Garrett Chandler Moody was born at 1:35am on Sunday morning August 17, 2014.
Here's how it happened...
Saturday afternoon I was finishing up in the nursery, cleaning out and organizing the closet, when I started having "cramps" around 4pm. I would pause and sit in the glider for a bit, thinking I was probably overdoing it. When they didn't go away, I googled "what does a contraction feel like" and realized this could be the start of early labor, but also thinking could it be false labor? My due date was still a few days away and I was sure he would be late.
By 8pm the contractions were coming about 3-5 minutes apart, but they were not really all that painful and lasting only 30 seconds max. I called the hospital and they suggested I stay home and call back when they become more intense. I called the family to give them a heads up that things were happening and we may be heading to the hospital by morning. I crawled into bed at 9pm to try and get some sleep.
Sleep never came, and the contractions were getting worse. At midnight I told Aaron, I can't take this anymore. The contractions were coming about every 2 minutes and lasting for almost a minute. I just wanted a break... i.e. the epidural that would be waiting for me at the hospital!
Aaron left to take Gabriel to his mom's and I threw some last items into our hospital bags and called the family to let them know we were heading to the hospital. I was still thinking at that point, I hope they don't send me home once we get there...
We got in the car and headed off at 12:40am. Between contractions I sent a text to Heidi to let her know. I started composing a text to the rest of the girls when another contraction started, and OMG! It was THE MOST PAINFUL thing EVER. Completely different from the crampy contractions I was having before. When it was over and the screaming stopped, I looked at Aaron and said "I think we waited too long." It was a 15 minute drive to the hospital in Roseville. The longest 15 minute drive... I seriously thought I was going to have this baby in the car! The screams and the noises that came out of my mouth would shock you. They left Aaron speechless.
We left the car right outside the front doors and went straight back to triage where my water broke at 1am. I don't think we were in there for more than a minute when I was whisked away to labor & delivery. It was such a blur... I was suddenly surrounded by nurses and a midwife telling me to start pushing when the next contraction came. What?! I wanted an epidural, I mumbled at some point. Too late for that. The pain was like nothing I could have imagined. I realized after a few contractions and pushing (oh my, how it hurt to push!) that once I push him all the way out, it would be over. So I pushed through the pain and little Garrett was born... just over a half hour later. Ahhh...
Although the birth did not go according to plan... it was quick and we were so excited to take this little guy home!!
