Chapter 1292: Chapter 1270: Guidance
After seeing her son and feeling content, Fifth Lady Han suddenly turned pale, letting out a cry of pain. Nanny Li, who was keeping watch nearby, jumped up in fright.
Manbao quickly said to her, "It’s okay, let me press a bit. It will help expel the lochia."
Fifth Lady Han was naturally more sensitive than others and couldn’t tolerate the pain at all. After just the second press, she couldn’t hold back her tears, and Nanny Li hurriedly comforted her, saying, "Third Madam, you can’t cry during your confinement period! Take care of your eyes."
Fifth Lady Han tried to hold back her emotions, but ultimately couldn’t suppress them. Tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes as she shook her head and said, "I can’t, it hurts too much, Doctor Zhou Junior, please stop pressing."
Manbao withdrew her hand and looked at her sympathetically. "It’s okay, take a rest first. I’ll press again later."
She had practiced this technique on anatomical models before, but those models couldn’t provide feedback other than physiological changes. However, from what she’d read in books, this method was known to be somewhat painful.
Initially, she thought it was only mildly painful, but after stitching Fifth Lady Han up earlier, she adjusted her perspective. The uterus had just been sutured—how could pressing the fundus feel merely "somewhat" painful?
With this realization, Manbao empathetically decided not to continue pressing immediately but instead planned to proceed gently, pressing twice at a time and repeating the process several times.
Keke thought that if Fifth Lady Han knew about this plan, she would probably regret crying out earlier.
Manbao, always a doctor who prioritized her patients’ needs, saw that Fifth Lady Han was in such pain and, having nothing urgent to do, began contemplating acupuncture.
Thus, after pressing several times and seeing that Fifth Lady Han truly couldn’t handle the pain anymore, she took out her needle pouch and tentatively administered acupuncture for pain relief...
Fifth Lady Han’s complexion improved slightly as Nanny Li brought the baby over and whispered, "Third Madam, should I take the child to the wet nurse for feeding?"
Manbao glanced at the baby and immediately said, "The child seems a bit weak. Why don’t you try nursing him yourself for the first two months?"
Fifth Lady Han paused, "Me? Nurse him myself?"
Manbao nodded, "Mother’s colostrum is better for the baby. How long have you had the wet nurse?"
Fifth Lady Han didn’t respond. Naturally, wet nurses were already mothers themselves. She leaned forward to look at her son and hesitated, "But I don’t know how to nurse him."
Manbao replied, "I do. I’ll teach you."
Nanny Li turned and looked at Manbao, who still wore her hair in a maiden’s style, remaining silent.
Fifth Lady Han didn’t concern herself with such thoughts. She awkwardly took the baby into her arms and looked to Manbao.
Manbao thought for a moment before saying, "You’ll need to wipe with warm water first. Let the baby latch naturally."
Nanny Li interjected, "That’s not ideal; you need to stimulate lactation first."
Manbao countered, "Oh, don’t worry. The baby can help with that. My mother says the first thing babies learn after birth is to cry and to eat."
Nanny Li, however, felt this resembled practices of poorer families. In modest households, wouldn’t they first prepare a bowl of stimulating food, then initiate lactation, and only after that begin feeding?
In households as affluent as theirs, it wasn’t customary for the matron to nurse the child herself.
Even though Zhou Man recommended it, Nanny Li didn’t think Fifth Lady Han, who had just undergone a cesarean section, should personally nurse the baby. The fact that she was awake, able to speak, and even sitting up in bed was already a miracle—how could she also be expected to nurse?
Nanny Li felt this was all rather unfair to the Third Madam.
Manbao explained to Fifth Lady Han, "Once lactation begins, your uterus will contract, reducing bleeding. It will speed up recovery and benefit the baby too."
She listed various advantages, making Fifth Lady Han even more tempted.
Nanny Li objected, "Doctor Zhou Junior, you haven’t had children yourself, so you don’t know. Nursing a baby is very exhausting. Once they grow a bit, they’ll bite you when their strength increases."
Manbao smiled, "No problem. Don’t you have a wet nurse? After one or two months, when Fifth Lady Han finishes her confinement period, recovers from the wounds, and the baby has grown healthy and stable, you can pass him to the wet nurse."
Nanny Li frowned, "...But by then, Fifth Lady Han’s condition will have improved. Why not let her nurse him herself?"
Manbao responded, "...As I said, it’s initially for the colostrum, and to balance Fifth Lady Han’s yin and yang for quicker postpartum recovery."
Nanny Li was taken aback, "She’s injured right now, and you still want her to nurse? This, this..."
Manbao was speechless for a moment, then turned to Fifth Lady Han, "Well, do you trust me, or her?"
In her heart, Fifth Lady Han naturally trusted Manbao more. However, she didn’t show her preference openly. Instead, she glanced apologetically at Nanny Li and softly asked Manbao, "If I feed him, will I have milk?"
Manbao nodded, "My elder sister and sisters-in-law all nurse that way—it comes naturally. Try it, and if it doesn’t work, I know recipes for stimulating lactation."
Nanny Li watched as the two women conversed back and forth and ultimately made the decision. Manbao then had the servants bring a basin of hot water.
Enduring the pain, Fifth Lady Han turned slightly to unbutton her clothes and nurse the baby. Her face turned bright red from embarrassment.
Nanny Li sighed and stepped forward, helping guide her in holding the baby...
The little baby moved his mouth, at first clumsily, but gradually became more skillful, with his strength growing. Perhaps due to the delay in extracting milk, he hummed impatiently twice. Fifth Lady Han felt a strange sensation in her heart, then suddenly realized the baby had latched onto something...
The baby gradually quieted down, and Fifth Lady Han looked down at the infant in her arms, finally feeling a sense of reassurance. She lifted her head to look at Manbao and said, "This is my son."
Manbao nodded, "Yes, he’s yours."
When Li Sanlang came to know, Fifth Lady Han had already finished nursing the baby. He scratched his head in confusion, "She can nurse the baby already? Does that mean she’s recovered?"
Nanny Li replied somberly, "Doctor Zhou Junior said it’s still too early. We’ll need to wait three more days to know for sure, but nursing the baby benefits the Third Madam—it’s a good thing."
What kind of good thing?
How could someone with wounds still feed a baby, exerting themselves?
Unfortunately, even after Manbao explained, they couldn’t fully comprehend her reasoning. Nonetheless, with Fifth Lady Han consenting, they couldn’t stop her.
Consequently, news that Fifth Lady Han had begun nursing the baby herself less than two hours after undergoing a cesarean spread throughout the Li Residence.
The mistresses of the Li Residence, who had been sent away earlier by Eldest Lady Han, couldn’t resist coming to inquire, eager to see Fifth Lady Han with their own eyes.
They had all suffered immensely during childbirth—
Could a cesarean possibly be easier than natural delivery?
Rumors had it that Fifth Lady Han was unconscious during her cesarean procedure, feeling nothing at all, and the entire operation—from incision to delivering the baby—had taken less than fifteen minutes.
Fifteen minutes! Who among them didn’t labor for hours on end?
For a first birth, enduring pain for an entire day and night wasn’t uncommon. Yet Fifth Lady Han had finished in just fifteen minutes?
Even Eldest Lady Han, who had observed the whole procedure, was thoughtful after witnessing it—until she saw how Manbao pressed on her sister’s abdomen to expel the lochia.
Also, when her sister wanted food, Manbao firmly denied her request, only allowing her to sip warm water. Nothing else.
Eldest Lady Han finally understood why Zhou Man had stayed. If it were them, they wouldn’t have been able to stop a determined Fifth Lady Han from eating.