Fortunately, An'an only whimpered twice and was not woken up.
Fang Qiao breathed a sigh of relief and waved to Cheng Baidong to open the door for the person.
The ward door opened, and Auntie San poked her head in from outside, asking, "Baidong, I heard from the nurse that Xiao Qiao gave birth this morning?"
Cheng Baidong nodded upon hearing this: "Yes, Third Aunt."
Auntie asked again, "Was it a son or a daughter?"
"Daughter." Cheng Bodong led his third aunt into the house.
"My daughter is wonderful, she's so thoughtful."
"The child is asleep, please speak softly when you come in," Cheng Baidong reminded him.
Third Aunt nodded quickly, "I know, I know."
As soon as she entered the room, she saw Fang Qiao smiling at her, and a smile involuntarily appeared on her face as well: "Xiao Qiao, you've suffered. Oh dear, mother and daughter are safe and sound, that's so good."
She tiptoed closer and saw An'an lying in the stroller. After examining her closely for a while, she said to Fang Qiao, "Your daughter looks just like you; she's fair-skinned and pretty."
Fang Qiao nodded in agreement, saying without any modesty, "I think so too."
"You're right."
The two looked at each other and smiled.
Auntie San placed the small bundle she was carrying on her arm on the hospital bed and unpacked it. She said to Qiao, "I came to the hospital in a hurry yesterday and didn't have time to pack a lot of things. Your grandma was worried that you wouldn't have any clean clothes, so she packed a set and asked me to bring it to you. There's also a bar of soap for Baidong to use to wash the baby's diapers."
Third Aunt took out the items from the bundle one by one. The bundle didn't look big, but it contained quite a lot of things. In the innermost small bundle, there were several hard-boiled eggs wrapped in a towel, which Fang Qiao touched and found were still warm.
"Your grandma boiled these eggs early this morning, they're still warm, have one first."
Fang Qiao shook her head: "Third Aunt, I can't eat eggs yet. The nurse specifically instructed me that on the first day I can only drink some porridge and eat some vegetables. I can't eat any meat."
"Are eggs considered meat?"
"Yes." Fang Qiao nodded: "You can't eat eggs, and you can't drink meat broth either."
"Why?" Auntie San had given birth to two children. In her mind, childbirth was a great ordeal, and after giving birth, one should definitely eat something good. So she couldn't understand why the nurses didn't allow her to eat meat.
“When I gave birth to Xiaojing and Xiaoqiang, your grandma cooked me brown sugar eggs right after I gave birth, and the next morning she also made a big pot of chicken soup for me to drink.”
"Your digestive system isn't functioning well right after giving birth. Eggs are hard to digest, and meat broth is mostly fat, which can cause blocked milk ducts. It's just unnecessary suffering," Fang Qiao explained.
"Alright then." Although Auntie San didn't understand why the method passed down from their ancestors was no longer effective, since the doctor and nurses had said so, they must have their reasons, so she decided to listen to them.
She then asked, "Did the nurse say when I could drink it?"
Fang Qiao replied, "It will be fine in a week."
Third Aunt nodded: "Okay, I'll go back and tell your grandma not to rush to kill the chicken."
"Oh, right, Xiaojing finished embroidering the quilt for you, but the embroidery on it isn't the zodiac pig." Auntie San unfolded the quilt and showed Fang Qiao the embroidered corner.
"The Year of the Pig is after the New Year. You and Xiaojing originally planned to embroider a pig, but no one expected your daughter to be born at the end of the Year of the Dog. Xiaojing felt that embroidering a pig earlier wouldn't be good, so she took it upon herself to change it to a dog. What do you think? Are you satisfied? If not, we can go back and take it down so Xiaojing can change it again. It won't be much trouble."
Xiao Jing's embroidery skills are quite good. She embroidered a long-eared puppy with a red tongue sticking out. Although the lines are simple, she has captured the puppy's adorable charm with just a few strokes. It is very cute.
Fang Qiao liked it very much.
"Third Aunt, please thank Xiaojing for me. The embroidery is very beautiful, and I like it very much."
Embroidery is not easy to do; each stitch takes the most time. This quilt was probably embroidered by Xiao Jing by lamplight overnight.
She originally just wanted to find an excuse to get closer to Xiaojing, but she didn't expect the other party to take it so seriously, which kept her up all night.
Thinking of this, Fang Qiao felt a pang of guilt: "It's just that Xiao Jing has worked so hard. I originally thought it would be good if she could finish the embroidery in the ten days or so before the New Year, but who knew that she would finish it all night yesterday with such fine stitches. I don't know how tired Xiao Jing must have been. When I get home, I must thank her properly."
"We're all family, it's only right. Saying thank you all the time makes us feel distant."
Third Aunt refused Fang Qiao's thanks.
She also had her own selfish motives.
Cheng Baidong's nephew is doing well, and the relatives can benefit from it to some extent.
She wasn't greedy, and didn't want to take too much credit; she just hoped that someone would help her two children when they were in trouble.
Human feelings are reciprocal. If you give a little more now, you'll at least save face if you need their help in the future, and they won't refuse you outright.
Otherwise, why would someone you're not close to help you?
Auntie San didn't stay at the hospital for long before going back. Not long after she left, a nurse came to give Fang Qiao an anti-inflammatory injection and told Cheng Baidong to take the child downstairs to bathe and get vaccinated.
After the vaccination, the nurse gave me the vaccination record book and then instructed me: "Babies are prone to jaundice in the first few days after birth. Observe them closely at home. If you find that your baby's skin is yellow, let the baby sunbathe. Go home and ask the doctor. If everything is fine, you can usually be discharged this afternoon."
"So fast?" Cheng Baidong was a little dazed. "My wife just gave birth this morning. Shouldn't we stay a few more days?"
"Of course you can stay a few more days if you want; there are plenty of beds available in the maternity ward."
The nurse explained, "What I mean is, there's no need to stay longer. Once a woman gives birth, unless there's severe bleeding or other dangerous situations, there's no need to stay in the hospital indefinitely. Besides, newborns have weak immune systems, and the hospital is full of people coming and going. Especially some of those grown men who start smoking in the wards, no matter how many times you tell them to. The heating in the rooms isn't even working properly, so the whole maternity ward smells of smoke. It's uncomfortable for adults, and even more uncomfortable for babies. It's much more comfortable to go home."
Cheng Baidong finally understood. He thanked the nurse and said, "I'll go back and discuss it with my wife."
He went back and told Fang Qiao, who nodded to indicate that she understood, and said, "Then let's discharge her this afternoon."
In her previous life, she gave birth to her daughter in the town hospital. She gave birth at night and was discharged during the day, and there was still a case of severe bleeding.
Fang Qiao knew that the present was different from the future.
After all, it's only 1971 now, and hospitals aren't as standardized as they are now. In her past life, when her niece gave birth, it was already the new millennium. Back then, they could give birth with epidurals, so you wouldn't feel any pain during delivery. Plus, they checked the baby's umbilical cord blood type and tested for jaundice right after birth.
Nowadays, let alone painless injections for adults, even jaundice tests for children are not common, and the hospital environment is far inferior.
Going home is good, it's peaceful and comfortable.
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