Plague Doctor

The pregnant women’s cries echoed inside the antepartum ward room, there were also voices of comfort from their families. This was a room for 3, it was a ward for the women whose contractions weren’t constant yet. Their families could stay here with them. Currently all 3 beds were occupied. The 30 plus woman in the middle bed got it worst. She groaned endlessly. She even bit on her husband’s arm to share the pain; the woman on the left was also in her 30s, she also felt the pain but she did not shout out loud, in fact she barely made a noise at all; the woman on the right was in her 20s, she only groaned weakly. The pain of labor was dependent on the individual mothers.

Since this hospital did not support painless delivery, none of them were here for caesarean birth. Natural birth did not allow the use of drugs because that would influence the contraction of the uterus, thus affecting the success of the birth. Therefore, the women would have to use their determination to suffer through this challenge. Screaming was a normal thing inside this ward but for these women and their husbands, this was their first time experiencing this. The longer they waited, the more nervous they became.

One of them was Xu Jianxun. His wife, Wei Ru, was in the ward for 3 days already. She was not even 3 fingers wide yet. However, his wife was very strong-minded. No matter how loud the woman next to them shouted, she gave not a peep. However, the deep frown and twitching face proved that she was in pain. If not for his mother and mother-in-law, Xu Jianxun wouldn’t have known what to do.

“Honey, here’s some water.” He once again handed his wife a glass of water, the doctor said drinking water would help a smooth delivery.

“I feel the pain coming more insistent now…” Wei Ru took a difficult sip of the water. “I think I’m in labor…”

“I’ll go get the nurse.” Xu Jianxun jumped up from her bedside. His two mothers took over his place by the bed while he rushed out the ward. He moved towards the nurse station and told one of the nurses urgently. “Nurse Lee, my wife said she is in deeper pain. Please come and take a look at her.” Nurse Lee immediately put down her work and moved to follow. Lee Jianxun returned to the ward with the nurse. Nurse Lee made some inspection and announced, “She’s ready. We’ll move her into the labor room now.”

Lee Jianxun’s brain buzzed. He bustled around as the nurses went about their work. In less than half an hour, his wife was wheeled into the labor room. By then she was openly screaming. In this hospital, the husband could accompany their wives in labor but they had to sign the relevant contracts and went through aseptic cleansing. Xu Jianxun opted to join his wife. He told his mothers not to worry. Then he was led by the nurse to the changing room to put on sterile clothes, gloves and mask before he was allowed into the labor room. The delivery doctor, Doctor Chen and the nurses were already ready by the bedside. Wei Ru was in place. Doctor Chen was a middle-aged female doctor. She was a senior doctor at the obstetrics department. She had a good reputation and there had never been any accidents in her presence. However before Xu Jianxun even got to his wife’s side, he was already sweating. The glow from the shadeless light amplified the darkness in his heart.

“Honey, I’m here.” He walked to his wife’s side and gripped her right hand. He said encouragingly.

“Ah…” Wei Ru listened to Doctor Chen’s advice and did some breathing exercises. The couple was married 2 years ago after 3 years of dating. They met each other at the workplace. At the time, both of them had just graduated from university. They had an ease around each other and the rest was history. Their 2 years of marriage were very smooth. Even during Wei Ru’s pregnancy, the hormones did not cause much tension. Xu Jianxun loved children and so did Wei Ru.

They planned to have a second child soon because they felt a single child would be quite lonely without a companion. It would be best if they had one of each gender. Due to the connections Xu Jianxun’s family had at this hospital, they already knew about the gender of their firstborn. It was a girl. Wei Ru’s monthly check up during her pregnancy went smoothly. So the whole family was waiting for the little angel to arrive. Xu Jianxun and Wei Ru had already come up with the name for their daughter, it was Xu Qiuyue. This was mainly Xu Jianxun’s idea.

“Ah…” Wei Ru wailed in pain and that pulled Xu Jianxun’s attention back into the labor room. Even though he did not quite understand it, he kept glancing at the graph on the monitors. ‘It should be fine, right…’

“Push, I need you to breathe and push.” Doctor Chen encouraged. Her powerful voice calmed people’s hearts. “I can already see the baby’s head. It’s going well.”

Xu Jianxun did not go to look. He merely held his wife’s hand, hoping to channel his energy to her. “Hang in there, honey, it’s almost over…” During the earlier inspection, the baby’s head was facing down, which was perfect for delivery. Wei Ru also had a wide hip, she was not too old to have a baby. Theoretically speaking, delivery was not going to be difficult, it was why they chose a natural birth. Even so, watching his wife’s sweaty face and pinched expression, Xu Jianxun’s heart wrenched with pain. He promised that he would be better to his wife, after seeing through what she had to go through for their family…

“Come on, push!” Doctor Chen urged. These few minutes were torture for Xu Jianxun. He had no idea how he and his wife survived it. Suddenly Doctor Chen was holding a small baby. The baby was still covered in blood and her skin was wrinkled. The umbilical cord was still attached to the placenta.

“Honey, our baby is here!” The words just came out of his lips but then another scary thought entered his mind, why isn’t the baby crying?

The baby in Doctor Chen’s arms was so quiet.

“Don’t worry, the alveolus pulmonis is still inactive.” Doctor Chen explained as she patted the baby on her butt. Normally, a baby, who would not cry naturally, would start to cry after receiving this external stimulus. They’d open their mouths and start to wail. If the baby did not cry or the crying was weak, then there would be a problem. So Doctor Chen and the nurses were not that worried. After the pat from Doctor Chen, the baby moved her lips. One of her wrinkled eyes was still closed. Her throat moved and her vocal cord brushed against each other. The baby made a throaty voice as if saying, “…Negative selection…”

Xun Jianxun and Doctor Chen were stunned. The nurses frowned. Wei Ru was confused and nervous. Then as if that never happened, the baby started to wail.

Hearing this loud crying, the old mothers outside the labor room shed happy tears. They had a healthy granddaughter!