“Why not?”
I recommend asking yourself that question the next time you are presented with an application, a trip, a job, or anything unexpected that just might turn out to be totally awesome.
I asked that question when faced with the opportunity to travel around Japan at 30 weeks pregnant. I went, and it was exhausting, but it was totally awesome.
A lot happened on this two week tour of Japan, but I want to give a summary from the point of view of a girl with an ever-expanding belly.
This was not a relaxing vacation, mind you. We were part of Brigham Young University – Hawaii’s Concert Choir tour where we sang in eight cities across Japan. We had six major concerts and many other small performances at schools, shrines, and churches.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
During our 16 days of travel, the longest we stayed in one place was three nights. That means there was a ton of traveling within the country. We flew a few times and took a bus a few times, but we mostly took trains.
***Tip for flying when pregnant, especially in the third trimester: Wear compression socks! I wore them on the flight from Honolulu to Tokyo and my feet were just fine. The next flight from Tokyo to Naha I foolishly did not wear them. Talk about swelling. Eesh.
The biggest problem I found with this kind of travel was that there was a furnace inside of me, and planes, trains, and automobiles do not consider that kind of heat. During one very long stretch of train, I stood between cars with my face pressed against the air conditioning vent gasping for cool air and trying not to feel sick.
Standing + air conditioning > sitting + boiling body temperature
That extra hot train happened to be the bullet train, so it was nice and spacious between cars with windows for me to see the beautiful countryside. I was happy when I cooled down.
***General travel tip when pregnant: Invest in very supportive shoes. I bought supportive shoes that I could wear touring around and during the concerts so my feet, knees, and back stayed as comfortable as possible. Public transportation means lots of walking, and lots of walking with unsupportive shoes does not have a happy ending.
Food (The Point of General Travel)
There are some that are very intense with their pregnancy diet, and that is fine. I support that. I am not quite like that, though. I recognize the few fish that could be harmful to baby and steer clear of those, but other than that, I eat like normal.
And thank goodness because food in Japan is uh-mazing.
Ramen. Shabushabu. Udon. Okonomiyaki. Soba. (Mister Donut.) Sushi.
Yes. I said it. Sushi. I ate sushi while pregnant. Before you judge me, my doctor said it was okay! It wasn’t sushi sitting in an old refrigerator in landlocked Montana. It was Japanese sushi! I did not get sick, my baby is healthy and strong, and I love sushi more than ever.
What We Saw
In Okinawa, we visited the Churaumi Aquarium which houses not one, not two, but three whale sharks! Pretty incredible. After seeing the sharks and while everyone else went to the dolphin and seal shows, I opted to sit in the air conditioning. It was hot outside. And I felt like one of the whale sharks. Most importantly, I needed to preserve my energy for the long concert that evening.
It is not a trip to Japan without visiting the Hiroshima Peace Park. I can probably write an entire post just about my thoughts on this, but I will keep it simple here. It’s difficult for me to visit an exhibit that is so one-sided, but at the same time I was touched by the thousands of paper cranes made to remind us to seek for peace in our homes, communities, and nations.
While at the peace park, we sang “Holding Hands Around the World.” Music has a healing power that can bring people together despite differences. Being part of a group that promotes peace through music made the swollen feet, backaches, and absolute exhaustion completely worth it.
If you’ve read any of my other posts, you know food is priority when traveling, so when we visited the Miyajima Shrine, my goal was to try all the yummy street food in the area. I love street food! Granted, this was touristy street food, but it was still sooo delicious. A minor issue being pregnant while traveling is that I don’t remember what the yummy things were called. Oh well. You just have to trust me. Pregnancy brain wins this time.
***I don’t think it’s fair that it’s called “pregnancy brain.” I still don’t feel like my brain is back to normal… Get back to me when Baby is sleeping through the night.
I’m pretty proud that when we went to the Osaka Castle I climbed all eight flights of stairs to the top to see the view. I was feelin’ like a warrior. (Maybe it was because I was surrounded by pictures and statues of warriors?) And no trip is complete without a headstand. I did one of those in front of the castle, too. Was I super tired after this day? YES. But that just meant I slept when people kept exploring around the city. No big loss in my book. I can explore a city when I’m not tired and giant.
***Pregnancy sight-seeing tip: You can do it. You don’t need to do all of it, but if there is something you want to see, don’t let your belly stop you! Mind over matter. Most of the time.
One really unique experience we had was in the Meiji Shrine. BYUH has a special relationship with the monk at the shrine so we were able to go inside the most sacred part that is unaccessible to tourists. We were taught the ritual of washing our hands and mouth before entering and when we were inside we got to sing a couple songs. That was very special.
Our final full day in Japan was packed with sights: Kinkaku-ji, a beautiful temple and garden; Fushimi Inari-taisha, the shrine with the orange gates famous for their appearance in Memoirs of a Geisha; Monkey Park Iwatayama, a mountain where the reward for hiking to the top is tons of monkeys waiting to mug you if you foolishly brought food and shiny things.
Performance Time
No, the point of all this travel was not finding delicious food – that will be a different trip to Japan. The point was performing with the choir. It was incredible and exhausting and I barely fit into my performance dress by the end of the trip (partly from eating, but mostly from a baby quickly approaching his due date).
During the first concert I realized that the hardest thing for me to sing with a tiny person pressing against my lungs was the song with a really long, quiet note. (It’s called “The Conversion of Saul” for those who may know it.) I had to stop singing multiple times to catch my breath so I wouldn’t pass out.
The song before intermission was an American folk song called “Cindy” and I was one of the clog dancers in that song. People were worried about me clogging, but in reality it helped me. Standing still while being that pregnant can be problematic: blood pools in your feet and legs causing uncomfortable swelling, your back muscles get tired of holding your baby so your posture curls, and all of that make it more difficult to breathe. Dancing, on the other hand, increases blood flow to your muscles making it easier to hold yourself up and not feel like passing out. I used “Cindy” as my goal song each concert. If I made it there without feeling sick, I was golden.
At the end of each concert, we were asked to go out and greet the audience. Every encounter went something like this:
Japanese person pointing to my belly: “Baby?”
Me: “Yes!”
Japanese person while rubbing my belly: “Oooh! So happy! Oooh…dancing! So scary! Baby come out! Careful!”
Me: “He’s used to it!”
Everyone was extremely concerned that I would be clogging and then whoop! baby would just come out! I appreciated their concern and got used to strangers rubbing my belly for good luck. They were always so happy I was pregnant and could not stop touching my baby bump. I thought I would be bothered by it, but I thought it was adorable! Plus, Baby is now filled with good luck from hundreds of Japanese women! Woohoo!
I can’t finish this blog without mentioning the divine help I was given while performing on this tour. Standing and singing for two hours is hard enough without being pregnant, so I needed extra help. My prayers were answered and I was given enough strength to make it through each and every performance.
That concluded my time at BYU-Hawaii and it was such a bitter-sweet ending. I’m so excited to start this new chapter in our lives with Baby, and I look back on all our experiences with joy and gratitude toward all the amazing people we met along our journey.
P.S. After having this baby, I am so jealous of all the mommy-friendly rooms and bathrooms throughout Japan! They have rooms for nursing, and all the bathroom stalls have little highchairs for your baby so you don’t have to hold them while you go. Let’s catch on to this trend, America!