Yu Zhaohua grabbed Yu Hai's clothes and pointed to an insulated box: "Yu Hai, look, that's our second son."
He's so handsome, much fatter than the kid next to him. Look, look, he's even yawning! He's quite delicate-looking too!
He's suffered so much; he hasn't had a drop of milk yet, and he's 2.7 pounds smaller than his brother was at birth.
His brother weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces at birth, was fair-skinned and chubby, and so handsome!
Yu Hai couldn't help but recall the image of his eldest son when he was just born—chubby, fair-skinned, and incredibly clean.
They laugh at the slightest provocation; they're so lovable!
Although his former mother-in-law favored sons over daughters, she cared deeply for her daughter. Since he had no female elders, Chen Hong's mother left her entire family seven or eight days in advance to accompany Chen Hong during her pregnancy in Rongcheng.
She didn't leave until Chen Hong finished her postpartum confinement period. She made two sets of cotton-padded jackets, trousers, and swaddle blankets for the baby, one thick and one thin.
Back then, disposable diapers weren't common in rural areas, and the old lady started preparing cloth diapers from the time they got married.
All the clothes and sheets were old, pure cotton clothes worn by the adults in my family.
Finally, fearing it wouldn't be enough, the old lady went out and bought a length of mosquito netting, washed it clean in advance, steamed it, and then sun-dried it.
During that period, colorful flags fluttered on the clothesline every day, yet we had a great sense of life.
The father and son stared at the baby in the incubator, but their thoughts were elsewhere.
At 3 p.m., Yu Zhaohua and Yu Hai had just finished their lunch. Liu Lan's mother bought each of them two flaky sesame cakes.
After dinner, the three of them divided the tasks. Old Man Yu went home to watch the house and cook, and he would also have to stew some chicken soup, fish soup, and bone broth to send over tomorrow when Liu Lan was able to eat solid food.
Liu Lan's mother was the main caregiver at the hospital. During the day, she mainly supervised the IV drip, took care of Liu Lan's getting up and down, and ensured the mother's personal hygiene.
Yu Hai works during the day and comes in the evening to relieve his mother-in-law and take care of Liu Lan.
With someone accompanying him in the ward and everything arranged, Yu Hai quickly went to the maternity and baby supplies store at the hospital entrance to buy things.
When I got there, everything was there. I didn't even need the note I had written down; the staff had just provided a complete set of everything I could need.
They even made up for the things that Liu Lan and he had overlooked, providing everything they needed and offering excellent service. They spent a lot of money on this.
He didn't dare buy anything high-end; he just spent almost a thousand yuan on ordinary things, and a quarter of his salary was gone in the blink of an eye.
Kids' money is so easy to earn these days. Even so, he still managed to buy some items that he doesn't need right now.
Raising a child really costs a lot of money! Yu Hai felt the immense financial pressure after just one visit to a maternity and baby store.
He still needs to find a way to make money! He wants to give his children the best life, but everything depends on money!
Old Yu received the pardon and went home excitedly. He wouldn't be needed for the next day or two, so he could finally relax and have a good rest.
Fortunately, my husband passed away early; otherwise, if I had to take care of my daughter-in-law during her postpartum period with my mother-in-law, I would have been seriously injured, if not killed.
He was the only male in-law, and he lived with Liu Lan's mother every day. His brain was constantly buzzing from her, and as young people would say, it was all "fizzled out."
Liu Lan's mother is a troublemaker. Her daughter gave birth but didn't want to see her nephew. All she wanted was the placenta, which made the whole family forget about taking care of the child!
Not to mention that Old Man Yu went home to relax for a while, Yu Hai couldn't leave the hospital tonight, and even if he wanted to leave, his wife wouldn't let him.
Liu Lan knew exactly what kind of person her mother was. She was fine with having her do odd jobs and assigning her tasks, but she shouldn't even think about anything else.
Yu Hai didn't eat dinner and took care of his wife all night, changing medicine bottles, urine bags, toilet paper, and diaper pads.
The doctor would also come and squeeze Liu Lan's uterine cavity from time to time, which made Liu Lan scream in pain.
There were three women in the room who had just given birth, all of them via C-section, but none of them made as much noise as her. This made Yu Hai very embarrassed, and he kept apologizing to the other two women.
Even the doctor couldn't help but say to her, "Giving birth is never painless, and you have to control yourself even if it hurts."
Shouting won't help; it won't stop the pain and it'll only disturb other people's rest. Just bear with it; it'll be fine in two days.
Liu Lan's mother, oblivious to the pain, said, "It's not just the pain that's real, it's the mental comfort. It's okay, go ahead and scream! Who doesn't cry out in pain during childbirth!"
Seeing that his mother-in-law was about to cause public outrage, Yu Hai quickly interjected, "If it really hurts too much, I'll put a towel in your mouth for you to bite on!"
"Why stuff a towel in my throat? It's not like I'm being tortured! But it's not unlike torture!"
Yu Hai couldn't help but roll his eyes. Why does his mother-in-law always have to do things? Can't she just shut up for a minute? Can't you see she's offended everyone in the ward?
After an afternoon of interaction, the doctors and nurses all knew that the caregiver for bed 38 was irresponsible, and no one paid any more attention to her.
No matter what she said, they acted as if they couldn't hear her. If they had something to say, they would talk to Yu Hai, but if Yu Hai wasn't there, they would talk to Liu Lan directly, and then relay the message to Yu Hai when he came.
Even the family members accompanying Liu Lan's mother in the ward treated her like she was invisible, but this old lady was still trying to get attention everywhere!
Liu Lan stayed in the hospital for five days, visiting every ward on this floor. She knew which bed had given birth to a boy, which bed had given birth to a girl, and who brought her meals.
She knew better than the nurses at the nurses' station who delivered what lunch and which patient had a relative visiting.
Of course, she also spread the word about their family affairs throughout the entire floor.
Her mouth was so loose, like an old lady's tattered cotton trousers waistband, that nobody wanted to talk to her. One nurse called her the "know-it-all" of the obstetrics and gynecology department!
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