It wasn’t easy having a newborn in the caravan; it wasn’t terrible, either. Some people acted like it was verging on child abuse, but if there was any suffering to be done (which was really only during the cold nights), my husband and I were doing it — the baby was none the wiser.

We were in the hospital for so long that I think they figured we didn’t need those first few home visits, and we went to the maternal healthcare nurse’s office for check-ups from the start.

And the only feedback we got from her in those early months was that our son was thriving and putting on weight much faster than would have been considered acceptable, especially since he was so undersized when he was born (bodyweight was in the 5th percentile for gestational age, due to a very poorly functioning placenta/preeclampsia). So, being in the caravan mustn’t have bothered him too much.