Posts Tagged: hospital

Family — 12 Comments
18
Sep 08

Lamp Smashes on Rikuto’s Head

After staying up late last night to upgrade JapanSoc, I was woken abruptly this morning by a loud smash, a scream, crying, a further scream from my wife, and then the vision of Rikuto’s face covered in blood!

An obstacle course

Rikuto is getting squirmy, and by that I mean he can squeeze through or climb over all kinds of obstacles. I thought we had done a pretty good job of making our living room baby-safe, but clearly not enough. Somehow Ricky managed to squeeze between the sofa and a chair (placed deliberately to block him), then under another chair to reach the far side of the table in the furthest corner of the room.

With me in bed and Mami hanging up the washing – 3 minutes at most – Rikuto had clambered his way across the room, through the various furniture to a cable dangling from the table above him. A strong tug was enough to pull a heavy, glass lamp off the tabletop and send it crashing down onto his head, smashing into fragments all over the floor.

A trip to the hospital

Considering the weight of the lamp, and the number of shards of glass it shattered into, it was quite amazing that Ricky suffered nothing more than two cuts and a big bump. Let’s not underestimate those cuts, though. Both were deep and bled profusely, one on his forehead about an inch and a half long, and another on his cheek.

Fortunately, Mami is a nurse, so she was able to patch the little guy up and I drove them to hospital where Rikuto got some proper treatment, and fortunately, no stitches were necessary.

Reflecting on the day

It’s amazing that the cuts he sustained were in easily treatable places, and what a miracle the glass didn’t get him in the eye.

Parenting is a tough gig, and we’ve learned some valuable lessons today. Let’s hope Rikuto has, too.

Japan — 14 Comments
6
Sep 08

Hospital Festival in Front of Our House

Right across the street from our house is a mental hospital, and since we are its closest neighbors, we decided to pop across the street to their summer festival. There were more people than we expected. Half the neighborhood came along to join the families of the patients.

I had to switch into genki teacher-mode when a bunch of my kindergarten children spotted me. Fortunately, with Rikuto squirming in my arms, I was able to avoid any unwanted kanchos.

We all lined up in front of the hospital, which has its windows all barred up to keep the patients from “escaping”. The guys on the roof were setting up the fireworks for later.

Most of the patients were already in their seats and watching the evening’s festivities.

There were a few fun games to keep people entertained. Here’s the ever popular baseball pitching game.

And food and drink stalls.

Unfortunately, not all the patients were content with sitting down and watching everybody else. I was quickly greeted by one gentlemen who wouldn’t leave me alone. I couldn’t understand much of his Japanese, and he certainly couldn’t understand my responses. He was fascinated by my foreign-ness and waffled on about “igirisu-go” (”Britain” language), and whether English people could understand each other with their hearts.

Moving from stall to stall, still with Rikuto squirming in my arms, this curious patient kept following, talking, and was becoming frustrated that I couldn’t understand him. It was a shame, but both Mami and I agreed that we had no choice but to head home, just 30 minutes after arriving.

Of course, going home was no big deal since we literally live across the street. Don’t believe me? I took this photo from my office window.

I know it’s not the best of views, but until this summer, the building was hidden by trees. When they came to cut back the branches, they went a bit overboard! So, at our request, they covered their windows with blinds to stop the patients peering across the street into our living room!

Anyway, we finished the evening by watching the fireworks out the window before Rikuto fell asleep on his big pink futon.

Family — 16 Comments
23
Jul 07

Baby in Progress – Meet Rikuto!

Rikuto - just hours oldFriends, family, and first-time visitors. After blogging about my wife’s pregnancy for much of the last year, our son, Rikuto, was finally born at 9:25am on Sunday, July 22nd 2007, at the prefectural hospital, Gifuken Sougou Iryou Center.

I rushed Mami to the maternity clinic at 5:30 in the morning, and it wasn’t long before the doctor realized that her unusually high blood pressure and still too-narrow “escape route” would require a trip in an ambulance to the hospital for a cesarean birth.

During the ride however, Rikuto’s means of entry into the big welcoming world opened up and he was born in the usual manner while I waited outside – as per my wife’s orders!

Mami suffered some injuries which are probably too embarrassing to describe here, but she is recovering well and will remain in the hospital with Rikuto for a week.

While Mami is sure Riku looks like me, I tend to think he looks more like his mum, but he’s adorable either way. Enjoy the pictures and subscribe for updates!

If you can’t view the photos, you can see the original pictures at Flickr, here.