Chapter 28: Triplets

Ignoring the things on his unicycle, Wang Jianguo supported Huang Yuelan and followed the nurse, quickly arriving at the delivery room. “You two wait here for a while, I’ll go get the doctor.”

“Okay, thank you,” Wang Jianguo hurriedly thanked her.

“Don’t worry, pain before childbirth is normal. The more frequent the pain, the faster the baby will come out,” the nurse, seeing Wang Jianguo’s inexperience and nervous sweating, comforted him.

The sweat on Wang Jianguo’s forehead wasn’t just from nervousness about his daughter-in-law; pushing the unicycle all the way here made it hard not to sweat.

“Thank you, doctor. How do I handle the admission procedures? Where do I pay?” Wang Jianguo knew his daughter-in-law wouldn’t give birth immediately, but it would be troublesome if the procedures weren’t complete and they refused to deliver the baby.

Of course, such a thing wouldn’t usually happen, as they could see the patient first and pay later.

“Come with me, I’ll take you to take care of it.”

“Wife, I’ll go take care of the paperwork, you wait here for a while, I’ll be right back,” Wang Jianguo reassured Huang Yuelan, getting up and following the nurse.

Huang Yuelan’s stomach ached terribly, but she knew the payment and procedures were more important. She gritted her teeth and persevered. When the pain came, it was excruciating, feeling like many small legs were kicking inside her belly. She knew this was the sign that the babies were eager to come out.

Those around cast surprised glances at Huang Yuelan.

This floor was either pregnant women or their family members, so seeing Huang Yuelan’s large belly, everyone exclaimed: “This belly is unbelievably big!”

“Did you see that? The man with Lili is the overall champion of the last militia martial arts competition!”

“The one who’s exceptionally handsome? Rumor has it, he really is both talented and handsome!”

“Why is he at our hospital today?” one nurse asked.

Another nurse replied, “Accompanying his wife to give birth. You didn’t see, his wife’s belly is huge! I’ve never seen such a big belly in my life. I guess she’s carrying twins.”

“That’s amazing! Other people give birth one by one, but their family is having two at once! It’s truly enviable!”

After Wang Jianguo completed the procedures, he brought the things from his unicycle to the ward and went to Huang Yuelan.

“Wife, what’s wrong?” Wang Jianguo saw Huang Yuelan on the floor, in great pain, as soon as he arrived.

Huang Yuelan: “Is the doctor coming soon? I feel a lot of fluid coming out, are the babies coming?”

Wang Jianguo saw his wife’s pants were wet. Since the smell wasn’t strong, it wasn’t urine, it was probably amniotic fluid.

“Wife, hold on a little longer, I’ll go get someone.” Wang Jianguo ran to inform the doctor of Huang Yuelan’s condition.

“Doctor, my wife is about to give birth, a lot of fluid has come out, please come and check on her.” Wang Jianguo had never spoken so humbly, but at this moment, he would do anything to save his wife.

The doctor had heard about a new patient arriving, but she was still a month away from her due date, so they didn’t take it seriously and were about to finish their work before checking on her.

Upon hearing Wang Jianguo’s description, the doctor immediately put down their work and hurried to the delivery room with him.

Seeing Huang Yuelan’s incredibly large belly, the doctor’s pupils widened.

Oh my god, they said she was eight months pregnant, why didn’t anyone say her belly was this big? If they had known, they wouldn’t have delayed.

“A few people over here, quickly carry the patient to the delivery room, prepare for delivery!”

Wang Jianguo wanted to go in too, but a nurse stopped him at the door: “I’m sorry, family members are not allowed inside, please wait outside.”

“Wife, you must be strong, I’m cheering for you,” Wang Jianguo reluctantly let go of her hand.

Huang Yuelan wanted to respond, but the pain made her unable to speak.

With a ‘bang’, Wang Jianguo was shut out.

The door wasn’t very tight, there was a small crack, and Wang Jianguo peered through the crack to observe the situation inside.

Although it was difficult to see, Wang Jianguo only focused on Huang Yuelan. Seeing her suffering, his heart ached, and he silently resolved: Giving birth is so difficult for my wife, I must be better to her in the future!

“What are you looking at through the crack? Sit down and wait.” A nurse, delivering gloves, scissors, and other supplies to the doctor, saw a man peeking through the crack and initially thought he was a pervert. Upon closer inspection, she recognized him as the militia martial arts champion and didn’t chase him away.

Wang Jianguo temporarily sat down. After the nurse went in, he returned to the door and peered inside.

“Come on, the baby’s head is out, push harder!” the doctor encouraged Huang Yuelan.

Hearing that the head was out, Huang Yuelan mustered her strength and pushed again. She felt something fall out of her belly, followed by the clear cry of a baby, “Wah wah wah…”

“Congratulations, it’s a boy,” the doctor said while cleaning the baby.

“Can I hold it and take a look?” After ten months of pregnancy, Huang Yuelan wanted to see her baby.

“Look, the skin is so tender!”

Babies’ skin is tender, Huang Yuelan knew this was the doctor comforting her.

“Is this my child? Why is it so ugly? Why are there so many wrinkles, like a little old man? Could it be a monster?” Huang Yuelan saw the baby crying, its face full of wrinkles, like an eighty-year-old woman in the village, and was startled.

The doctors were amused by Huang Yuelan’s words, “You’re a first-time mother, newborns are like this. These are called ‘ vertical forehead wrinkles, the baby will become beautiful after a while.”

Hearing that all newborns are like this, Huang Yuelan felt relieved. After all, she and her husband looked like this, the baby wouldn’t be too bad.

“We guessed right, there’s another one! Huang Yuelan, you’re so lucky!” There were no IVF babies at the time, so twins were rarer than later. If a family had twins, it was big news.

Although they had suspected it, they hadn’t confirmed it. Now that Huang Yuelan heard she really had twins, she was overjoyed, after all, twins only occur in one out of every ten thousand pregnancies.

Coincidentally, she was that one in ten thousand.

After the first baby, the second one was much easier, and soon the hair, then the head, appeared.

“Push harder!”

Huang Yuelan gripped the bedsheet, pushing as instructed, and another clear cry announced the arrival of her second child.

“Another boy! What good fortune! Your mother-in-law must be thrilled,” the doctor congratulated Huang Yuelan.

Huang Yuelan smiled without answering. Both her sons were her flesh and blood, she loved them both, but she wished for a boy and a girl, that would have been perfect.

As the second baby was born, the doctors began to clean up. Huang Yuelan was about to get off the delivery bed when her stomach ached again: “Doctor, my stomach hurts like it did before!”

“Ah? Lie down, let’s check.”

The doctor peered inside, “Oh my god, there’s another baby!”

The twins had already surprised everyone in the delivery room, but now it was triplets, and everyone was even more excited, as if they had discovered a new continent.

But excitement aside, they quickly discovered a problem. This third baby wasn’t playing by the rules. The two older brothers came out head first, but this one came out feet first.

“Only one foot is out, the other is still inside! Quickly, go get Dr. Liu!”

Hearing the news from the delivery room, Wang Jianguo’s heart was again gripped with worry. But he knew these doctors were experienced, and Dr. Liu was the most experienced among them, so there shouldn’t be a big problem.

Knowing someone would soon come out of the delivery room, Wang Jianguo sat down to wait.

Soon, Dr. Liu came running.

“Doctor, please save my wife and child!” Wang Jianguo grasped the doctor’s hand tightly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll do our best.” Time was of the essence, especially for the baby. If the neck was caught, or the umbilical cord was wrapped around the neck, or the baby inhaled meconium, it could be fatal within minutes. The doctor didn’t explain further, releasing his hand and running into the delivery room.

Thinking there were only two babies, Huang Yuelan had already used all her strength. Now, she really couldn’t push much harder, and her stomach ached terribly.

“Dr. Liu is here, everyone move!”

Dr. Liu took a look and reached in. Huang Yuelan fainted from the pain.

Within seconds, the baby was pulled out by Dr. Liu.

Hearing the baby’s clear cry, everyone applauded, “Great!!”

“Dr. Liu is so experienced!”

…

Wang Jianguo stood at the door, without the joy of having sons, only worry for his wife.

He peered through the crack and said to the doctors inside, “Doctor, how is my wife? Why is she silent?”

The doctors turned around and saw a pair of worried eyes peering through the crack. They knew this husband was good, he cared for his wife, and she wasn’t just a tool for him to carry on his lineage.

Dr. Liu said, “Don’t worry, your wife just fainted, she’ll wake up soon. Take the babies out first.”

The nurses wrapped the babies. Thinking it was twins, Wang Jianguo had given the doctor two sets of clothes. Unexpectedly, it was triplets, and one baby didn’t have clothes. The doctors wrapped his bare bottom in a small blanket.

Three nurses carried the babies out: “Congratulations to the hero, three sons!”