Jang-mi

Labor of Love

"Take the baby, Da-eun!" I ordered. "What is wrong, Jang-mi?!"

Da-eun quickly grabbed the baby and Jang-mi grabbed my arms as she screamed again. She squeezed them so hard that she left her fingermarks on them when she finally released them from her grasp.

"What is wrong, Soo-yun?"

Soo-yun quickly examined her and felt her abdomen. "There is a reason why Jang-mi's belly got so big."

"What is it?"

"There is another baby."

"Another?!" My eyes popped out.

"Another," she nodded. "And this one is facing the wrong way. I see its feet." Within seconds another contraction came and Jang-mi instinctually pushed. "It is another boy!" Soo-yun smiled. She then instructed Da-eun to set down the baby and come help her.

"Hold the body, Da-eun. I need to help its head out. It is stuck."

I began to cry, fearing the worst. Another contraction came and Jang-mi screamed out in pain as Soo-yun worked to help the baby out. "Almost done, Jang-mi. Almost done," she assured her. "There. The baby is out."

The silence was deafening. I listened as our firstborn child cooed, but we heard nothing coming from the second.

"Soo-yun?" I looked at her. She cleaned off the baby, swaddled it, and looked up at me. She shook her head lightly.

"NOOOOOO!" Jang-mi cried. "Bring me my baby!"

Soo-yun brought the baby over to us and set it in Jang-mi's arms. It was motionless. "I am so sorry, Jang-mi."

Jang-mi rubbed its chest lightly. "Breathe, baby! Breathe!" She kissed it lightly on the lips and started to gently puff air into its mouth as she continued to rub its chest. Nothing. Our son, who was now in Da-eun's arms again, began crying.

"Jang-mi, give me the baby."

"NO!" she cried as she continued to try to revive it.

"Yes. Give me the baby. You need to hold your son. He wants you."

"THIS baby needs me!" she insisted. I reached over to take it from her, but she turned away from me and held it tighter to her chest. She was not going to let it go. I decided to give her a few more minutes with it. She needed time to realize it was gone.

"Alright, Jang-mi." I kissed her on the head as she frantically tried to breathe life into our dead baby.

She carefully unswaddled it and started rubbing the bottoms of its limp feet with her thumb. "Come on, baby! Come on. Breathe!" she cried softly and continued to desperately puff air into its mouth. My heart ached for her. I became worried she would reject our living son, so I decided to bring him closer to her.

"Da-eun, bring me our son. I want to hold him." I smiled through my tears. I had to be strong for Jang-mi.

Suddenly, I saw the baby's tiny hands spring up into the air and it let out a huge cry. It was alive!

"See!" Jang-mi smiled. "I told you it needed me."

We were all in complete shock, especially Soo-yun. "How-how did you do it?" she asked, her jaw dropped.

"He just needed help breathing, so I helped him," Jang-mi explained. The baby continued to cry loudly at the top of its lungs. "You tell them, little one! Momma was right to believe in you. You tell them!" she smiled.

"Two sons! I have two sons!" I exclaimed.

"Two very small and delicate sons," Soo-yun reminded me. "It explains why Jang-mi was so big and went into labor early. We will have to watch them closely."