Baby Colby

Colby Andrew McCashland

7 lbs. 4,5 oz. 19 1/2 in.

Born 1:56 am March 17th, 2016

Birth Story

I woke up Wednesday March 16th with severe back pain.

The pain was so bad I could barely bend over

or walk around. I had an appointment

that day at 9:50 am and I probably 

should not have driven myself

because the back pain limited my reaction time.

I got to the doctor and I had high blood pressure

and I was dilated 3 cm. I asked the doctor

to strip my membranes to hopefully

start contractions. I had experienced a lot

of contractions over the past few weeks.

Around 3 pm I started have contractions

more regularly. I taught piano lessons 

at 4 pm and worked through the pain

sitting on my yoga ball.

Contractions started picking up

during the evening and our new

Bishopric came over to meet us

around 6:30 pm and I was pretty sure I was

in active labor at that point. 

Reed started to pack our bags and get things

ready, while my mom happened to call

during all of this.

I told her to come over around 8;30 pm 

to stay with Parker so we could

head to the hospital.

We got Parker ready for bed like usual

just like nothing was happening.

We got to the hospital around 9 pm.

I was dilated to 5 cm and again

had high blood pressure.

They admitted me and get me hooked

up to an IV so I could receive an epidural.

At this point the back pain was so severe,

I could barely feel the intensity of the contractions

over the back labor.

The epidural helped with the back labor

at first but soon wore off after a couple hours.

The nurse decided to get all the delivery

equipment ready and then decide to head to lunch

since she was pretty sure we would have a baby soon.

That was around 1:45 am. Soon after that

I started feeling the back pain again

and a lot of pressure down below,

like something was coming out.

I had Reed call the nurses and they

came in to check me.

The nurse said she couldn't check me 

because my amniotic sac was coming out,

which they described as a water balloon.

The next thing I knew I felt even

more pressure and the baby's

head started to fill that amniotic sac.

Not even a minute later Colby was born.

Meanwhile, the nurses were trying to call

my nurse at lunch and the doctor 

to get in here.

Colby was born in his amniotic sac

all the way up until his hips

came out and then my water broke.

The doctor then arrived and Reed

got to cut the umbilical cord.

I was in labor for a total of 11 hours and

spent 5 hours at the hospital and

no pushing time.

We joked around that we could have

been that couple who delivered

a baby in the parking lot

if we didn't get to the hospital

when we did.

The delivery was a wonderful

experience that Reed and I got to share

with just the two of us, with no other family

in the room. How grateful we are for a 

safe delivery and a healthy baby!