Summary

In a New York hospital in 2005, author and narrator Thi Bui is in labor. Her mother, whom she calls Ma, flew all the way from California to be there, but now "can't bear to be in the same room" (3). The labor gets progressively more difficult and the doctors suggest a C-section. Thi wants a natural delivery and resists the idea of an episiotomy. Finally she consents to an epidural and, with difficultly, her son is born. Thi and her son are put through the standard post-delivery hospital procedures but Thi struggles to nurse when left alone in the middle of the night. The next morning, her husband Travis returns with Ma to bring help and relief. Ma remembers how different childbirth was for her, and tells Thi that she laboured alone and "your father went to the movies" (19). In the narration, Thi reveals...