Chapter 37

"Pregnancy seems designed to prepare you for life as a mother. You start making sacrifices nine months before the child is born, so by the time they put in an appearance you are used to giving things up for them." ― Brett Kiellerop-Morris, My Big Fat Gay Life

Souji, while never the type to lounge around uselessly in bed after waking first thing in the morning, liked his sleep. It wasn't a rare thing for me to catch him taking a catnap during the day, especially on the afternoons he requested my lap as a pillow. If the daily tasks of the Roshigumi did not require him to wake up during the Hour of the Roster, then I don't doubt he would sleep until the Hour of the Rabbit.

I, on the other hand, am an earlier riser. To me, nothing beats the crispness of the air first thing in the morning. I tended to always wake up an hour earlier than everyone, in the Hour of the Tiger, just because I liked to have breakfast done by the time everyone woke up. I didn't want them to wait for me to prepare breakfast, after all.

So, imagine my surprise to find Souji already awake every day before me starting after the day he found out about my pregnancy. But there was an even bigger surprise.

Souji was never the type to like writing. It was too reminiscent of paperwork. He hated all forms of paperwork.

Yet, here he was, always awake before me the past couple of days and at the desk busying himself with some form of writing.

I never bothered him while he was writing ever since he started up this strange habit, afraid that I may distract him from what I was sure was important work. But curiosity was like a shadow, always lurking about, always growing or shrinking based on the time of the day. Stretching my spine like a cat, I silently rolled out of bed before tiptoeing over so I could read over his shoulder.

I wasn't as quiet as I thought myself to me. Either that or Souji's hearing was on steroids.

Instead of peeking over his shoulder to read whatever it was he was working on, I wound up being pulled onto his lap, red-faced as he quirked an eyebrow down at me. He pressed a kiss into the crook of my neck as his warm arms surrounded me and pulled me closer to his chest.

"Curious?" Souji asked with a chuckle. "You know you can just ask."

His hand found a nice resting spot on my belly.

"What are you even writing?" I peered at the sheet of paper on the desk. He had written quite a lot. About half the sheet was filled with his messy scrawl. "I know writing is the equivalent of pulling teeth to you. So just what is so important that you'd even wake up early?" My eye flickered to the shōji window screen. It was still dark out. "How long have you been up anyway?"

"Only about an hour," Souji stated, making sure to shrug his shoulders in a façade of nonchalance. "And I'm going to be a chichi-ue, right? Kids learn from their parents and I want to make sure that I'm knowledgeable enough for the task. So I woke up earlier to…," his voice then grew slightly quieter as his face grew warmer as a shade of pink started coloring his cheeks, "…do some self-study."

I raised my eyebrow at him, not understanding his embarrassment until I looked a bit closer at his sheet of paper.

"Ah."

Haikus.

Much to his displeasure, when he thought of educated, Hijikata-san was probably the first person to surface in his mind. And what does Hijikata-san like to do in his spare time? Souji was probably a tad bit disgusted with himself for emulating Hijikata-san.

A smile surfaced on my face before I could do anything to curb it. "I like your haikus better than the ones Hijikata-san writes," I semi-lied. I had exactly no idea what type of haikus Souji tended to write, and I wasn't much of a poetry nut myself.

I quickly grabbed the sheet and scanned through the haikus so I wouldn't be talking out of my ass. They weren't the best, but they weren't bad either. And in a very Souji manner, he even wrote some haikus about the important people in his life. Of course, there was the one about Otou-san…

The wondrous hero,
Kondou Isami the great.
A righteous leader.

And who wouldn't burst out into giggles at the one he wrote about Hijikata-san? Certainly not I.

Oh how stiff it must be,
that great big branch of oak up
Hijikata's ass.

"That one's my favorite," I said, still giggling as I pointed to one about Hijikata-san. "Oh, you're so mean sometimes! I don't know whether to feel bad for the oak branch or Hijikata-san's ass!"

A grin erupted across his face as the blush faded. "Oh, you have to feel bad for the oak branch. It never wanted to be stuck up Hijikata-san's ass, but had no choice! As for Hijikata-san's ass, it was designed for sticks."

Souji dissolved into a boisterous laugh, joining me before he tucked his face into the crook of my neck in an attempt to muffle his laughter. I felt him slip his hand under my sleeping robe so he could touch the pliable skin of my belly. As soon as our laughter stopped, he let out a contented sigh as he caressed the bottom of the baby bump.

"You know," he said, his voice holding a subtle hint of awe, "I'm surprised at how fast the baby grows. It's only been a week since you've told me and I can already feel the slight size difference."

"It's probably obvious to you because I'm so petite. It's always easier to track the growth of a baby if the haha-ue is short." I snorted. "And even more so since it's a big baby."

"Do you think it might be twins?" Souji asked, almost perking up a bit.

"It can't be. The baby bump might seem pretty large for seven weeks, but it's too small to be multiples."

Souji hummed at my answer. "Then our baby is probably a boy." He shifted me in his lap so he could lean back a bit without jostling me. "Big babies are always boys."

I huffed, pouting a bit and making him grin. "That's not always true. Girls can be big babies too."

"Ah, but my intuition tells me it's going to be a boy. Chichi-ue's always right." Souji puffed himself up in a playful silliness before he seemed to grow serious again. "But… are you sure you don't want to tell anyone yet? I'm sure Kondou-san will be thrilled to hear about the news."

That put a damper on my mood. Souji noticed it right away and furrowed his brows while rubbing my sides as a form of comfort.

"Did you know that 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy?" I answered, my voice almost a whisper. "It's even higher in women that don't know they're pregnant."[1]

And not to mention that my body was seventeen. I was married, but I was still a teenager. Women who get pregnant before twenty had a higher chance of pregnancy-induced hypertension[2], which could lead to pre-eclampsia[3]. I also ran a higher risk of premature labor and postpartum depression[4]. Then there was also the risk of a low-birth-weight baby, though it was highly unlikely this time around considering how well the baby was growing now.

"So that's why you wanted to wait to tell everyone…," Souji murmured to himself, his joyful expression dropping, making me feel guilty for telling him this. But then he perked up. "We'll be fine," he said firmly. He was strangely confident. "You already know about the pregnancy so the miscarriage rate is down to 20%. Plus, you're a doctor. You know how to stay healthy."

He was confident because he believed in me. I can't say that this didn't flatter me and boost my confidence.

"And besides, I doubt we can keep it hidden for twelve weeks. Like you said, our son is a big baby."

"Son?" I asked, interrupting him as he quirked his eyebrow at me again. "You're already that confident it's a boy?"

"Without a doubt," he said before pressing a chaste kiss on my forehead. "Honestly, I think you'll start showing through your clothing in about a week or two. You're already showing through your sleeping attire just because it doesn't have padding or as many layers as a normal kimono."

I let out a content sigh before pushing myself off his lap and heading over to the zushi[5]. I slid the doors open to fish out the purple kimono I was going to wear for the day. At this stage, my hakama didn't do such a good job hiding the bump anymore.

"But I would still like to keep it secret for now," I said, disrobing so I could put on my day clothes. "I need to go cook breakfast now."

Souji got to his feet, snatching up my kanzashi from the top of the kodansu[6] with a small frown. He obviously disapproved of me cooking breakfast.

"You should take a break from cooking," he said before he placed the prongs of my kanzashi between his teeth so he could free up his hands to help me with my obi. He twisted my hair up into a bun and pinned in place with the kanzashi shortly afterward. "You're not that great at hiding it. I see it every time you cook, that face that says you want to throw up."

"It's not that obvious. No one else has figured it out yet." I spun to face him. He only chuckled at my pout before poking my cheek.

"It's because the smart ones tend to not bother you when you're cooking."

"I'm telling Heisuke, Sano-san, and Shinpachi-san that you called them stupid."

He just shrugged without a care in the world.

"Let the others cook for once." He put his hands on my shoulders as I folded my sleepwear. "All the throwing up you do is already enough. No need to feel sick when you're not vomiting."

I snorted. "I didn't know you were so eager to get food poisoning."

He spared me an unimpressed glance. "We're not the best cooks, but we do know how to cook."

"Say that to me again when Shinpachi-san remembers how to cook rice."

And with that, I headed to the kitchen. Not one to be left behind, Souji quickly followed, abandoning his haikus and blowing out the lanterns that lit our room. I thought about sending him back. I certainly didn't need to be monitored as I wasn't dying or anything. But just the thought of having company during the usually lonely morning was appealing. Upon arriving in the kitchen, I spun around and planted a surprise kiss on his lips.

I had planned for that kiss to be brief. Things never really did go according to plan.

Really, one thing led to another because when I found myself pinned to the wall by my incredibly, dare I say, sexy husband, cooking became the last thing on my mind.

Souji, despite insisting on no sex during pregnancy, seemed particularly eager as he lifted me by my thighs and wrapped my legs around his waist. And that's when—

"Are you sure you should be doing that?" a familiar voice interrupted in a singsong manner. "She is pregnant and all."

I could just feel the annoyance, displeasure, or whatever it's called, coming off of Souji in waves as he let me down slowly, pulling his lips away from mine as he turned around with tense shoulders to glare at our intruder in a sulky kind of way. Kyoko-chan didn't even flinch at the ineffectual hostile look as she beamed back in response.

"Kyoko-chan!?" I exclaimed, on the other hand, rushing to straighten my kimono with a blush. "W-When did you get here? And how did you know about—"

"The baby? Kenji did say that he brings the statement, 'Walls have ears. Doors have eyes,' to life. Did you think he wouldn't show me how to do the same thing?" she said, still ignoring Souji's heated glare of annoyance. "Plus, I was bored and thought that I should come to visit. Guess who came with me?"

I blinked in confusion for a few seconds.

Finally, I looked to Souji, who let out a sigh before pointing my face in the direction of the kitchen doorway where I saw an adorable shy face poking in from beyond the kitchen.

"Ibuki-kun's girlfriend is here to visit," Souji stated rather bluntly, making Kosuzu-chan's face burn and glow red as she bristled.

"I am NOT Ibuki-han's girlfriend! He's just a valued customer!"

An impish grin appeared on Souji's face. "Oh, really?" he said, his voice sly as he approached Kosuzu-chan, making her feel intimidated enough to take a step back. "I wonder where he gets all the money to hire a maiko for the night when he Serizawa-san doesn't pay him. Kinda hard to be a customer if he doesn't visit Shimabara."

Kosuzu-chan sputtered in indignation, struggling to find words knock Souji off his pedestal of amusement. All Souji's shit-eating grin did was grow larger.

Then as if there weren't already enough random visitors…

"AHHH!" Kosuzu-chan suddenly screamed, jumping and whirling around when an unexpected hand came out of nowhere landed on her shoulder.

"Whoa there!" Kenji-san was quick to slap his hand over Kosuzu-chan's mouth as Souji watched on in amusement. "It's just me! No need to scream that loudly."

"Kenji-han!" Kosuzu-chan exhaled loudly, placing her hand on her chest. "Don't do that! You're just like Kyoko-chan! When did you get there?!"

Kenji-san ignored her much to her annoyance in favor of waving at me. "Yo! Congrats!"

Feeling a little speechless at the strange morning, I found myself only able to nod in response.

Souji then sighed loudly, purposely bring my attention back on him. He briefly looked out the open kitchen door at the dark sky that was starting to lighten before he looked back to me. Then his back seemed to sag a bit as he thoughtlessly stroked the handle of his katana.

"Shizuka," Souji said, covering the tenseness in his voice the best he could, "I'm going to go to the courtyard to practice some kenjutsu now. What happened earlier before we were interrupted shouldn't have happened, so I'm going to go work off some… energy… Why don't you spend some time with your friends? Come get me if you start feeling sick."

He then leveled a look at both Kosuzu-chan and Kyoko-chan, instructing them silently to watch me and to alert him the moment I seemed to even start looking sick.

I scowled at him, wanting to say something about him overreacting to nothing before Kenji-san cut me off before I could actually speak.

"If you're going to practice, how about a spar? I could use some exercise this morning."

To say Souji was just intrigued was an understatement.

"Oh? You know kenjutsu?" Souji asked, quirking an eyebrow at the other man.

"Eh." Kenji-san shrugged as he began leading Souji outside. "Swords aren't really my specialty. I'm only proficient with them. My specialty is the kusarigama[7]. Even you won't be able to beat me if I'm wielding a kusarigama."

"Is that a challenge?" I heard Souji say before their conversation faded with distance.

With the men gone from the kitchen, Kosuzu-chan looked left then right before shuffling up to Kyoko-chan and me.

"Do I need to worry about running into Serizawa-han so early in the morning?" Kosuzu-chan flickered her eyes cautiously to the door.

"The bastard doesn't wake up for another hour, and he usually sends someone else to the kitchen to get his food because, God forbid, that man can't bring himself to do the 'servant's job' of fetching his own food." I snorted before I turned so I could rummage through some of the ingredients I had to work with. "So what are you doing here so early, Kosuzu-chan? I thought you would be back at the okiya sleeping after a long night's worth of work." I paused to point at the basket of uncooked rice. "Kyoko-chan, can you get the rice?"

Kyoko-chan grabbed the donabe and set to work.

"Oh, that," Kosuzu-chan said, helping me carry the bucket of living, washed clams to the counter. "I technically have the day off today, so I don't have to head back to the okiya right away, and I didn't really work last night. Every once in a while, Kenji-han will 'hire' me for the night. That usually just consists of Kyoko-chan and me chatting and eating in a private banquet room after she sneaks into the ochaya[8]."

"Ah." I poured the water from the bucket and dumped the clean clams into a pot with a dried piece of kombu[9] before pouring in clean water. I lit the fire and covered the pot. "That's nice of Kenji-san. So how come you're here this morning? I mean, since you know Serizawa's lives at headquarters too."

"She couldn't resist," Kyoko-chan sang just as she put the lid on the donabe. "I told her about the baby last night and she practically begged me to come along with me in the morning to visit."

"I DID NOT beg!"

"Right, sure you didn't," Kyoko-chan said flippantly, ignoring Kosuzu-chan's scowl before glancing back at the stove. "Hey, are you sure I should be helping? You know I suck at cooking."

"It's just rice." I moved to the cutting board to begin slicing the funazushi[10]. "I'm not asking you to season anything, so it should be fine. Are you and Kenji-san going to stay for breakfast? And what about you, Kosuzu-chan?"

Kosuzu-chan frowned slightly. "I don't have to be back at the okiya right away, but I still have to report back before the Hour of the Dragon. I want to stay but can't." She then turned slightly red. "I actually came because… Can I touch your belly?"

My eyebrows disappeared behind my bangs at the sudden question as I paused my knife work. Kosuzu-chan came for that?

Before I could answer, Kyoko-chan grabbed Kosuzu-chan's wrist and placed Kosuzu-chan's hand on my belly nonchalantly.

"Kyoko-chan! Shizuka-chan didn't say yes!"

"Oh, like she'll say no," Kyoko-chan stated with a grin. "Oh, and Kenji-san and I won't be staying either. We'll be walking Kosuzu-chan back home."

I hummed, letting Kyoko-chan know I heard her as I put down the knife. "Are you trying to feel for the bump?" I asked Kosuzu-chan. "Because you won't feel it through all the padding I had to put on this morning, but the bump is definitely there."

"Oh," Kosuzu-chan said, sounding slightly disappointed as she removed her hand. "Umm… Do you need help with anything while I'm here? I don't really know how to cook since I never needed to at the okiya... but I can go grab ingredients for you!"

"I need some green onions and eggs. There's a basket of eggs in the pantry to the left of the kitchen and some green onions growing in the garden. If you could just grab some for me…"

Kosuzu-chan left for the pantry in a rush, seemingly eager to contribute. As soon as Kosuzu-chan vanished, I pushed myself away from the funazushi and retched, unable to throw up just simply because my stomach was still empty. Kyoto-chan didn't really react and just rubbed circles on my back.

"Morning sickness?"

"Not really. It's just the smell of the funazushi isn't really agreeing with me at the moment." I took a deep breath before standing up straight again. "Hey, since you're here right now, I've been meaning to ask you about the disposal plan."

I gagged once more before I moved further away from the funazushi.

"Give it a few more months," Kyoko-chan said, making sure to lower her voice before pouring water into a cup to shove into my hands, "and Aizu will call for Serizawa's assassination. His reputation is looking ghastly right about now." She then paused. "Hey, how about that Ibuki guy Kosuzu-chan is so hung up about?"

I took a sip of water only to realize that the water had the opposite effect it was supposed to and made me want to throw up even more.

"Yeah… him…"

"What are you guys going to do with him after Serizawa's dead?" Kyoko-chan took the cup from me and put it on the counter. "Usually when you assassinate someone, you need to kill off his followers too."

"I had hoped that he would end up leaving Serizawa's service before the whole assassination thing began, but it looks like it won't happen on time." I sighed. "I really don't want to have to kill Ibuki-kun. He's a good guy."

"And, not to mention, Kosuzu-chan is absolutely smitten with him. It would devastate her if he were to die," Kyoko-chan said, crossing her arms. "It would be so much smoother if we could just convince the guy to run away with Kosuzu-chan."

"Hm…" I shook my head. "That might not work as well. He knows about the Water of Life. The Roshigumi can't afford a leak. Hijikata-san and the others won't just let him leave."

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the counter as my stomach rolled again. It felt like my stomach was trying to roll out of my body. Too bad I needed my stomach in order to survive, otherwise I'd just let it for the sake of relief.

"There's a solution to that." Kyoko-chan went to extinguish the fire beneath the clam-filled pot before she fished out the kombu and began ladling out the scum. "Ibuki won't be able to tell anyone about the Water of Life if he and Kosuzu-chan run away to a place where everyone is already aware of it. I can ask Kenji to set up a place for them to live up in the Hida Mountains[11]. A village located there is the headquarters of Kenji's clan, so everyone there already knows about the Water of Life. Plus, this way we can make sure Kosuzu-chan finally gets to live a comfortable life."

"But how are we going to convince Ibuki-kun to run away with Kosuzu-chan in the first place?" I asked, pointing out the next problem. "As Souji pointed out, he hasn't really gone to visit her. He doesn't have the money. Plus, will Serizawa even give Ibuki-kun the time to go to Shimabara?"

"Just get Shinpachi-san to take him. Serizawa likes him enough to let him have Ibuki for the night."

"And the money? Hiring maiko for the night is pricey."

"Meh." Kyoko-chan shrugged in a carefree manner as she put down the ladle. "Leave that part to me. I can pull a few favors."

I raised my brow at Kyoko-chan's generosity but didn't question it. Probably a good thing too since it would have been awkward, to say the least, if Kosuzu-chan walked in on us discussing how we were going to get her to run away with the man she fancied.

"I found the eggs but I only found three stalks of ripe green onions," Kosuzu-chan said as she stepped back into the kitchen with the basket of goodies under her arms.

It kind of looked strange for Kosuzu-chan to look so domestic while she was still clad in makeup and dressed in her hikizuri from the night before.

I had meant to say that three stalks were enough but with the baby and all, my stomach had a mind of its own and decided it wanted to vacate the water I just drank. With a little luck, I managed to get outside and to the edge of the roka before I hurled. And I swear that Souji had the hearing of a demigod because he was right beside me with his hand on my back before I even finished throwing up.

"See?" Souji said, reaching into my kimono to fish out my handkerchief so I could wipe my mouth. "This is why I suggested you let someone else do the cooking."

"I'm fine," I replied a bit stubbornly as I wiped my mouth. "You're making it a bigger deal than it really is. Who won the spar, by the way?"

"I did," Kenji announced, causing Souji to scowl at the other man "And Souji's right. Someone else should be cooking with you throwing up and crap."

"Throwing up?"

I groaned at the sound of Hijikata-san's voice and looked up to see him standing a couple of feet away. Of all the mornings he had to wake up early.

"What's this about throwing up?" Hijikata-san pressed, approaching us before eying all the extra heads in headquarters this morning. "What are you all doing here?" His eyes then focused on Kosuzu-chan. "Especially you?"

"Umm…" Kosuzu-chan whispered before stuttering bit afterward, unsure what to say under Hijikata-san intense gaze before ducking behind Kyoko-chan.

"Gosh, you big bully," Kyoko-chan cut in, snorting when Hijikata-san looked slightly offended by her words. "She just wanted to talk to Shizuka-chan." She scoffed. "But if we're in the way, I guess we'll just leave now. Hmph!"

The look on Hijikata-san's face soured, now looking exasperated. "Oi, I didn't say you have to leave."

"Hmph!"

Kyoko-chan turned her nose up at Hijikata-san before grabbing Kenji-san and Kosuzu-chan by the hand and leading them towards the front gate. However, once she arrived at the front gate, she dropped her offended expression to stick her tongue out impishly at Hijikata-san.

"Gotta go! Bye!" she sang before bolting, dragging her two companions with her and probably taking joy in Hijikata-san bashing his head against one of the walls.

"Of all the—" Hijikata-san bashed his head on the wall one more time before unfortunately focusing his attention on me just when I retched again. "You're sick."

"Am not. You guys are just overreacting."

Somehow, I found myself being sentenced to bed rest for the rest of the day. Souji did nothing but agree with Hijikata-san and even seemed pleased to hear that I'd be off my feet for the rest of the day. Of course, I could have sneaked out the moment no one was paying attention to me, but Souji appeared to have thought of that. No more than five minutes after I had been sent back to bed, Otou-san appeared, claiming that Souji asked him to watch over me for the day. Obviously, trying to convince Otou-san that I was completely fine was going to be futile, so I just quietly stayed in bed until the evening when Otou-san had to leave to deal with official business.

The moment Otou-san left, I snuck out of bed very carefully… only to find some of the guys gathered on the roka right outside the room. Even Saito-san was washing his scarf in a tub right outside the room instead of by the proper place by the well. Souji raised his eyebrows at me as soon as he saw me emerge from the room but didn't say anything as he patted the empty spot next to him while everyone else seemed occupied with listening to Shinpachi-san complain.

"Damn. Every time I go on patrol people keep callin' us 'Wolves of Mibu'!" Shinpachi-san exclaimed while swinging his sword aimlessly at the empty space before him.

Shinpachi-san grumbled some more before he leaned the back of his blade against his shoulder. I took this time to go take a seat by Souji, who promptly wrapped an arm around my waist to pull me closer. I gave him the silent stink eye to let him know I was still pissed about this morning.

"Ehh?" Souji responded to Shinpachi-san almost teasingly while ignoring the look I was giving him. This was when the others seemed to notice me for the first time. "Shinpachi-san, you're fragile enough to let something like that get to you?"

"Not me." Shinpachi-san huffed. "Heisuke's actin' all depressed. I can't stand this annoying mess."

"It looks like it's getting to our younger members as well," Sano-san added before looking to me. "Good to finally see you, Shizuka. You finally feelin' better?"

"I wasn't sick to begin with," I stated bluntly.

Souji ignored me once more and continued on with the previous conversation. "Oh, jeez. What a bunch of wimps. The locals are so scared of us that they open up a path. It's easier to get around, so what's the big deal? Right, Hajime-kun?"

His tone sounded so condescending that elbowed him in the stomach. Saito-san didn't even bother answering him, making Souji pout and fall silent.

And then for the second time of the day…

"Hey, what's with all the evil misery?" Kenji-san's cheery voice appeared out of nowhere before dropping down in the center of the group from above as everyone tensed up. "You know what? It doesn't matter. It's nothing a night in Shimabara won't fix."

Total silence as a cricket chirped in the backdrop.

"You really need to stop doing that," Sano-san then finally said, breaking the silence and letting out a held breath before running a hand through his hair as he took his other hand off the single katana on his hip. "I swear we'll all stop reacting one day and when a real intruder sneaks into headquarters, we won't know how to react anymore."

"Eh, not my problem." Kenji-san merely shrugged. "So who wants to go to Shimabara? My treat!"

Those words, or more specifically the words 'my treat', caused Shinpachi-san to perk right up again. "Oh! Me! Let's go!"

"Great! But let's go get Ibuki and Toudou first. Shimabara is best when life is sucking."

I had a quiet night in headquarters as all the loud people disappeared to Shimabara for the night, Ibuki-kun too. In fact, Kenji-san dragged Ibuki-kun away kicking and screaming. I almost felt like I was watching a kidnapping scene right out of a movie. It was on this quiet night I managed to synthesize the final drug, Pyrazinamide, used for treating tuberculosis.

[1] Miscarriage, also known as spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the natural death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Some use the cutoff of 20 weeks of gestation after which fetal death is known as a stillbirth. The most common symptoms of a miscarriage is vaginal bleeding with or without pain. Sadness, anxiety and guilt may occur. Tissue or clot-like material may also come out of the vagina.

Risk factors for miscarriage include an older parent, previous miscarriage, exposure to tobacco smoke, obesity, diabetes, and drug or alcohol use, among others. In those under the age of 35 the risk is about 10% while it is about 45% in those over the age of 40. Risk begins to increase around the age of 30. About 80% of miscarriages occur in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy (the first trimester). The underlying cause in about half of cases involves chromosomal abnormalities. Other conditions that can produce similar symptoms include an ectopic pregnancy and implantation bleeding. Diagnosis of a miscarriage may involve checking to see if the cervix is open or closed, testing blood levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and an ultrasound.

Prevention is occasionally possible with good prenatal care. Avoiding drugs and alcohol, infectious diseases, and radiation may prevent miscarriage. No specific treatment is usually needed during the first 7 to 14 days. Most miscarriage will complete without additional interventions. Occasionally the medication misoprostol or a procedure such as vacuum aspiration is required to remove the failed pregnancy. Women who are rhesus negative may require Rho(D) immune globulin. Pain medication may be beneficial. Emotional support may help with negative emotions.

Miscarriage is the most common complication of early pregnancy. Among females who know they are pregnant, the miscarriage rate is roughly 10% to 20% while rates among all fertilization is around 30% to 50%. About 5% of females have two miscarriages in a row. Some recommend not using the term "abortion" in discussions with those experiencing a miscarriage in an effort to decrease distress.

[2] Gestational hypertension or pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) is the development of new hypertension in a pregnant woman after 20 weeks of gestation without the presence of protein in the urine or other signs of preeclampsia. Hypertension is defined as having a blood pressure greater than 140/90 mm Hg.

[3] Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a disorder of pregnancy characterized by high blood pressure and often a large amount of protein in the urine. The disorder usually occurs in the third trimester of pregnancy and worsens over time. In severe disease there may be red blood cell breakdown, a low blood platelet count, impaired liver function, kidney dysfunction, swelling, shortness of breath due to fluid in the lungs, or visual disturbances. Pre-eclampsia increases the risk of poor outcomes for both the mother and the baby. If left untreated, it may result in seizures at which point it is known as eclampsia.

[4] Postpartum depression (PPD), also called postnatal depression, is a type of clinical depression which can affect both sexes after childbirth. Symptoms may include sadness, low energy, changes in sleeping and eating patterns, reduced desire for sex, crying episodes, anxiety, and irritability. While many women experience self-limited, mild symptoms postpartum, postpartum depression should be suspected when symptoms are severe and have lasted over two weeks.

Although a number of risk factors have been identified, the causes of PPD are not well understood. Hormonal change is hypothesized to contribute as one cause of postpartum depression. The emotional effects of postpartum depression can include sleep deprivation, anxiety about parenthood and caring for an infant, identity crisis, a feeling of loss of control over life, and anxiety due to lack of support from a romantic or sexual partner. Many women recover with treatment such as a support group, counseling, or medication.

About 0.5% to 61% of women will experience depression after delivery. Postpartum psychosis occurs in about 1–2 per thousand women following childbirth. Among men, in particular new fathers, the incidence of postpartum depression has been estimated to be between 1% and 25.5%. In the United States, postpartum depression is one of the leading causes of the murder of children less than one year of age which occurs in about 8 per 100,000 births.

[5]Cupboards, called zushi, traditionally had the form of tiered shelves and could be disguised behind sliding screen panels.

[6] Medium-sized cabinets in the shape of drawers used for storage.

[7] The kusarigama (鎖鎌, lit. "chain-sickle") is a traditional Japanese weapon that consists of a kama (the Japanese equivalent of a sickle) on a kusari-fundo – a type of metal chain (kusari) with a heavy iron weight (fundo) at the end. The kusarigama is said to have developed during the Muromachi period. The art of handling the kusarigama is called kusarigamajutsu.

[8] In Japan, an ochaya (お茶屋, literally "tea house") is an establishment where patrons are entertained by geisha. Ochaya are located in geisha districts (花街 hanamachi), and are today most numerous in Kyoto, though they can be found in geisha districts in other cities, such as Tokyo.

Ochaya, where geisha entertain, should be distinguished from okiya (boarding house), where geisha live – these may both be loosely translated as "geisha house." Geisha are attached to a single boarding house (where they do not entertain), and entertain at various ochaya or other venues from night to night. This arrangement originally developed in the yūkaku, or pleasure quarters, where oiran below the rank of tayū or kōshi could be summoned to entertain guests at ochaya.

[9] Kombu is sold dried (dashi kombu) or pickled in vinegar (su kombu) or as a dried shred (oboro kombu, tororo kombu, or shiraga kombu). It may also be eaten fresh in sashimi.

Kombu is used extensively in Japanese cuisines as one of the three main ingredients needed to make dashi, a soup stock. Kombu dashi is made by putting either whole dried or powdered kombu in cold water and heating it to near-boiling. The softened kombu is commonly eaten after cooking or is sliced and used to make tsukudani, a dish that is simmered in soy sauce and mirin.

Kombu may be pickled with sweet-and-sour flavoring, cut into small strips about 5 or 6 cm long and 2 cm wide. These are often eaten as a snack with green tea. It is often included when cooking beans, putatively to add nutrients and improve their digestibility. Kombucha 昆布茶, "Kombu tea", is a beverage brewed from dried and powdered kombu. This is sometimes confused with the English word kombucha for the fermented and sweetened tea from Russia, which is called kōcha kinoko (紅茶キノコ) in Japan.

Kombu is also used to prepare a seasoning for rice to be made into sushi.

[10] Funazushi is a rare type of narezushi still prepared near Lake Biwa, Shiga Prefecture. Eighteen generations of the Kitamura family have been preparing the dish at Kitashina since 1619.

Fresh funa are scaled and gutted through their gills keeping the body (and always the roe) of the fish intact. The fish are then packed with salt and aged for a year before being repacked annually in rice for up to four years. The resulting fermented dish may be served sliced thin or used as an ingredient in other dishes.

Authentic funazushi is made from a wild subspecies of goldfish called nigorobuna (Carassius auratus grandoculis) endemic to the lake. It is actually technically misleading to say that "crucian carp" is used, as though any old funa type carp in the genus may be randomly used (or the European species may be used), especially since the true crucian carp is a distinct species altogether, C. carassius, and is not indigenous to Lake Biwa. However, due to reduced catch of nigorobuna in recent years, it is true that, by necessity, certain other native species are starting to be substituted.

[11] The Hida Mountains (飛騨山脈 Hida Sanmyaku), or Northern Alps (北アルプス Kita Arupusu), is a Japanese mountain range which stretches through Nagano, Toyama and Gifu prefectures. A small portion of the mountains also reach into Niigata Prefecture. William Gowland coined the phrase "Japanese Alps" during his time in Japan, but he was only referring to the Hida Mountains when he used that name. The Kiso and Akaishi mountains received the name in the ensuing years.