i spent six days in the clinic. the first was my 'zero' day, the day i gave birth. i actually got a whole day, since we arrived just after midnight. (we called the clinic before 11:30, but it takes us between twenty and thirty minutes to get there. and i forgot to mention it was pouring down rain, didn't i. i mean it was buckets. i even said to yoshi, 'let's wait and see if it lets up a bit.' it didn't. AND, on our way, we passed a car that didn't have its lights on. as we passed it, i looked over and saw that the dashboard lights were on, so i think the poor driver had a car that had burnt-out headlights! still, so unsafe, especially in such a downpour!!)

i got breakfast lunch and dinner that 'zero' day (and if you check out my pics at flickr, you'll see why i mention that!) very very good. sasha stayed in the baby room for most of that day. we did get to take her for a while, and even returned to the room with her, but that night she stayed in the baby room. i don't know if she received sugar water (though i think she didn't. i stated enough times that i wanted her to only be breastfed.) but it was nice to have a night alone. especially since i asked yoshi to take hiro home and give me one night to rest up. bliss.

the next day, day 1, i spent a lot of the day relaxing. and breastfeeding. sasha came to my room (actually, i sprung her from the baby room at about 6 am. i was bored.) and we spent our time getting to know each other. the doctor came to check on me that first morning, and he brought a gift for sasha (a pretty sapphire necklace). yoshi and hiro arrived before lunch (yoshi took the day off) and we had a nice time together as a family. on day 2, i got to shower for the first time (always a good thing.) each morning the nurses would take sasha to give her a bath, but on day 3 i got a 'lesson'. yes, i had bathed a newborn before, but girls and boys are different, and i wanted to have a chance to do it, too. day three was also a sunday, so i had lots of visitors. medea and midori came up from kagoshima, and my in-laws came by as well. i am so happy my friends visited, especially for driving all that way!!

on day 4 i got a massage and hair washing, some pampering before being released the next day. the massage was super nice, but i really don't need someone else to wash and dry my hair. especially since i rarely dry my hair myself. i did discover that i really need a haircut, though. *sigh*

day 5 was hospital release day. i got three meals that day, too, because i had to wait for yoshi to come get me after work. awesome. i developed a headache that day. it's weird because i got one the last day i was in the hospital with hiro. that time i think it was stress--i didn't want to leave the hospital!! this time i'm not sure. i think that it was stress again--i didn't want to go home and spend a week with my MIL!!

at the beginning of our stay, they took a picture of sasha, and it will be put up on their website. i'll post a link as soon as i know it's up.