"Sister-in-law, how is your eldest daughter-in-law? Is her stomach hurting badly? Did her water break first, or did she start bleeding first?"
After Xu Xiuxiang and Chen Xiuzhi warmed up, they pushed open the door and entered the west room.
"My water broke first. I managed to eat something earlier, but now I'm saying my stomach pains are getting worse in waves."
Zhang Shuzhen had been staying with her daughter-in-law the whole time, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her two close friends had come.
"Daughter-in-law, how often do you feel pain? Is it very painful?"
Xu Xiuxiang had seven children, one more than Zhang Shuzhen, so she was very experienced.
He stepped forward to touch Zhou Qinglan's stomach while asking her how much pain she was experiencing.
"It seems to be quite fast, every few minutes." Zhou Qinglan gritted her teeth and endured a wave of contractions before answering.
"Okay, let me know if you feel pain again, and I'll keep track of the time for you."
Xu Xiuxiang gave Zhou Qinglan some instructions while turning her head to look at the clock on the wall.
A few minutes later, Zhou Qinglan cried out in pain. Xu Xiuxiang made a point of noting the time and carefully confirmed the interval between the two contractions.
"Hmm, every five or six minutes, I reckon the eldest daughter-in-law is about to give birth."
It's okay, relax, don't be nervous. I've had seven children, and your mother had six, and we raised them all to adulthood.
Don't worry, don't exert any force now. It's not time yet. When you feel pain every three or four minutes, and your back is sweating from the pain, that means it's almost over.
Xu Xiuxiang held Zhou Qinglan's hand and comforted her.
Around 3 p.m. on January 1st, Zhou Qinglan, who was still seven or eight days away from her due date, had her water break and then started having abdominal pain.
Perhaps it was because Zhou Qinglan hadn't been idle since becoming pregnant, consistently attending classes and participating in various activities, or perhaps it was because she was young, but anyway, her cervical folds opened quite quickly.
Around 4:30 pm, just as Xu Xiuxiang had said, her stomach started hurting every four or five minutes, and she was sweating from the pain in her back and forehead.
"Lie down properly. Now you can try to exert force. Don't rush, take it slowly, and use a long burst of strength."
Take a deep breath, hold it, and strain.
Xu Xiuxiang directed Zhou Qinglan, teaching her how to exert force and how to coordinate with the contractions to push downwards.
As the saying goes, concern leads to confusion.
Having given birth to so many children, Zhang Shuzhen, who should have been able to take it all in stride, panicked when she saw her daughter-in-law's face turn pale with pain and her forehead beaded with sweat. She forgot everything else and could only hold her daughter-in-law and cry.
Fortunately, Xu Xiuxiang and Chen Xiuzhi were there. The two of them remained calm and directed Zhao Juan to do the work, teaching Zhou Qinglan how to breathe and exert force.
Zhou Qinglan's mind was blank at this moment. She relied solely on instinct, taking advantage of the contractions and pain, she held her breath and pushed down.
Just after she exerted herself a few times, she heard someone shout.
"Almost there, almost there, I can see the scalp, just push a little harder and the baby will be out."
So Zhou Qinglan rested for a bit, then continued to push. After two or three more attempts, the baby's head finally emerged.
Xu Xiuxiang and Chen Xiuzhi stepped forward; one pressed down on Zhou Qinglan's stomach, while the other held the baby's head in place.
"Quickly, push harder, just a couple more pushes and it will be done. You absolutely cannot stop now, otherwise the child will get stuck here and could suffocate."
Zhou Qinglan gritted her teeth and strained again. Suddenly, she felt her stomach go empty, as if something had been released.
"Oh my, it's a boy, a chubby little boy."
Xu Xiuxiang supported the baby's bottom with one hand and held the baby's little feet with the other, then lifted the baby upside down and patted it twice.
The newborn baby cried out in pain.
The baby's cry was like heavenly music, instantly easing the anxieties and frantic crowd in the room.
Next, Xu Xiuxiang used a brand-new pair of scissors that had been sterilized by boiling water to cut the baby's umbilical cord, and then tied the remaining umbilical cord with gauze.
At this moment, Zhao Juan brought in hot water. Xu Xiuxiang quickly wiped the baby's body and then wrapped him in a large quilt and blanket.
Then Zhao Juan handed over a scale, and Xu Xiuxiang used the scale hook to hook the package and weigh the child.
"Six pounds and six ounces, what a big, healthy boy! Congratulations, sister-in-law!"
Xu Xiuxiang was overjoyed and quickly put the child down, while congratulating Zhang Shuzhen.
These days, people generally don't eat well, and pregnant women don't have much good food to eat either, so it's rare for a fetus to grow to a particularly large size.
Some babies are born weighing only four or five pounds, not much bigger than a kitten. Babies weighing over six pounds are considered very fat.
Children who weigh seven or eight pounds like those in later generations are extremely rare.
Actually, this is for the best. Given the current conditions, if a woman were to give birth to a baby weighing eight pounds, she would suffer terribly.
If things go wrong, the baby might not be able to be born, which could result in the death of both mother and child.
At that moment, Zhang Shuzhen had no time to pay attention to the child.
She collected the baby's amniotic sac, placenta, and other items, and then used a clean white cloth to wipe away the blood and grime from Zhou Qinglan.
Once the blood and grime have been mostly cleaned up, roll up all the toilet paper, toilet paper, and other waste, throw them on the ground, and clean them up later.
"It's okay, honey. Close your eyes and rest for a while. Mom will get ready for you. Once you're done, you can go to sleep peacefully."
Zhang Shuzhen tidied up the things on the kang (a heated brick bed), made sure Zhou Qinglan was properly settled, covered her with a quilt, and then took the baby and placed it next to Zhou Qinglan.
Zhou Qinglan didn't have much strength left at this point, and only turned her head to look at the child beside her.
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