Chapter 189 - The Babies are Coming

37 weeks and 1 day. Andrea and Lu Fang were at the airport dropping off Li Wen and the kids. They were standing in front of Royal Dragon's private plane when they bid their goodbyes, their extended Audi just parked nearby. 

Yeong had already met with Li Wen early in the morning for breakfast and did not come along as he was headed to an offsite location, one Lu-Wei Enterprises' operations, with Yanmei. He saw great potential in the nature of the business and was determined to make it grow, not just for himself but for the future of his sister and her babies. 

"I'll be sure to come back when the babies are born. I'm so excited. I was actually hoping you'd already give birth," said Li Wen as she gave her sister a hug. 

"Me too! I want to see the babies, Aunt!" cried Mei-Mei. 

"Bye, Aunt," Jianyu said as he gave Andrea a peck on the cheek. 

"Bye Uncle, Fang!" Xia Mei said then she turned to hug her unborn cousins and whispered, "I want to play with you soon. Bye."

Li Wen and the children already boarded the plane and got settled on their seats. She was about to turn off her phone when Lu Fang called.

"Yes? Lu Fang?"

"Wen, Andrea said she did not urinate but there is water on the ground and on her legs."

Li Wen immediately looked through the window and saw the couple still standing, Lu Fang carefully looking down at the pavement and on the sides of Andrea's thighs. She let out a sigh and put down the phone. 

"Stop the plane! We are getting off!"

The couple saw Li Wen heading down the plane with the kids and they heard her scold them, "What are you two doing? Let's go to the hospital!"

They rushed inside the car and immediately instructed Hanxi to drive efficiently, with care, to the hospital.

Lu Fang sat in the front with Hanxi and frantically called Doctor Qi. 

Li Wen stayed with Andrea and talked her through it while the children stayed in the middle seats of the Audi observing their Aunt.  

"Is this really it?" Asked Andrea. "How come I'm not feeling any discomfort?"

"Not just yet. Your bag of water just broke. You'll soon go into labor. The amount of time may vary," said Li Wen as she held her sister's hand. 

"This is it. I'm excited for you, Andy. I think it's a good decision you will have epidural, that way you'll enjoy giving birth."

"Right… I'm nervous."

"Try to relax and lean back."

Li Wen gave Andrea smiles of assurance all throughout the drive while the man in front was in a panic. He had already packed their hospital bags yet; they weren't inside the car. Thankfully, Han-joon stayed behind since they were supposed to bring Andrea back to the Penthouse Suite. 

When Han-joon finally answered, he gave instructions for him to bring the luggage to the hospital. 

Lu Fang had already requested from the hospital and from Doctor Qi a special arrangement for Andrea's delivery. Instead of going through the maternity ward, she had a private room equipped with the necessary facilities to deliver a baby by natural birth. A midwife was always on standby inside the room to monitor the progress. 

Upon hearing the news, Christina immediately left for the hospital with Go Bolin to drive her. When she arrived, Andrea was already inside the room, wearing her hospital gown with an IV fluid in her right hand and a heart monitor on her belly. 

"How are you, Andy?" asked Christina.

"I'm fine, mom," replied Andrea as she gave a weak smile. She was already starting to feel a little pain that ran from her back down to her pelvis. It was a strange sensation for her. 

Lu Fang was next to her on the other side of the bed. His coat was off, so was his tie and his hair was a mess. Christina could tell her son was more anxious than the mother to be. 

A male OB resident came to check on Andrea. He was about to remove the blanket that covered her when the man protested, "Excuse me? Just what are you doing?"

The resident had a quick look at the patient's name before addressing him and said, "You must be Mr. Lu. I am an OB resident doctor and while Doctor Qi is not yet here, I will check on your wife for her - "

"No!"

Everyone in the room was shaken up. 

"Under no conditions will a man take a look at my wife's…. Just no! Immediately get a woman resident right here! Right now!"

"Babe?" Andrea tried to reason with him, but the man was persistent. 

"No! No! No!" He stormed outside the room to speak with the hospital administrator and within fifteen minutes a female OB resident arrived. 

Li Wen was outside the room handing the kids to Han-joon. She instructed him to take them to the couple's home in the meantime. She was planning to wait for Andrea's doctor so she stayed behind. Lu Fang had already asked Aunt Rosa to help look after Jianyu and Mei-Mei. 

Hanxi was also outside, waiting restlessly. 

When Doctor Qi finally arrived, she immediately went to study the patient. She could see her already uneasy. After checking on her cervix she let out a heavy sigh and turned to the midwife. "Where is doctor Wan?"

"Doc, Doctor Wan had to attend to an emergency operation at the General Hospital and said she'd be on her way… an hour ago."

"Call her again."

"Yes, Doctor Qi," said the midwife and immediately went outside to the nurse station and do as instructed. 

Li Wen came inside to check with the doctor and asked, "Is everything all right?"

Doctor Qi smiled at everyone in the room, to Christina and Andrea especially before replying, "I'm still assessing the situation at the moment but I could tell, the babies are excited to come out."

"I just need to check on our anesthesiologist. I'll be back soon."

The midwife came back to stay with Andrea, monitoring her opening while Doctor Qi was outside. 

An hour passed and Andrea was feeling the pain get to her senses. She was lightly lifting her hips in hopes it would ease the pain, her face frowning and her breaths started to become labored. She asked, "Why am I not having my epidural yet. Is this supposed to be normal?"

"What's going on?" Li Wen murmured seeing her sister in distress. 

The midwife was unaware of what was happening outside since she has been with Andrea the whole time so Christina was about to look for Doctor Qi but she came inside the room shortly after. 

Doctor Qi checked on Andrea's cervix once more. She took a deep breath, looked up to Andrea and said, "Andrea, the anesthesiologist can't make it. There was an accident on the main road preventing her from making it on time for your delivery."

"The babies are coming really fast. We are going to have to do this the natural way without an epidural."