Chapter 152: Delivery Day

Su Wan’s tension eased considerably when she heard this.

“The best obstetrician is doing my surgery, so don’t worry. The children and I will be at home waiting for you to come back.”

Su Wan hid her worries, careful not to say anything too negative.

But Lu Zhengchuan could already sense it. He gripped the receiver, wishing he could reach through the phone and pull her into his arms.

“Wanwan, the battle is going well. I’ve been listening to you and staying on guard against outsiders, so I haven’t been hurt. Aside from being a little tired, I’m completely safe,” Lu Zhengchuan said, reassuring her first.

He told Su Wan everything he was allowed to say about the front lines, which helped to set her mind at ease.

The comfort clearly worked. Su Wan’s frayed nerves relaxed. By the time Father Su, Mother Su, and even Second Brother Su and Second Sister-in-law Su arrived with Nuannuan, her anxiety had lessened even more.

When she was wheeled into the operating room on schedule that morning, she wasn’t in too bad of a state.

Mother Su and the others waited anxiously outside the operating room.

Time ticked by, second by second. As the clock hands moved from eight-thirty to ten, the tightly shut doors of the operating room finally opened from the inside.

The first to be wheeled out were two babies in incubators.

“The babies… how are the two babies?” Mother Su and the others swarmed forward.

Father Su asked, “Are they boys or girls?”

Second Brother Su chimed in, craning his neck for a look.

“How is Wanwan? Was the surgery successful?” Second Sister-in-law Su asked with concern, holding Nuannuan.

The nurse said, “Family members, please don’t crowd around. We need someone to come with us to take the babies to the nursery to be placed in their incubators.”

“I’ll go, I’ll go,” Father Su said hurriedly.

“You go with our second son. Each of you watch one baby. If anything goes wrong, you’ll have me to answer to,” Mother Su ordered with a stern face.

The two men of the family nodded repeatedly.

Only then did Mother Su look at the two babies with concern and ask, “Are they boys or girls?”

“They’re fraternal twins, a boy and a girl—an older brother and a younger sister.” The nurse, understanding the family’s anxiety, spoke quickly. “The brother is four pounds, and the sister is three pounds. The delivery went smoothly. The mother will be out shortly, so have a family member ready to wait for her.”

“Good, good, good.” Mother Su was so moved her eyes turned red.

Father Su and Second Brother Su also wiped away tears, getting all emotional, and hurried after the babies.

As they walked, they didn’t forget to mutter quietly, “So the older brother was stealing his sister’s nutrients in the womb. He’d better protect his little sister from now on.”

“Exactly, exactly. Sigh, the little sister looks like a baby chick right now, so frail. No, that won’t do. Once she can eat solid food, she needs to eat more. What’s the point of a girl being so skinny? Health is what matters.”

Second Sister-in-law Su stepped forward with a smile. “Mom, they’re fraternal twins! Wanwan has both a son and a daughter now. We have to tell our brother-in-law the good news right away so he can share in the joy.”

“You’re right, we should tell him. Jiaojiao, you go downstairs and call our son-in-law. Tell him the wonderful news,” Mother Su instructed, beaming so wide she couldn’t stop smiling.

Second Sister-in-law Su nodded immediately and handed Nuannuan to her mother-in-law. After all, she didn’t want the child to catch a chill from the cold air downstairs.

“I’m on my way, Mom.”

Holding Nuannuan, Mother Su didn’t have to wait long before Su Wan was wheeled out of the operating room. She rushed to her side.

“Wanwan, how are you? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?” Mother Su asked caringly.

Although Su Wan was tired, she was still conscious. She shook her head. “Mom, I’m fine. They gave me an anesthetic for the C-section, and it hasn’t worn off yet, so it doesn’t hurt.”

“What about the babies? Are the babies okay?” Su Wan asked anxiously.

Mother Su walked alongside the hospital bed, patiently reassuring her. “The two babies are fine. The boy is four pounds, and the girl is three. Those weights are normal for moderately premature twins, much better than the extremely premature state we were worried about. It shows we did a good job taking care of you and them these past few weeks.”

Hearing their weights, Su Wan let out a huge sigh of relief. Based on what the doctor had said before, she had worried the babies might be born weighing just over two and three pounds, which was already very light. The lighter they were, the weaker their health would be.

“That’s good.”

“I sent your dad and your second brother to watch over the two babies, so you can rest easy.”

“Oh, and I also told your second sister-in-law to go downstairs and call Zheng Chuan with the good news.”

Seeing that everything was well-arranged and the babies were being looked after, Su Wan let herself fall asleep after being wheeled into her room and having her mother wipe the sweat from her brow.

–

Su Wan was woken by the pain from her incision. Her forehead was beaded with cold sweat, and she felt a bone-deep chill. Glancing around, she saw Second Sister-in-law Su holding Nuannuan and feeding her.

“Wanwan, you’re awake?” Second Sister-in-law Su looked up and saw Su Wan trying to prop herself up to sit. She hurried over. “Wanwan, what are you doing?”

“Sister-in-law, I need to use the restroom.”

Su Wan fought back the pain, her voice weak.

“Wanwan, don’t rush. I’ll go get Mom to help you,” Second Sister-in-law Su said quickly.

She had given birth naturally and had a very smooth delivery, so she hadn’t experienced the kind of discomfort Su Wan was feeling.

Second Sister-in-law Su went out with Nuannuan, and a moment later, Mother Su hurried back in.

“Wanwan, come on, I’ll help you.” When Mother Su saw her daughter trembling in pain as she got out of bed, with tears streaming down her face, she knew she was in agony. She frowned and said, “Wanwan, maybe you shouldn’t get out of bed. I can go buy you some adult diapers. I heard they’re waterproof and adults can wear them.”

Su Wan’s ears turned red at the suggestion, momentarily forgetting the pain. She sniffled and said, “Mom, it’s okay. It’s just the first night that’s really painful; it’ll get better. I’m not going to eat anything today. I’ll wait until tomorrow.”

“How can you do that? Your body is already weak from childbirth. You have to eat. Besides, I already asked Sister Zhao to go home and make some daikon radish soup. It will help you pass gas.”

“You’ve slept for three hours now. In another three hours, you can have a little something to eat. If you wait until tomorrow morning, that’ll be almost twenty hours. I asked the doctor; you can eat a little. Mom wouldn’t dare let you eat too much either.”

Although this was the first time Mother Su had heard of a C-section, she hadn’t been idle these past few hours. She had been asking the nurses and doctors about every detail of postpartum care.

Su Wan finally managed to use the restroom through the pain. Lying back on the bed, she still felt like she was in agony.

“Mom, I know. You can arrange what I eat.”

Su Wan knew it was impossible not to eat at all, and besides, she would get hungry.

But after the anesthetic wore off, the pain was excruciating. It felt like every position hurt, but she didn’t want to worry her family, so she could only force herself to endure it.

A little after four in the afternoon, Aunt Zhao arrived, bringing plenty of food.

“Here, you all eat up. I’m sure the hospital food for lunch wasn’t anything special. This daikon radish soup is very light; I was careful not to make it too greasy, since that wouldn’t be good for Wanwan.”