Shen Wuqiu nodded, "It hurts..."
Gu Lingyu said, "Then don't feed her yet. I'll massage her to help clear the blockage. I just tried it, and there's milk coming out. The doctor said that breastfeeding for the first time can be a little painful, and you can apply a warm compress and massage her gently."
Still a little shaken from the earlier ordeal, Shen Wuqiu bit her lip. "Let's wait until she's full before we talk about it."
Gu Lingyu didn't know what to say, so she didn't interrupt.
After about ten minutes, the second child, who had been drinking milk with all his might, finally spat out the little cherry with satisfaction, opened his eyes leisurely, looked at Shen Wuqiu, and suddenly smiled.
Shen Wuqiu immediately felt that all the pain she had just endured was worth it, and she excitedly pulled Gu Lingyu to look, "Second brother can actually smile..."
Gu Lingyu was unsurprised. "What's so strange about that? They're just happy after eating and drinking their fill."
Shen Wuqiu ignored her and happily teased the second child, "Baby, I'm your mom..."
Gu Lingyu pouted, disliking that her partner was focusing all her attention on the baby. She reached out and took the child, saying to the baby who was looking at her with open eyes, "Alright, you've eaten and drunk your fill. It's time to sleep. Don't bother your mother anymore."
Er Mao, nestled in her arms, pouted, as if about to cry again.
Gu Lingyu glared at her and immediately carried her outside.
In the outer room, Daiying was still coaxing the third child to drink milk. When she saw her come out, she casually asked, "Did Er Mao drink his milk?"
Gu Lingyu did not respond.
Zhao Jiujiu leaned closer, looked at the second child who was now much more well-behaved, and asked her, "Has Qiuqiu's milk come in?"
Gu Lingyu nodded reluctantly.
The next second, the third child in Daiying's arms started whimpering.
Zhao Jiujiu glanced at the half-full bottle of milk left in Daiying's hand and said, "Why don't you let Sanmao have some too? This little guy drinks milk like he's playing around with us; he's only had this much."
Gu Lingyu refused without even thinking, "Qiuqiu is in so much pain from feeding Er Mao's milk."
Zhao Jiujiu has been through this before and has some experience: "The first time you breastfeed, it will be a bit painful. I'll ask the hospital later if they have any professional lactation consultants."
Gu Lingyu said angrily, "Why do we need professional lactation consultants? Let them drink goat milk. Qiuqiu's milk is not enough for the four of them anyway."
Zhao Jiujiu agreed, tapping the little nose of the second child in her arms, "Luckily, Simao isn't as picky as this little guy, otherwise Qiuqiu would be too busy just feeding him."
Gu Lingyu handed the second child to her, saying, "I'll go check on Qiuqiu and help her get down and walk around."
Zhao Jiujiu took the child. "Hmm, and remind her to drink more water. She hasn't urinated yet, so we need to be careful."
When Gu Lingyu returned to the room, she saw Shen Wuqiu wiping the peaches with a tissue and immediately took over the task, asking, "Would you like to wipe them with warm water?"
Shen Wuqiu felt a little embarrassed when she thought about the milk that had just been squeezed out. "Let me wipe it off."
Gu Lingyu immediately brought her a hot towel and carefully wiped her down. Then, unable to resist, she leaned down and kissed her, complaining, "Er Mao is not cute at all."
Shen Wuqiu nudged her head and quickly pulled her clothes down, saying, "Feeding them is also my duty as a mother."
Gu Lingyu pouted, "It's not like we didn't breastfeed them."
Shen Wuqiu poked her temple. "Alright, help me to the restroom."
Hearing this, Gu Lingyu perked up a bit, "Qiuqiu, do you need to pee?"
Although it was a normal physiological need, Shen Wuqiu still felt ashamed to talk about it and said irritably, "Why are you talking so much nonsense?"
Gu Lingyu chuckled and eagerly helped her up, asking, "Does it hurt anywhere?"
Shen Wuqiu ignored her and got out of bed with her help. After taking a few steps, she realized that she was not as weak as she had imagined after giving birth. So when she got to the bathroom door, she refused Gu Lingyu's help and said, "I'll go by myself."
Gu Lingyu was worried, "I'll watch over you from the side."
Shen Wuqiu ignored her, leaned against the wall, walked into the bathroom, and closed the door.
Her first trip to the toilet after giving birth was more difficult and painful than she had imagined.
When she came out, she was in so much pain that her forehead was covered in a fine layer of sweat.
Gu Lingyu felt extremely distressed. She helped her lie back on the bed, quickly brought over a basin of hot water, and immediately started pulling down her pants.
Shen Wuqiu quickly pulled up her pants, "What are you doing?"
Gu Lingyu said in a serious tone, "Let me clean it for you. The doctor said that you need to pay special attention to cleaning that area after childbirth, otherwise it is easy to get an infection."
Shen Wuqiu was both embarrassed and annoyed: "I wiped it clean."
Gu Lingyu: "It's safer to wash it with warm water, and also check how the recovery is going."
Shen Wuqiu silently released her hand, pulled the blanket over her head, and covered her entire face.
Gu Lingyu gently and carefully wiped her little sister's private parts, afraid of hurting her. If her movements were even slightly rough, she would ask, "Does it hurt?"
After the initial shame subsided, Shen Wuqiu removed the blanket again, pursed her lips, and asked softly, "Does that place look ugly now?"
"Hmm? Why did Qiuqiu say that?"
Shen Wuqiu turned her head to look at the wall, "I heard that after giving birth, that area will become deformed..."
"It's not ugly." To prove she wasn't lying, Gu Lingyu quickly kissed it. "If you're worried, I'll get you a treasure to take care of it in a few days."
Shen Wuqiu squeezed her legs together. "Are you done yet?"
Gu Lingyu helped her pull up her pants. "Alright, do you want to rest for a bit, or get out of bed and walk around?"
After putting on the pants, Shen Wuqiu relaxed a lot. "I want to go see the boss."
Gu Lingyu said, "Da Mao is in an incubator now, so you can only look at him from the outside."
Shen Wuqiu nodded. "I feel a little uneasy if I don't see the boss."
Gu Lingyu understood her feelings, quickly tidied herself up, then helped her out of bed and took her to the intensive care unit.
Chapter 78 Si Mao
The eldest child was the weakest of the four, weighing only 1.5 kilograms. When he was born, his breathing was very weak, and he only started to cry after emergency treatment.
When Shen Wuqiu and Gu Lingyu arrived, it was visiting hours, but only one person could go in at a time. Shen Wuqiu was worried about her boss, so Gu Lingyu let her put on protective clothing and go in.
Even after entering the intensive care unit, it's impossible to have close contact with the child; you can only look at them through the incubator.
There were several incubators in the intensive care unit, but only three were working. The nurse told Shen Wuqiu that the eldest child was in the innermost incubator.
The short walk was filled with anxiety for Shen Wuqiu. Only when she saw her eldest child in the incubator did her tension and unease subside slightly. The baby in the incubator was very small, with a delicate, rosy face peeking out from under the swaddling clothes. It was a little wrinkled and looked even less attractive than its younger sisters.
Shen Wuqiu placed her hand on the incubator, her heart clenching with guilt and unease.
“You’ve done a great job as a mother. It’s just for safety reasons that Dr. Cui suggested you stay in the incubator for a few days.” The nurse could tell what she was thinking just by looking at her expression, so she took the initiative to comfort her and pointed to the incubator next to her. “Look at that one over there, it’s also a premature baby born at 30 weeks. It’s been here for a week now, and I estimate it will stay for another week or two before it can be discharged.”
Perhaps it's an innate magic that children possess for every mother. Shen Wuqiu walked to the incubator the nurse pointed to, and when she first saw the baby inside, she was almost startled. How could one describe the baby in the incubator?
—It was like a fledgling bird that had just hatched, purplish-red, as if it was only covered by a thin layer of tender skin, and its head looked disproportionately large.
Shen Wuqiu glanced at it briefly and then dared not look again.
The nurse came over and sighed softly. "A teenage unmarried girl came to the hospital to give birth. After giving birth, she paid for two days' worth of services and then left without saying a word. Now we can't contact her, and the hospital director has called the police. We contacted her family, but they absolutely refuse to come and help..."
"..." Shen Wuqiu was stunned, and couldn't help but take a few more glances at the poor abandoned child, "Then what should we do with this child?"
The nurse shrugged. "Sigh, what else can we do? It's a human life after all. Right now, our department head is covering all the expenses."
Shen Wuqiu didn't know what to say, so she didn't respond. As she followed the nurse out, she looked at her eldest brother a few more times with lingering reluctance.
After leaving the intensive care unit, Shen Wuqiu felt inexplicably heavy-hearted, but at the same time grateful for having so many elders who loved her and the children by her side.
Gu Lingyu, unaware of her thoughts, assumed she was just worried about the eldest son and assured her confidently, "Don't worry at all, Da Mao will really be alright. If anything happens, Mother will definitely take her back to the clan immediately."
Speaking of this, Shen Wuqiu suddenly remembered something, "Right, you told me before that after you had a baby, you would go home, saying that the baby must be baptized with some kind of holy water from your clan after birth, otherwise it won't grow up."
Gu Lingyu nodded, "Yes, Mother said that your human race has a full moon celebration. After the babies turn one month old, we will take you back."
Looking at her serious expression, Shen Wuqiu still couldn't quite understand, "What do you mean by 'never growing up'?"
"It's just..." Gu Lingyu didn't know how to explain it to her, so she scratched her head, "It's not that I really won't grow up, it's just that I'm prone to growing up badly."
The gods represent the faith in all things. Only by receiving the blessing of the Heavenly Dao can each new life grow into a true member of the divine race and avoid falling into the demonic path.
"...What do you mean by 'grown up badly'?"
"It is because the children of the gods are simple-minded. If they are not baptized by holy water, they are easily corrupted by the filth of the world and fall into evil ways."
Shen Wuqiu understood. Although she still found it somewhat absurd, she dared not joke about the children's fate. "No need to wait until the full moon. Take the babies back home after they are discharged from the hospital."
Seeing her anxious look, Gu Lingyu was not very happy. "There's no need to be in such a hurry."
Shen Wuqiu asked her, "Won't going back slowly affect the children?"
Gu Lingyu pouted and said sourly, "I've never seen you worry about me like this before."
"..." Shen Wuqiu said speechlessly, "I'm talking to you seriously."
Gu Lingyu glanced at her furtively, afraid that she would really be angry, and quickly said, "It won't have any effect."
Only after receiving her confirmation did Shen Wuqiu feel relieved.
She woke up early in the morning, and after talking for a while, she felt sleepy again. Gu Lingyu coaxed her to sleep, but she said she wanted to look after the children. Gu Lingyu then brought the three children, who were full and sleeping, to her side, and she finally slept with them.
After Shen Wuqiu fell asleep, the elders in the family stayed outside on their own initiative. Gu Lingyu, however, stayed by her partner and child's side, sitting on a chair next to the ward, watching her partner closely.
The partner, who had just gone through the agonizing pain of childbirth, looked somewhat haggard and weak, lacking her usual radiance. But she still couldn't take her eyes off them, only reluctantly glancing at the babies when she occasionally heard their whimpers.
The silence lasted for an unknown period of time. Just as Gu Lingyu was starting to feel drowsy, the well-behaved fourth child became restless, humming and groaning softly.
Afraid that she would wake her partner, Gu Lingyu quickly and tiptoed to pick up the fourth child.
After she picked him up, the fourth brother slowly opened his eyes and looked at her with a blank expression. Unlike the second brother, he didn't howl at the top of his lungs, but just whimpered from time to time.
After all, he was her own child. As long as he didn't steal her wife, she felt she was still a good mother. So she patiently and gently coaxed him, "Simao, don't cry. Mommy's sleeping. Let's not disturb her. Okay?"
The fourth brother stared at her with his eyes open, still whimpering.
Having no experience in raising children, Gu Lingyu had no idea what her child was whimpering about, so she simply took the child outside. "Mother, Aunt, the fourth child keeps whimpering, I don't know what's wrong with him."
Zhao Jiujiu walked over, glanced at him, and said with certainty, "Judging from Simao's expression, he must have pooped."
Gu Lingyu: "How did Aunt know?"
Zhao Jiujiu hugged the fourth child, somewhat smugly, "Then I definitely know."
Seeing that she had taken the child away, Daiying thoughtfully prepared diapers and warm towels for wiping the baby's bottom.