As a mother, did you get to be in your daughter’s delivery room to see your grandchild born? What was it like?

When my granddaughter was born, my role was apparent: Keep a packed bag close. I headed for Brooklyn as soon as my daughter called to say she was on her way to the hospital with her husband. I move into their apartment for a while to walk and feed Pearl, their sweet old Labrador.
Being assigned to the dog’s care was fine; I was glad to help. It never occurred to me that I should be in the delivery room when her baby arrived, and she didn’t think to invite me or anyone else. She wanted a quiet, private birth with her partner and their nurse. Her own birth 30 years earlier had been the same. But I realize that many grandparents — primarily mothers, but some fathers — are undoubtedly present in the delivery room.