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OGDEN — Most of us enter the world at a hospital with the help of doctors, and minimal chaos. Others chose to make a grand entrance worthy of family stories for years.
"It was quite the experience to say the least," Ben Marsden said Monday.
Ben and Ashley Marsden of South Willard were looking forward to a calm and comfortable birth for their fourth child in a couple of weeks. But their baby boy had a more urgent plan, and it all played out on the side of I-15 early Monday morning.
Around 2:30 a.m., Ashley awoke with strong contractions. The two jumped into their car and sped off for the hospital in Ogden.
The contractions kept getting stronger.
"These are happening every minute," Ben said. "We're having a really strong contraction, so I knew she was really far along in the process."
They raced down the interstate, past the Farr West exit, only to realize their son was in a bigger hurry than they were.
"I think this baby's coming, right now, we gotta do something," Ashley told her husband.
"I told her a couple of times, 'You need to keep the baby inside until we get to the hospital,'" Ben recalled.
Too late.
Ben called 911, and the dispatcher told him to pull over and start to help his wife with the delivery.
"She's in the passenger seat of the car," he recalled. "So we get one foot up on the dashboard, another foot out the door in the road so there's room for me to get in and see what's going on."
Ben cradled the phone on his shoulder as the dispatcher guided him.
"I can see the baby's head poking out," he shouted at the dispatcher.
"I just wanted the baby out, that's all I cared about," Ashley said. "I didn't care that there were cars zooming by."
Just as Ben's anxiety level started to rise, the baby was ready to make his arrival.
"I turned him, and he just came right out," Ben said. "And he let out a big cry, and I could hear the lady gasp on the phone. I think it was neat for her. She was as much responsible as I was for the delivery of our child."
"It was really just kind of a whirlwind, and completely unexpected, and scary, and chaotic," Ashley said. "But I was so happy after he came out."
That's when the dispatcher told Ben he needed to tie off the umbilical cord, and Ben discovered a problem.
"How am I supposed to tie off the umbilical cord? She said get a shoelace. I look down at my feet, and believe it or not, I'm wearing flip-flops. She said find something to tie it off with," Ben said.
Whoops. Ben made do with a stretchy cord from a sun visor, and the medics arrived in a couple of minutes to take charge of the situation and take Ashley to the hospital in an ambulance.
"He's just perfect," Ashley said, smiling at her baby boy in the comfort of her hospital room.
Their little bundle of joy weighs 8 pounds 11 ounces, is 21 inches long and shares his birthday with his mom — who was also impatient about her own birth. Ashley was born at home 31 years ago today, before her mom even made it to the car.
"So, I'm kind of following a family tradition, I guess. Gotta keep it in the family," Ashley said.
Email: jboal@ksl.com
