Chapter 190 - It's Time to Push

Doctor Qi explained to Andrea the benefits of not having an epidural, especially since they were already going in that direction. 

"Andrea, the delivery becomes faster without epidural since you can feel the pain and push the babies out along with the contractions."

"It also reduces fetal stress."

Lastly, she was told that in some cases the epidural did not work. Thus, Andrea became open to the idea and got herself prepared. She had no choice, regardless.

Knowing what was about to happen, Li Wen pulled Lu Fang outside the room for a quick talk. 

Standing right in front of the door, she asked him, "Lu Fang, you love my sister right?"

Suddenly puzzled with the bizarre question, he raised his brow as he answered, "Yes. I do."

"Good. Remember this well," said Li Wen as she placed both hands on the man's shoulders. "Andy loves you too."

"Uhuh."

"Whatever she says inside that room. She doesn't necessarily mean it. Don't ever take by heart."

Lu Fang heard about this from stories and movies. He understood what his sister-in-law was saying. He replied with confidence, "I can assure you, I can withstand. It's not like she hasn't been moody towards me during the pregnancy."

"Good luck."

They called Yeong Soon after their talk. Sure enough, she was immediately ready to head to the hospital. They also contacted Yeong and Yanmei who promised to be with them as soon as they finish their business. 

When Li Wen and Lu Fang came back inside, Andrea's brows were knitted together, breathing in and out slowly, deeply. Her face started to pale as she held on the sides of the bed. She was humming each time she exhaled, and that only meant the contractions were getting stronger. 

The man sat beside his wife and held her by the hand. "Babe, thank you for doing this for us. I love you so much."

Andrea did not know how to react. She knew this was part of the process, yet she could not deny hating the kind of suffering she was going through. 

She thought she had a high tolerance for pain but nobody ever told her that contractions were darn awful. 

"You - You better make up for everything - I'm going through right now."

"Yes, babe. Anything."

"Ahh… huh… Ahhh!" She started crying in pain then turned to the man and said, "Don't forget my - my pumpkin carriage and glass slippers!"

"Yes, babe. I promise - "

"You haven't - You haven't even bought me another ring, yet."

He simply smiled and kissed her hand, not letting go of it.  He then closed his eyes and placed her palm against his cheek. 

Li Wen and Christina Lu were asked to step outside the room as they prepare for Andrea to deliver the babies. They both gave their wishes for a safe delivery and kissed Andrea on the cheeks. 

Andrea's nose flared as she forced a smile. She placed her head back and started humming again. 

As her contractions got stronger and faster, she started blurting out just about anything. 

"Hooh! Wow! This is worse than getting shot at. Haha."

"Worse than getting stabbed at… or jumping from a cliff to the ocean! "

A midwife and a nurse were on standby to help prepare with the delivery and receive the babies. Seeing their odd reactions, Lu Fang tried to make excuses telling them that his wife was an action movie star. Turning to Andrea, he said, "Babe, you are doing a great  -"

"I hate you right now."

"Hmmm... know. I'm sorry, babe."

Doctor Qi was looking at the monitor and determining how fast her contractions were getting. "Good. It's picking up faster than I expected." She walked towards Andrea and said, "let's have a look again."

After a few seconds, she pulled out her hand and said," Okay. It's time to push."

"Andrea, I am not going to tell you when to push. Although I can see the monitor, you yourself know when to push. You have to push together with your contractions. You understand?"

Andrea nodded while closing her eyes, taking deep breaths.

"In each push, you hold it until you can but don't force yourself. Ideally, hold it every seven to eight seconds."

"Every after contraction, you can take a breather or you may opt not to push in all contractions." 

"Andrea, you are doing really good. I'm surprised you are not crying as much… Okay, let's get started and open up your legs."

Andrea's bed was now inclined to a near sitting position, her legs apart ready to make her first push. When she felt her contractions kicking in, she pushed hard and the next… and the next. 

In between, she would take deep breaths and occasionally, scream complaints. 

When the man tried to comfort her, she yelled at him saying, "and to think you wanted twelve kids! How dare you?"

"It's okay, babe. We already talked about this and we don't have to have more," replied the man. 

"Andrea?" Doctor Qi called, "let's continue."

She continued to push and push together with her contractions until finally, Doctor Qi said, "Good Andrea. I can see the hair of the baby coming out now."

"Keep going."

Excited, Lu Fang stood up to look at the baby but seeing his wife's hole opening up for the head made him step back, gulping in his own saliva, nearly fainting. 

"Mr. Lu? Are you okay?" asked the midwife. 

"Lu Fang, don't you dare faint on me. If you faint on me now, you are not going to have sex for a year! You got that!"

There was a second of silence before the man finally spoke, "Babe I'm fine. Haha. No way, am I going to abstain."

He shook his head vigorously attempting to bring him back to his senses and went to face his wife...Only his wife. He dared not to gaze to the other side. 

After roughly fifteen minutes of pushing again, a baby's cry could be heard. 

"Congratulations! It's a baby boy!"

The nurse cleaned up the baby on Andrea's belly. It made her cry instantly and so did Lu Fang. After the initial wiping, the baby was taken to a hospital crib for his vitals to be checked. 

Doctor Qi allowed Andrea to take a few minutes of rest before moving on to the second baby. 

"Babe, he is so beautiful. Thank you," said the man as he kissed her while crying helplessly. 

Seeing him shed tears of joy gave her more strength to keep going. She took a deep breath and said, "Let's do this."

This time, it did not take longer than the first. They heard the baby's cry sooner than expected. 

"Congratulations, Andrea and Lu Fang, It's a girl."

Andrea could not understand it. Her tears were flowing uncontrollably. She finally recognized what everyone said in the books about the motherly bond. Her happiness was beyond anything she could have ever imagined. 

Turning to her husband, he was in an even worse state, sulking in her bedside. 

When they both finally calmed down, the couple looked at each other, smiling, silently expressing their love for each other.