch] to let her know about you, and she started to cry (3 days later, we received baby clothes from her). That night, we had a gathering with friends at Tap House. We told everyone, and they celebrated us warmly. We also called Oom Gyano and Bente, his girlfriend back then. Of course they were very happy to hear the news which made us happy too. I learned the word ‘zwanger’ [pregnant in Dutch].

A week after that, ‘Ojii-chan’ [grandfather in Japanese] and ‘Obaa-chan’ [grandmother in Japanese] came from Japan. Their first night in Buxton, we had dinner at St. Moritz. Mommy told them that she was ‘ninshin’ [pregnant in Japanese]. They were very happy, and high-10ed with us. That was a very happy moment too. Later, they said this trip was ‘saikou’ [the best in Japanese]!

You are the first grandchild in both of our families. We are so proud.

A couple of days after that, we went to Stepping Hill Hospital, because Mommy bled and we were worried. Of course, there was nothing wrong but we saw you for the first time. You were a tiny poppy seed, heart beating fast. Can you believe you used to be a tiny seed?

Days went by, and in Week 20, we went for our third scan. This is when we could ask whether you are a boy or girl. In England, it seems that most of the times people want to keep it unknown until the baby is born. They say because it’s a surprise. But we think it’s still a surprise anyway to know if the baby is a boy or girl in Week 20. So we asked. The midwife said she could see your ‘dangly bits’. It’s a boy! It’s so funny that I am not good at intuition and such, but I saw an image that showed me it’s a boy a few days before.

We started to buy things for you. The first item was the lightweight travel system (your orange buggy, car seat, and etc.) from Babysaurus [actually Babies R Us :D, ed.]. ‘Tante’ [aunt in Dutch] Yasmin took us there. The shop worker was very kind to give us a big discount. Compared with the price on internet, it was less than 50%. You are already a lucky baby!

My study room became your room, and I moved to the then living room. Mommy’s studio moved there too. It’s more fun to have her close to me, so that’s better.

Mommy started a weekly pregnancy photo update, sharing on Facebook every Saturday, showing how big her belly got. Many people loved these pictures, and I enjoyed taking those photos.

In March, we bought a flight ticket from Eindhoven to Buxton for Oma Lia to let her see Mommy before she really became a mommy. Oma really enjoyed her stay, constantly put her hand on Mommy’s belly. She felt you move, and she smiled big to Mommy. That was a beautiful moment.

Overgrootmoeder got an iPad, so that she can see you. She already practiced FaceTime with us, she is ready to see you! She and ‘Groottante’ [great aunt in Dutch] Ingrid are coming to see you in May. You will make them so happy :).

Oma Lia will come visit us again from late April to early May to see you, and help us take care of you. In July, she and Groottante Chantal will come to Buxton to see you. In August, Ojii-chan, Obaa-chan, and Aki-chan will come to see you. They are very excited, of course. They already sent you some clothes for you to wear. They can’t wait to see you either. As a son, I am very happy and proud to show you to Ojii-chan and Obaa-chan. You are my biggest achievement.

See, how many people you make happy. But Mommy and I are the happiest to have you. We can’t stop thinking what you look like, sound like, what kind of personality you have, and everything about you.

Looking forward to seeing you soon (but stay in there as long as you want)!

Biggest love,
Daddy Yasu