Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Cheng Yuan's eyes went still.

He reached out and held the baby's little hand, a slow smile spreading across his face.

Pei Qingji calmed the baby down for a bit, then laid him down flat on the bed.

The baby was wearing clothes printed with cartoon bears, with an avocado-print blanket over him.

As soon as he was placed on the bed, the baby suddenly squirmed, and the milk he'd just drunk spilled out of his mouth.

The milk ran from his mouth down onto his neck.

The baby's expression seemed somewhat pained, his little face scrunching up, whimpering and fussing.

The two of them panicked and rushed the baby to the doctor's office.

They were in the inpatient ward, which, besides the nurse's station, usually had a doctor's office on hand.

"Doctor, doctor."

A doctor came walking down the hallway.

Pei Qingji rushed over with the baby, his voice urgent.

Cheng Yuan followed closely behind, watching the baby's pained face, feeling like his heart was being squeezed.

"Doctor, why is he throwing up milk!"

The doctor's face changed, and he told them to follow him into the office.

"When did the baby spit up? Was it right after he ate?"

Pei Qingji tried to stay calm, but a hint of barely hidden urgency lingered in his voice.

"About ten or fifteen minutes. We fed him, put him on the bed to settle him down, and not long after, he spit up..."

"Was it a large amount? Did it just leak out a little, or did it shoot out?"

"Luckily, it just leaked out."

"Before he spit up, was he crying, squirming, or did his tummy seem bloated?"

"I don't think so. He only started fussing and squirming after he spit up."

"How much did you feed him? Did you give it to him too fast or too much?"

"Not much, just over ten milliliters. I even measured it and fed him slowly."

"Did you hold him upright and pat his back to burp him after he ate?"

The two of them froze, then shook their heads.

"Doctor, why did this happen to him?"

"A baby's stomach is horizontal right now, and the 'valve' connecting the esophagus and stomach—called the cardia—is pretty loose.

"Because of that, milk can easily flow back up.

"As the baby grows, the stomach gets more vertical, and this problem goes away on its own."

"It might be that he ate too fast and swallowed too much air while feeding."

"It's nothing serious. Don't worry too much. Spitting up now and then is totally normal—no need to panic."

"When you get back, hold him upright and pat him gently for a bit. Don't lay him flat right away."

"Or you can lay him on his side to keep him from spitting up and choking."

"If he starts projectile vomiting or spitting up a lot, call me to come check on him again."

That's what the doctor said.

"Hold him upright? And pat his back?"

Pei Qingji held the baby upright and gently patted his back.

"You're not holding him right."

"Like this." The doctor took the baby and demonstrated the right way.

"First, rest the baby's head on your shoulder, then gently pat from bottom to top to burp him for a few minutes."

"Got that?"

Pei Qingji nodded.

"When you bottle-feed him, watch your positioning. Keep his upper body raised, about thirty to forty degrees."

"Give it a try."

Pei Qingji carefully held the baby upright, rested his head on his shoulder, and patted him gently, a little stiffly.

The patting seemed to help—the baby stopped looking pained and stopped squirming.

The two of them finally relaxed.

"Am I doing it right?"

The doctor nodded.

"Alright, you can go back now."

Pei Qingji patted the baby gently, eyes down, sounding full of regret.

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't held him wrong, he wouldn't have ended up like this."

Cheng Yuan's fingers curled slightly.

The baby seemed a little uncomfortable and started whimpering again. Pei Qingji quickly patted him again and walked him around for a bit.

After a while, the baby finally fell asleep.

Only then did Pei Qingji fully relax.

"Let me take him."

Cheng Yuan reached out, copying Pei Qingji's hold, and took the baby back into his arms.

But he wasn't sure, so he kept lifting his eyes to ask him.

"Is this position right?"

"You just had the baby, you need to rest." Pei Qingji looked a bit worried, his brows knit slightly, clearly not on board.

Cheng Yuan just shook his head.

He carefully laid the baby down in the crib.

The baby was already asleep, his thick, long lashes curling up.

They left the baby in there for a while, watching him closely, not daring to look away for a second.

Luckily, the baby didn't spit up any more milk.

"You're tired too, go get some rest," Pei Qingji said.

Cheng Yuan shook his head.

He'd only held the baby for a little while, how could he be tired?

The baby usually slept about two hours before waking, and then they'd give him some formula.

The doctor said to feed him small amounts often, not too much formula at one time.

If the baby started licking his lips, it was time to feed him.

Don't let him get so hungry that he eats too fast, or he might choke.

Sure enough, about two hours later, the baby woke up.

He blinked his eyes and licked his lips again, clearly hungry.

"Hey, baby, you're up."

The baby giggled, delighted.

He reached out his little hands, like he wanted something.

He must be hungry.

Pei Qingji sterilized the bottle first, then got the water to between forty and fifty degrees.

He tested the temperature on his wrist—it was warm.

Then he added the formula powder.

Using the scoop that came with the can, he measured out the right amount, then gently swirled it to mix, avoiding any vigorous shaking.

That could make the baby gassy.

Finally, he checked the temperature again, and once it was right, it was good to go.

Pei Qingji moved with practiced ease, clearly having done this hundreds of times.

Following the doctor's instructions, he paid extra attention to how he held the baby.

Pei Qingji propped up the baby's upper body, angled him just right, and fed him.

The second the baby smelled the milk, his nose twitched, his eyes fluttered open, and he got excited.

He gulped it down happily, his chubby little feet kicking with joy.

Cheng Yuan's heart clenched, afraid he might spit up.

Pei Qingji didn't give him too much, worried that overfeeding could be a problem.

He then held the baby upright and patted his back gently.

The baby didn't spit up again; instead, he stared with bright, grape-like eyes, giggling like he wanted to play.

They both finally relaxed.

Cheng Yuan grabbed a rattle from the crib and shook it in front of the baby.

"Hey baby, look at this."

The baby was super curious, even clapping his hands happily.

He didn't have any teeth yet and couldn't talk, just making little sounds.

"Here you go, buddy."

He put the rattle in the baby's hand.

The baby had a strong grip, clutching the rattle tightly.

The rattle jingled as he shook it, and the baby laughed even harder.

The whole room filled with the baby's giggles.

A smile lit up Cheng Yuan's eyes, and he laughed out loud.

"Oh, baby, you're such a little foodie, aren't you, A Yan?"

He teased the baby playfully.

Compared to a few days ago, Cheng Yuan had mostly recovered and could be discharged in a few days.

Pei Qingji was a little dazed, just watching Cheng Yuan.

He hadn't seen him smile in a long time.

At four in the morning, the baby started crying again out of nowhere. Pei Qingji figured he was hungry and quickly made some formula.

But he wouldn't drink it at all, and just cried even harder.

Cheng Yuan woke up too and quickly got out of bed.

"What's wrong with the baby? Is he hungry? Or is he spitting up again?"

No matter how Pei Qingji tried to calm him down, nothing worked, and he was getting anxious.

The two of them hurried off to find the doctor again.

"If he sleeps too much during the day, he'll be restless at night."

"You can cut back on his daytime naps."

"It could also be separation anxiety. He's crying because he can't find his daddy."

"Daddy's here, right here."

The baby seemed to finally recognize the familiar person holding him, and stopped crying.

His eyes were still full of tears, and they were all puffy from crying.

He babbled away, like he was trying to call out for his daddy.

Both of them felt like their hearts were about to melt.

"Baby, don't be afraid. We're right here."

That was when the baby finally stopped crying and slowly drifted off.

He was still hiccuping from all the crying.

The corners of his eyes were all raw from crying.

They cleaned it with a cotton swab dipped in iodine, then put some ointment on.

"Can you go a little easier? He's hurting..."

Cheng Yuan felt his heart squeeze, and his voice came out more urgent than he meant it to.

He felt a twinge of guilt—why had he been so far away from the baby in the first place?

Maybe because he was a high-needs baby, he was clingier than most kids.

Luckily, the baby didn't cry again. Otherwise, he figured he wouldn't have gotten a wink of sleep.

Having been woken up in the middle of the night, Cheng Yuan hadn't slept well to begin with. On top of that, after everything that happened, he didn't dare fall asleep—he just kept his eyes barely closed.

Even though it was exhausting, seeing the baby was safe made it all worth it.

He and Pei Qingji fell back into silence, neither of them saying a word.

It seemed like they only had anything to talk about when it came to the baby.

The mood was heavy and awkward.

Pei Qingji kept glancing over at Cheng Yuan. He looked like he wanted to say something, hesitated, then swallowed the words.

Cheng Yuan wasn't really asleep. He slowly opened his eyes, a complicated look in them.

Pei Qingji walked over to the crib and carefully tucked the blanket around the baby so he wouldn't get cold.

The baby squirmed a little again, and he quickly patted his back to calm him down, keeping his voice low.

"Your little dad's sleeping. Let's be quiet, okay? Otherwise, he'll have a headache tomorrow morning."

The baby squirmed a little, like he understood, and stopped fussing. Instead, he smiled.

Pei Qingji smiled a little. "That's a good boy."

He soothed the baby back to sleep for a bit, and only once he was out did he put him back in the crib.

Pei Qingji closed the door super carefully, like he was afraid of waking someone.

It was cold in the middle of the night, and he hadn't even thrown on a coat to take care of the baby—just a thin undershirt.

Cheng Yuan thought he heard a few coughs.

He sounded like he was coughing painfully, like he couldn't stop.

Afraid of waking anyone, he tried hard to muffle it, but faint coughs still slipped out.

Cheng Yuan turned away, sinking into a heavy silence.

Author's note:

N/A