When he cried, I could not speak.

Someone told me he was being assessed.

Someone asked whether I could hear them.

I nodded because words would not come.

Both babies needed continued observation.

I needed care too.

The room did not become a private nursery immediately because the birth had ended, and no one promised that a reassuring first assessment answered every question for the future.

By the early hours, the team told me both babies were stable.