After the uninvited guest was thrown out, it was just in time for Vera to continue the routine checks on mother and her newborn, Joan naturally joined her shortly after. They started by calming down the woman, asking her to have deep breaths after drinking some water.
From the conversation between the couple and Vera, plus seeing the mother's calm demeanor, Joan was the last to confirm, it was not the couple's first delivery, so hopefully, the delivery would go more smoothly.
Despite being here for only a couple of hours, from the doctor's and Vera's experience, it will be a relatively fast delivery, however, Vera still was cautious in her actions and didn't underestimate the situation as always.
And as expected by the end of the day, their third child was born, it was a girl weighing six and half pounds, with red wrinkled skin and a lively cry.
Although the term "lively cry" would sound an understatement when applied to the little bundle that was still crying for hours.
As it happens, that night was Joan's first night duty in this hospital and maternity ward. As an experienced nurse she made sure to prepare some snacks before reporting for the night shift, and thankfully there's a small furnace for the nurses to heat some water for tea.
Joan followed the senior nurse Sarah who spent the first half hour showing Joan the night's routine before assigning her to the nursery, with another nurse, named Sophia who was her age.
The night went on as usual the first hour before midnight, even with a sudden change in her sleep schedule, her body will get adapted within the day which she will pull through.
She and Sophia took turns holding the protesting infants, either changing their diapers or taking them to their mother in the postpartum ward every couple of hours, or if it's not for either of the above reasons, they just needed someone to soothe them
In the beginning, Joan carried the infants for a couple of minutes, until they calmed down and went back to sleep. Later, she wanted to try something else, so she started by gently stroking their heads for a short time; some calmed down as a result and went back to sleep, while others needed her to hold them. Joan couldn't understand why some infants responded while others didn't.
–Hopefully, nothing is wrong with their health.
As it's known, summer nights are particularly short, after a few manageable routines, the end of Joan's first night shift finally arrived.
After signing the documents recording the end of her shift, Joan went back to her dormitory, to brush her teeth and freshen up, before heading to the cafeteria with the rest of the team as she met them on the way to the dining hall.
As they sat down, although the girls had some energy to converse after their morning exercise, they tried not to disturb Joan too much, who was unusually hurrying through her breakfast. Lastly, changing out of her uniform, she threw herself on her comfortable bed.
Joan recovered half her energy after the few hours nap, and it just happened to be lunch time. She changed back into her uniform before heading to lunch, still starving even after having breakfast.
"You will get used to it after a while " Lily reassured her, after taking a sip of her chicken soup.
The rest also gave her a few tips to stay awake through the night, which would be given to the newbies as she was pictured.
"Good day, How are you Mrs Lawson" Joan greeted the mother who was breastfeeding her baby, Andria, as she neared her bed. Vera was already there assisting on the side. The moment they finished, urged Vera to go have her lunch.
Share your thoughts on Joan's touch in the comments 💭