145 Little One

True to the words of the doctor, Midori's labor progressed slowly. By the time they administered the second dose of steroids, she looked exhausted.

She gripped her husband's hand as another strong contraction came, while she gritted her teeth and went with the urgency to push.

She looked at the monitor and saw the recovery of the baby's heartbeat after the contraction. Earlier, the doctor explained to them how the monitor works.

Dan held her sweaty head, parting the strands of hair sticking onto her face. He kissed her temple. He could just imagine how much more she would have hated him while he was away when Manta turned out to be their child. She would have underwent labor alone, without him.

He embraced her tightly. He would have regretted it all his life if he had let her suffer alone.

After an hour, the doctor went in to do another internal examination.

Midori never appreciated this, but at this point, she was only hoping that it would be time to deliver.

"Alright, Mrs. Zhou. The baby's head is already coming down. On the next contraction, I want you to take a deep breath, hold it in with pursed lips, then you need to push like you are defecating. Understand?"

Midori nodded. It was a bit uncomfortable to be instructed like that, but she could only follow so that the baby will be delivered safely.

After pushing through two contractions, there was clear fluid gushing out.

"What's that? Something's coming out!" Midori was scared.

"Doctor, tell us what's happening! Is the baby okay?!" Dan could not hold his emotions as well.

"Mr. and Mrs. Zhou, don't worry. The amniotic sac is expected to burst during labor and delivery. The fluid it contained gushed out just now. It would actually hasten the delivery of the baby."

The soon-to-be parents sighed with relief.

"Mrs. Zhou, we now need to transfer you to the delivery room. Would the father want to come in when the baby is out, to cut the cord?" She eyed Dan.

Dan looked at his wife, as if pleading for an answer.

Midori took his hand and nodded, then she answered for him. "He will cut the cord."

"Alright then, I will ask a nurse to give you a change of sterile clothes." The doctor asked for assistance on the patient's transfer and a nurse to provide scrubs for the father, who will be informed when the baby is out.

Aoi smirked at the dazed Dan as his gaze followed his wife being rolled away into the delivery room areas. "You had the same look."

Dan snapped out of his thoughts. "Mom! Uhm...were you telling me something?"

She gently shook her head. "Nandemonai."

Dan kept clenching the stuff the nurse gave him to change into.

"So, are you gonna stand there or will you change? The baby is coming any minute now." She had to wake him up from all his thoughts so he would move.

Dan realized that he was wasting time. He immediately went to the changing room and put on sterile clothes, shoes and cap.

"I'll get that for you." Aoi gestured to get his clothes which were placed inside a clear bag which was also provided by the hospital staff. She snickered. "Nervous?"

"Dead scared." he declared.

"Even more than when I almost killed you?"

He chuckled amidst his nervousness. "Maybe?" He had a timid smile.

"Sir, the baby has been delivered. You could enter now." A nurse opened the door for him.

He looked at his mother-in-law like a toddler in his first day of school.

Aoi almost chuckled. "Go!"

As soon as he entered the delivery room where his wife is, he could hear the cries of a newborn.

"Congratulations, Dad! You now have a baby boy!" The doctor declared.

Dan's first reaction was to look at his wife. She looked beaten up.

He held her hand and kissed her forehead full of beads of perspiration.

"It's already a minute. Serve the father sterile glove and the bandage scissors." the doctor commanded.

A nurse complied. He was instructed where to cut the umbilical cord.

The baby was being dried with a warm towel, another doctor was checking his breathing, heartbeat and temperature.

Dan looked at his son. He looked so small and fragile. He thought this little one could fit in his shoe box...not that he was planning to lay him there.

The neonatal intensivist instructed him on how to hold the baby.

Dan had always been confident about his abilities, but at this point, he doubted himself. The way he held his son was so stiff, as he was scared to death of the possibility of dropping him.

Other staff members volunteered to take photos for the new little family.

Midori tried to smile despite how tired she was.

After keeping skin-to-skin contact with the mother, and trial of latching, the doctor declared that the baby had low temperature, so they transferred him inside the incubator. Although his breathing and heartbeat were both fine, he was a preterm newborn after all.

After giving back his son to the doctor, Dan went back to his wife's side as the doctor was finishing her sutures.

"Did it hurt?" he asked worriedly.

"Try asking it one more time and I'll bring you the pain."