Chapter 52: Girl or Boy?
Wang Zhao’s sleepiness disappeared instantly upon hearing these words. She sat up in bed and knelt halfway next to Li Zhenguan, “Is your stomach hurting?”
After saying this, she began to dress and get out of bed to pack things.
“It hurts a bit.” Li Zhenguan’s expression was actually still quite calm. His stomach had been hurting for a while, but he originally thought it was just false labor. It wasn’t until he felt a bit of wetness below that he realized something wasn’t quite right, and that’s when he woke up Wang Zhao.
He said: “I think the first membrane down there has broken, and some water has leaked out.”
The male physiology was different here, and Wang Zhao already understood this. When Li Zhenguan got pregnant, she had specifically learned about this aspect of knowledge. As soon as Li Zhenguan spoke, she knew that this was really it, and it was imminent.
This layer of membrane was somewhat like the amniotic sac in the previous world, but not quite the same. Because besides the first membrane, there was also a second membrane. Once the second membrane broke, it would almost be time to give birth.
Wang Zhao sped up her dressing: “Why didn’t you call me earlier?”
Li Zhenguan was also getting his clothes, sitting up on the bed and putting on a coat: “I was afraid I might be mistaken and give you a false alarm.”
He had experienced quite a few midnight pains this month. At first, they thought it was time for delivery, but it turned out to be false labor. Later, Li Zhenguan decided not to say anything unless absolutely necessary. It was only when the contractions became more and more frequent that he felt something was wrong.
Wang Zhao didn’t say anything, just told Li Zhenguan to call the hospital first.
Li Zhenguan nodded. He was actually a bit scared too, after all, it was his first time giving birth. How could he not be afraid? But Wang Zhao appeared very calm, which made his heart feel much more at ease.
After quickly getting dressed, Wang Zhao opened the door to wake up Zhang Ke and Wang Xuechun next door, then returned to the room to pack things.
The hospital bag had been prepared long ago, with Li Zhenguan’s ID card and sterilized toiletries all ready. They could go directly to the hospital. The doctor on the phone just now had already said to come over now.
Zhang Ke and Wang Xuechun were also a bit flustered at first, but calmed down after seeing Wang Zhao’s orderly actions.
Zhang Ke said: “Bring the baby’s milk powder and bottles too, and the sanitary napkins for Zhenguan. He’s allergic to other brands of toilet paper.”
Wang Zhao nodded.
Zhang Ke also came to help pack, and with two people, they were obviously much faster. Within seven or eight minutes, everything was packed up. Zhang Ke and Wang Xuechun carried the things, while Wang Zhao prepared to help Li Zhenguan downstairs.
“Can you still walk?” Wang Zhao asked after helping Li Zhenguan put on his socks and shoes.
Li Zhenguan had one hand on his waist and managed to nod, “I can still walk, the pain isn’t too intense.” It was just that water kept leaking out from below occasionally, which felt strange and sticky, making him uncomfortable.
Wang Zhao supported his entire body. Because Li Zhenguan’s belly was too big, she didn’t dare to carry him directly, and could only half-embrace him like this.
At this moment, Wang Zhao had to marvel at the convenience of elevators. These stairs were too challenging for a pregnant man. Wang Zhao exerted quite some effort to bring Li Zhenguan downstairs. Wang Xuechun was already sitting in the driver’s seat.
“You stay with Zhenguan in the back, I’ll drive.”
Wang Zhao made a sound of agreement, helped Li Zhenguan sit down, fastened the seatbelt, and then checked the documents on her person. Everything was there.
Li Zhenguan’s breathing became more rapid, and a layer of sweat appeared on his face. He felt the contractions in his belly becoming more and more frequent, now almost unbearable.
“Very painful?” Wang Zhao wiped the sweat from Li Zhenguan’s forehead and face, asking softly.
Li Zhenguan nodded. Actually, this pain wasn’t the intense kind, but it was continuous. After being in pain for a long time, it made one feel powerless.
But as soon as Wang Zhao’s voice sounded in his ear, Li Zhenguan couldn’t hold back anymore. As if there was infinite grievance in his heart, he couldn’t help but want to cry.
“Is it that painful?” Wang Zhao was a bit worried. She wasn’t very clear about what childbirth was like in this world, whether it would also take more than ten hours like in the previous world.
She simply hugged Li Zhenguan, letting him bury his face in her neck, and gently patted his back, “We’ll be at the hospital soon.”
Wang Xuechun also comforted: “It’s just about ten minutes away, and the doctor said there won’t be any problems.”
Perhaps because it was nighttime, there weren’t many cars on the road. During the day, this route would take at least half an hour due to traffic jams.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Li Zhenguan sat in a wheelchair and entered the delivery room. The doctor first examined him, “The first membrane has already completely ruptured, why did you only come to the hospital now?”
Li Zhenguan said: “We were sleeping at night, and at first thought it was false labor. Only later did we realize something wasn’t quite right.”
However, the expected due date was actually just around these few days, so it wasn’t too far off.
On the way, contractions had been constant, and Li Zhenguan had used his phone to time them, occurring about every five minutes, with the pain becoming increasingly intense.
After entering the delivery room, Wang Zhao had to fill out a bunch of forms and register information. Li Zhenguan lay on the bed, and after the doctor’s examination, it was confirmed that the first membrane had ruptured. They still had to wait for the second membrane to rupture before administering painkillers, so he still had to endure for a while longer.
In fact, he was already in unbearable pain now, his whole body involuntarily curling up. After Wang Zhao finished filling out the forms, she sat beside him. Wang Xuechun sat outside, while Zhang Ke was recording a video. Li Zhenguan had said earlier that he definitely wanted his childbirth to be recorded as a memento.
Li Zhenguan lay on the bed, in so much pain that his whole body wanted to roll around. His face had turned a bit pale, and he tightly gripped Wang Zhao’s hand, unable to hold back the muffled groans of pain from the intense contractions.
“Should we call the doctor?” Wang Zhao crouched down by the bedside, stroking Li Zhenguan’s head. He instinctively hugged her neck and couldn’t help but start crying, really crying, with tears flowing out all at once.
“Wang Zhao, it hurts so much.” It really hurt so much.
Wang Zhao stroked Li Zhenguan’s head and held his hand tightly: “I know, just hang in there a little longer. It’ll be over soon. I’ll call the doctor to give you painkillers in a moment.”
The painkillers could only be administered after the second membrane had also ruptured.
Although the pain came in waves, each time it was unbearable. When Li Zhenguan couldn’t stand it anymore, Wang Zhao went to call the doctor. After checking, the doctor said, “The second membrane has also ruptured. I’ll go call the anesthesiologist. You’ll need to have some blood drawn for testing first.”
Li Zhenguan, lying on the bed, made a sound of agreement. At this moment, Zhang Ke suddenly remembered that they hadn’t called the in-laws yet. By rights, they should have called when Li Zhenguan was about to give birth.
“I’ll go make a phone call.” Wang Zhao stood up.
However, she didn’t call Yang Jin directly, but called Li Zhenwei first. After all, it was already four or five in the morning, and it wasn’t convenient to disturb the elders. She thought she’d tell Li Zhenwei first, and let her inform the elders when daylight came.
Li Zhenwei answered the phone quickly, making Wang Zhao suspect that she might have been up all night again.
“Sister, I have something to tell you,” Wang Zhao spoke directly, causing the sleepy Li Zhenwei to suddenly become alert. “Zhenguan is in the hospital now, probably about to give birth.”
“Wait until dawn to bring Mom and Dad over.”
Li Zhenwei sat up immediately, turning on the room light. Actually, she had only gone to sleep after two o’clock, having just finished dealing with a document.
“I’ll come over.” Li Zhenwei still couldn’t rest easy. Such a big event as giving birth, she couldn’t just wait for news at home. So she said: “Which floor are you on? I’m coming over now.”
Wang Zhao couldn’t stop her, so she just said: “Fifth floor.”
After hanging up the phone, Wang Zhao returned to the room. A nurse was giving Li Zhenguan an IV. “We’ll administer the painkillers soon. This needle might hurt a bit, bear with it.”
The nurse said it would hurt, and indeed it did. It was probably the most painful injection Li Zhenguan had ever had. He lay on the bed, taking a moment to recover. “Did you finish the call?”
“Mm.” Wang Zhao sat down in a chair. “As soon as I told her you were at the hospital, she couldn’t wait and insisted on coming over. I couldn’t stop her, so I told her the floor number.”
Li Zhenguan nodded.
After receiving the painkillers, he indeed felt much better. At least he could lie down and play with his phone, and even sleep for a while. Wang Zhao let him rest a bit, as the actual delivery probably wouldn’t happen until daybreak.
The whole family stayed at the hospital. Fortunately, the room they had booked was spacious enough, given the high cost—several thousand per day.
At six o’clock, Wang Zhao went to buy breakfast. The hospital food might not be to Li Zhenguan’s liking, and since it was convenient, he didn’t need to eat liquid food. She bought a variety of items to give Li Zhenguan some choices.
However, Li Zhenguan didn’t eat much, just drank a small bowl of egg wine before the pain started again. They called the doctor to check, who said they could start preparing.
They didn’t need to go to the operating room; they could deliver right there after some preparations. It was only now that the things Wang Zhao and the others had brought came in handy.
At this time, Li Zhenwei arrived, but she also brought Yang Jin and his wife. The three of them had clearly come in a hurry, looking a bit disheveled.
Reaching the door, they saw Wang Zhao’s family and asked, “Has the baby been born?”
Wang Zhao shook her head: “Not yet, it’s just starting.”
She had also been sent out by Li Zhenguan, who didn’t want her to watch him give birth. But standing outside the door, she could still hear the sounds from inside, which made her anxious. The doctor was constantly cheering him on.
Although painkillers had been administered, the pain could still be felt during delivery. Li Zhenguan’s whole body felt somewhat numb in the back. He kept pushing, but the baby in his belly still wouldn’t come out. As he pushed, he couldn’t help but call out Wang Zhao’s name.
“Save your strength, use it down there,” the doctor said. “I can see the head. Take a deep breath, exhale, yes, yes, yes, push a little harder, push a little harder.”
After saying this, Li Zhenguan felt something being pulled out from below. It really felt like that. All at once, he felt relieved, and tears immediately welled up.
The doctor slapped the baby’s bottom, and a loud cry resounded throughout the room.
“It’s born!” Zhang Ke said. “This should mean it’s born.”
The door was opened, and Li Zhenguan was cleaned up before Wang Zhao was called in. The baby was placed next to Li Zhenguan’s pillow. His face was covered in sweat, mixed with tears, and his hair was a bit damp. He looked as if half his energy had been drained.
He didn’t look at the baby, only staring at Wang Zhao. As soon as she appeared at the bedside, Li Zhenguan started crying.
Who knows how many times he had cried tonight. Wang Zhao, unusually gentle, hugged the man in front of her waist and used her hand to wipe the sweat from his neck.
“Zhenguan, you’ve worked hard,” she said softly, looking apologetically to the side, letting the doctor take the baby out for Zhang Ke and the others to see.
Wang Zhao couldn’t help but laugh and cry: “Zhenguan, do you know what the baby looks like?”
Li Zhenguan didn’t care. He really wanted to cry now, unable to express why. He seemed to have a heart full of grievances to tell Wang Zhao, but now he was at a loss for words.
His stomach still hurt a little, but he had already lost feeling down below.
“I didn’t look,” he said, his voice trembling and sobbing. He was really sobbing, making even the doctor beside him unable to hold back a laugh. The doctor glanced at Wang Zhao without saying anything, then cleaned up the things nearby and left. “I don’t need to look to know the baby looks like you.”
At this point, he suddenly became energetic again, “Is it a girl or a boy?”