November Blues

November lays flat on her back, and although she cannot sense any movement, she knows that they are speeding through the air and towards the hospital. November asks the attendant, a woman named Joy, to call Dr. Holland, so that Holland can come to the hospital. November is afraid that her baby won’t be healthy because she is premature, but Joy assures her that she has seen miracles on this job. As they land, Joy promises November that she will be in good hands at the hospital and that Mrs. Nelson is waiting for November downstairs. 

November is suffering from painful contractions, and she is rushed into the examination room. She is in so much pain that she hardly notices what is happening around her and feels like she is about to die. The nurse, Ling Yee, rolls November down the hall and into the delivery room. November, terrified and in pain, wonders where her mom is. She feels like her body is separate from her, “as if all this activity [is] happening to someone else” (273). November hears the nurse say that the mother’s heart rate is rapid and thready, and the nurse explains to November that it means that the baby is ready to be born.