The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 922 - 900: Having a Child

Chapter 922: Chapter 900: Having a Child

After Manbao had placed the needle, it wasn’t long before Zhou Xi felt it. She tightly stared at the midwife’s mouth, followed her in holding her breath, then exerted force, only to feel that the pain made her lose all sensation...

She instinctively grabbed whatever was next to her, tightly clutching it. Manbao’s hand was gripped by her, and it felt as though it was about to break. Her other hand was clenched into a fist and stuffed into her mouth...

The midwife exclaimed excitedly, "I see the head, I see the head! Let’s hold our breath again, and once the child’s shoulders are out, it will be alright..."

Manbao wanted to look, but Ms. Qian firmly held her down. She thought that her younger daughter was even more worrisome than her elder one; was childbirth something a young girl should witness?

All Manbao could do was hear the midwife continuously shouting and watch her elder sister’s face contort in pain as she breathed and pushed again. Manbao felt her heart clench...

"It’s out, it’s out..." The midwife caught the baby, first cutting the umbilical cord, then clearing the obstructions from the baby’s mouth and nose, and lightly tapped the baby’s bottom, prompting the child to cry out loudly.

The midwife became joyful and showed the tired Zhou Xi the baby briefly, saying, "It’s a big, healthy boy; congratulations, madam."

Zhou Xi just lifted her eyes briefly, and the midwife then took the baby aside to be cleaned. Junior Ms. Qian was efficient, quickly bringing out swaddles that had been prepared in advance.

After cleaning the baby, the midwife handed it to Junior Ms. Qian, and returned; Manbao had already removed the needle and was currently taking Zhou Xi’s pulse.

She approached with a smile, arranging Zhou Xi and speaking with praise to Ms. Qian, "Granny’s house is truly blessed to have such a young lady. Where did she learn such medical skills? Truly marvelous."

Ms. Qian laughed, "She learned from Doctor Ji at Jishi Hall in Yizhou City. She’s still young; she has much more to learn."

The midwife couldn’t help but envy, "That’s wonderful; female doctors are rare in this world."

Manbao hesitated, "I always feel that Elder Sister’s pulse is a bit weak and floating, is she bleeding too much?"

The midwife took a look and said, "It’s a bit much but still within normal limits. The main issue is your nephew was too big."

She even complained a bit, "Back in April, I said it was enough just to eat to satisfaction, no need to eat too much, too well. A big child is difficult to deliver."

Ms. Qian glanced at Zhou Xi, she had also advised her on this matter, even Manbao had mentioned it.

Zhou Xi’s face turned slightly red, whispering, "I just felt hungry, so I always had an extra bowl of noodles at night to be able to sleep."

Then Guan Xin, feeling sorry for Zhou Xi, couldn’t resist adding two extra eggs when he cooked noodles for her or buying some meat to stew, providing her with a late-night snack in the evening.

Ms. Qian couldn’t help but hold her forehead, but seeing her pale face lying on the bed, she couldn’t find it in her to scold her, so she just excused herself to the midwife.

Manbao looked at one, then at the other, silently pulled out the needle again, thought for a moment, and administered another set of acupuncture to Zhou Xi, "It’s okay, Elder Sister, rest for a while. I’ll stew some medicine for you."

Everyone: ...

Junior Ms. Qian had already taken the baby out to show Guan Xin and Zhou Dalang.

Zhou Dalang smiled, his eyes nearly squinting shut, cheerfully saying, "This is my grandnephew!"

Guan Xin, feeling weak in his hands and legs, hesitated beside the swaddles before admitting, "Sister-in-law, my hands are heavy, what if I mishandle the child, you hold him, you hold him. How is Xi, can I go in to see her?"

Junior Ms. Qian peered inside before saying, "The baby was quite large, and Xi had some difficulties. Mother and the midwife are taking care of her; just wait a little longer."

Guan Xin found it hard to stand still, took a couple of steps forward, and peeked in, asking, "Should we call the doctor?"

Junior Ms. Qian replied, "Manbao is here, let’s wait a bit and see what Manbao suggests."

Junior Ms. Qian, of course, knew that Zhou Xi was fine but how could the serious matter of childbirth be treated so lightly?

Postpartum lochia was normal, but excessive bleeding was not, and Ms. Qian knew this all too well; her illness stemmed mostly from the exhaustion and hunger caused by childbirth.

Improper care during postpartum confinement would mean suffering for life.

Previously, whether one was weak or bleeding, one generally endured through it; one would make it through unless there was excessive bleeding, and only then would a doctor be called if it seemed like the person might not survive.

Having suffered herself, she naturally did not want her own daughter to go through it again, so after some thought, Ms. Qian decided to stay here with Manbao to take care of Zhou Xi during her confinement and manage the postpartum care properly.

Although she often verbally expressed great trust in her little daughter’s medical skills, Ms. Qian still had some reservations deep inside. Therefore, after cleaning up Zhou Xi, she told Guan Xin, "Go to Jishi Hall and find a doctor to have a look. If everything is fine, let Manbao prescribe the medicine."

If there was a problem, it would be safer to have an older doctor treat her.

Guan Xin quickly agreed and ran off to fetch the doctor.

The doctor who serviced Jishi Hall was quite familiar with Manbao. After greeting each other, he checked Zhou Xi’s pulse and asked about her condition before saying, "The bleeding is rather heavy. I will prescribe some medicine."

After a pause, he then looked at Manbao, "Manbao, did you use a hemostatic acupuncture on your older sister?"

Manbao nodded.

"What about the prescription?"

Manbao immediately showed the doctor the prescription she had written. After examining it, the doctor handed it back to her, stood up, and smilingly said to Ms. Qian, "No need for me to intervene; the prescription Manbao wrote is very good. I couldn’t prescribe a better one myself."

Ms. Qian breathed a sigh of relief.

The doctor then turned to discuss postpartum care topics with Manbao.

Manbao had been researching this very subject recently and spoke very knowledgeably, though she nearly lacked experience. The doctor could tell right away, but even her textbook knowledge was quite impressive.

Thus, the doctor offered the pointers he could and learned some unknown prescriptions and acupuncture techniques from Manbao.

After their discussion, the doctor could not help but exclaim, "No wonder Doctor Ji started sending letters to our shop the moment you returned; you are truly a medical prodigy."

He had also started studying medicine as a child, but had not learnt as much at the age of twelve.

At that time, he had just finished memorizing the medicinal materials and started working in the pharmacy gathering medicines, occasionally memorizing prescriptions and learning how to make plaster. He would have been overjoyed just to get the chance to check a pulse under a doctor’s guidance.

But he was surprised at how quickly Manbao had learned; she was already capable of prescribing independently, and her prescriptions were not inferior to his at all. Now the doctor was not only envious but a little jealous as well.

Indeed, one really should not compare oneself with others.

With a sigh, the doctor left. Guan Xin, who stayed in the courtyard, nearly fainted with fright, and stiffly turned his head to ask his uncle, shaking his finger, "What... what does this mean?"

Overhearing as she was seeing the doctor out, Junior Ms. Qian cast him a sidelong glance and said, "It means nothing serious; it’s just a little too much bleeding. Manbao can handle it, and now she needs to take medicine. Young man, I already told you to restrain your diet and not to eat too much; why are you still feeding her five meals a day?"

Guan Xin lowered his head in shame.

"All right, this is the prescription Manbao wrote; I’ll trouble you to gather the medicine. Later, cook it and bring it to her," she then said to Zhou Dalang, "You can go back now. Manbao and I will stay and take care of Xi. After the day after tomorrow when Manbao needs to return to her classes, you can come back for her."

Zhou Dalang agreed.