Xuemei pursed her lips and said, "Mom, I feel like there are two babies."
Zhu Lan was startled, "It wasn't this big the last time I came back!"
Xuemei thought that she was already quite pregnant last time, but her mother left in a hurry and didn't stay at home for long. Plus, it was almost summer and she was wearing loose clothes, so her mother naturally didn't notice. "Mom, my belly was quite big when you came back last time."
Zhulan felt a little guilty. She left in such a hurry last time. Then she glared at him, "You don't know how many you are pregnant with? And you think it's two? Have you taken her pulse?"
Xuemei shook her head, "No."
She had already given birth to two children, so she knew what was going on, and the children were well-behaved, so she had never thought of taking their pulses.
Zhulan, "... ..."
Well, women in ancient times were really strong when it came to giving birth. In my original memory, there were many women who dared to deliver their own babies. But she is a modern person. In my memory, when my mother remarried and became pregnant, she had constant prenatal checkups and various tests. My mother was even admitted to the hospital before giving birth.
Zhulan helped Xuemei sit down. She thought that giving birth to one child in ancient times was scary enough, let alone giving birth to two at the same time. Zhulan's hands were a little trembling as she reached out to touch Xuemei's belly. It looked quite big. In fact, it seemed to be similar to the belly of her mother who was pregnant with one child in her memory!
Zhulan felt the children moving again and was silent, as if there were really two babies moving. She stared at Xuemei's belly. She was being stupid. Modern children are not lacking in nutrition, and it is normal for them to be born weighing 15 or 18 kilograms. In ancient rural areas, newborns weighing more than 15 kilograms were rare.
Xuemei's family conditions are not particularly good, and Xuemei is slim, so the baby in her belly must not be very big.
Zhulan's heart ached when she thought about it. The twins would be born prematurely. And how could they raise two small children in ancient times
Xuemei was a little dumbfounded. She wasn't scared even though she was pregnant with two babies, so why did she think her mother was scared? "Mom."
Zhulan took a deep breath and asked, "Are you feeling uncomfortable riding in the carriage?"
Zhulan was counting the days on her fingers in her mind. Oh, it was September already. It was a good thing that Xuemei didn't give birth prematurely. Logically, the child should not want to move. She herself had never been pregnant. All she knew were the memories of her original body and her own mother. When her mother was giving birth, she seemed to move quite violently. It was said that she would suffer from hypoxia or something. Ah, Zhulan was going crazy. She really didn't understand!
Xuemei was about to say that she didn't feel uncomfortable when she cried out "ouch", and Zhulan was startled, "What's wrong? What's wrong?"
Li Xu had been listening for a long time. Her mother-in-law's face changed, so she stopped interrupting. Seeing Xuemei's expression, she said, "It looks like she's about to give birth."
Zhulan also guessed, "It's time to give birth, it's time to give birth."
Zhulan calmed down after repeating it twice, and said to Li Xushi: "Who is the midwife in Lijia Village? Please go there."
Mrs. Li Xu stood up and said, "I'll go and invite you right away."
Zhulan helped her daughter out of the main room and walked to the side room. The kang in the side room had been lit and was warm.
Zhulan walked and called Zhao, who hurried out of the kitchen, "Mom, what's wrong?"
Zhulan said, "Go to my room and find the quilt. Your elder sister is about to give birth. Oh, and also find the blanket I prepared in advance. And also take out the newly bought scissors."
Fortunately, she prepared the scissors for safety, otherwise she would be even more worried if she used the old scissors.
Zhao was dumbfounded. Her eldest sister was about to give birth. She was in a hurry and said, "Okay, I'll go find her right away."
Zhulan added: "Cut some of the fine cotton cloth I bought."
There is no time to wash it now, so I'll just use it first. Luckily she had already washed the quilt, and luckily she made two for replacement, otherwise two would not be enough!
She was just too lazy. If she had been more diligent, she would have prepared all the quilts and mattresses. But who could have thought that Xuemei would give birth prematurely? She had thought of buying some and making them slowly, and then finishing them when she returned to Pingzhou!
Xue Han heard the noise and said, "Mom, I'll go call my brother-in-law."
Zhulan hurriedly called the little girl, "Tell your eldest brother to drive the carriage to the county to invite Doctor Lu to come over, and tell him that the family is pregnant with twins and is about to give birth. Oh, and ask Doctor Lu to bring the medicine for the baby's belly button, and also find the strong liquor that your father bought for your grandfather, so that you can use it to wash the scissors later."
Li was killing a chicken and still holding it in her hand, "Mom, what can I do?"
Zhulan was already very calm. After all, she had experienced Zhao's birth, so it wasn't the first time she had prepared. "You continue to cook. It's such a coincidence that these two little guys want to join in the fun today!"
Li's aunts were about to say they were leaving but swallowed their words and responded, "They know that grandpa and grandma are back, and they are anxious to see them!"
Zhulan smiled and went into the house to look at Xuemei. Xuemei was not panicked at all and was still walking on the ground while enduring the pain. Zhulan thought that it would be better not to put pressure on Xuemei. She didn't understand the situation. Xuemei had just gone to Pingzhou in April, and it was said at that time that it was almost four months. Now it was early September, and she didn't know whether it was really nine months!
Zhao came over with a bunch of things in her arms. Zhulan hurriedly took them and wanted to spread the quilt.
Xuemei stopped her, "Mom, the baby will be bloody soon, do you have a straw mat or something at home?"
Zhulan was speechless, "If there was a straw mat, would I take the quilt?"
Li's second aunt said, "I have some at home. I'll ask my daughter-in-law to go get it."
Zhulan asked Xuemei, "Can you still bear it?"
Xuemei's forehead was covered with sweat, "Yes."
Zhulan turned around and said, "Thank you."
Zhulan asked Zhao to look after Xuemei while Jiang Sheng came to the backyard. Zhulan took the liquor from Xuehan's hand and went to disinfect the scissors herself. She didn't trust others, so she also had to disinfect the basin. She also had to rinse the cotton cloth used by the midwife to wipe her hands with hot water. There was a lot of work waiting for her!
By the time Zhulan was ready, the midwife and the straw mat had arrived.
I took two straw mats because I had just started a fire at home and had no ash, so I had to put down more straw mats.
Zhulan asked the midwife to disinfect her hands before letting her in. She watched from the side and felt at ease.
The baby in Xuemei's belly was indeed easy to deal with. Xuemei's birth canal opened without much pain, and she waited less than half an hour before she could give birth. The first child was born very quickly. After the first child came out, the second one didn't take long either. In fact, there were two babies. It took an hour and a half to give birth to the two children.
Zhulan's legs were numb from standing, but she still had to help the midwife with the babies. Doctor Lu brought over some medicine, so the two little ones no longer needed to have their belly buttons touched with wood ash. The two little kids were smeared with medicine and wrapped in fine cotton cloth. Zhulan and Zhao each held a child and went out of the house to the outer room.
Zhou Shuren was already outside, "Two boys and a girl?"
Zhulan smiled, "Two boys."
Zhulan then said to Mr. Lu, "Please take a look at these two premature twins. How are they doing?"