"Xiaxia, itās time to feed the baby," she said, having had some soup in the afternoon and then continuing to sleep until now, when she actually woke up with the child.
"How, how am I supposed to feed him?" Yang Chuxia held the child somewhat perplexedly. Then she added, "He hasnāt eaten since he was born? Isnāt he hungry?"
In her previous life, she had never had a child, so how was she to know how to raise and feed one?
"Before you woke up, the child woke up once, and I fed him some plain water. He didnāt spit it up, drank it, and actually went back to sleep. But now he canāt drink water anymore." Ms. Wang came forward and said, "Undo your clothes and let the child latch on by himself."
Upon hearing this, Yang Chuxia understood a bit more.
Eldest must have really been hungry, as his instinct to search for food kicked in, and Yang Chuxia could feel his vigorous sucking, but after quite a few tries, he started to cry as he couldnāt extract anything.
"Mother, I donāt think I have any milk!"
As the child cried, she also became anxious.
"Try the other one." Hearing this, Yang Chuxia switched to the other side.
However, after several attempts, it was still no good; even when they switched to Second, there was still not a drop of milk.
"Mother, didnāt my little cousin drink rice soup? Letās try that. Call Granny Meng and Grandma Lin for me later."
Unable to draw any milk, Ms. Wang had to resort to mixing brown sugar with rice soup to feed them. The children were cooperative, consuming whatever was offered. After sipping the brown sugar water and smacking their lips, they continued to sleep.
Sometime later, Grandma Lin and Granny Meng came together, and nanny Li also came up with them.
"Grandma Lin, Granny Meng, I donāt seem to have any milk. Is there any way to deal with this?"
On the side, nanny Li was startled by the words, as the lady wanted to breastfeed the child herself. In wealthy families, didnāt they usually hire wet nurses? But then she remembered that there had never been any talk of hiring a wet nurse in the household.
At this moment, Grandma Lin was thinking the same as nanny Li. Grandma Lin, who was a midwife specifically for the wealthy families, knew that in such households, it was typically the wet nurses who fed the children, to prevent breast sagging. Furthermore, when those ladies and concubines sought her, they were asking how to stop lactation, not to encourage it, and she was momentarily at a loss.
Granny Meng, on the other hand, said, "Iāll write a prescription to encourage lactation for the lady. Combine it with grass carp or pigās trotters to stew, have a couple of meals to start with, and if that doesnāt work, I will try something else."
"Okay, please trouble Granny Meng to write it." Yang Chuxia nodded and then said, "Also, please Granny Meng and Grandma Lin to stay here for a few more days. Once Iām better, Iāll have someone escort you two back home."
"Naturally, thatās no problem. Thereās nothing urgent back in the county town anyway."
The two then went down, and nanny Li followed to see how to prepare it.
Perhaps because she slept a lot during the day, Yang Chuxia couldnāt fall asleep and just stared at the two little babies, who looked exactly the same.
"Mother, which one is Eldest and which is Second?" She couldnāt tell them apart at a glance and was genuinely confused.
"Havenāt I told you before? The one with the red blanket is Eldest, and the one with the blue blanket is Second. Youāre being quite odd lately, not only forgetful but also unable to distinguish between your own children," scolded Ms. Wang. "You say you donāt understand anything, luckily thereās nanny and servant girl at home, and I am close to you. What would you do if you had married far away?"
"Heh, none of those problems exist," said Yang Chuxia as she poked the little bunās face, only to be slapped away by Ms. Wang, "Why are you always poking him? If you wake him up, heāll start crying."