It seems like no matter how much you prepare for a moment, it never plays out quite the way you dreamed it up. Whether it’s a big work conference, a vacation or one of the biggest moments of your life, it always seems to go just a little different than you planned.

Alyssa and I prepared for her to give birth for nine months (years actually), but when the time came Friday night we were both left out of breath and trying to get to WellStar West Georgia Medical Center as fast as we possibly could.

It’s strange how a moment you know is coming — especially since it happened on Alyssa’s due date — can somehow sneak up on you and catch you a bit unprepared.

Of course, we were ready. The bags were packed, all the various baby items were assembled, and we were as ready as two first-time parents could possibly be. A few hours later — in the early hours of Saturday morning — Baby Autumn was born a healthy 7 pounds, 9 ounces.

It was an up-and-down weekend at the hospital for two soon-to-parents and four soon-to-be grandparents. On both sides of our family there’s a history of pregnancy complications, so it was only natural that all of them were running through my head (and everyone else’s) as Baby Autumn came into the world Saturday.

We were emotional, happy and thankful when everything went perfectly normal, and when we finally had a chance to reflect, we kept going back to how incredible the staff at WellStar was the entire weekend.

They were calming, helpful and could not have done a better job making sure all three of us were taken care of. Shelby and Anne were the two nurses that spent the most time with Alyssa and I. Shelby was with us during labor and Anne was there afterward, both spending a large chunk of their 12 hour shifts in our room.

Both were there before their shifts started and well after their shifts ended, just double checking to make sure everything went OK. Anne made a special visit to Alyssa’s room the following night, even though she was technically no longer her patient.

All of the nurses were great, but those two really made us feel at ease and went above and beyond.

Each nurse who helped with the delivery signed a Dr. Seuss book titled “Seuss-isms!: A Guide to Life for Those Just Starting Out … And Those Already on Their Way.” One day, I plan to read it to my daughter and show her all the names of the hospital staff that played role in one of the best weekends of our life.