Short stats:
Zuma Preslie Anderson
Born March 6 11:13PM
6lbs 12ozs 19 inches

**Not sure if anyone besides me reads these, but I finally get to post one!!! Sorry that this is a long one!**

I figured I better write this before I forget it all. I am sure no one forgets everything, although there were some parts I would like to forget perhaps. Ok on to the story. My water broke Wednesday March 5th at like 6PM. Of course it broke while my whole family was at the temple (LDS religious building) for a 3 hours stretch, preparing for my little brothers wedding that weekend. Oh and did I mention you cant
bring your phone in the temple? So there I was mass txting the
family asking if anyone stayed home, well because I figured someone had to have stayed home to watch Wyatt (my nephew). Turns out my little sister (doula 2) had stayed home!

My midwives wanted me to come in to get the fluid checked to make sure it was my water and not just other liquid that comes from near there, if you catch my drift. So I met
them there at 7:30. They checked and said for sure it was my water!!! And also sent me home to try and get rest before labor hopefully started and also said to come back at 8am if nothing starts that night. So I went back home, was able to call Ryan, my mom(doula 1) and my dad and tell them
my water had broken and things just got real. Oh and I forgot to mention earlier before the family had gone to the temple my dad had mentioned he wanted to give me a priesthood blessing (LDS blessing) that day so we could make sure
I got one to be calm and healthy and focused before the birth. So Ryan and I headed to my parents and Ryan, my dad and my 2 brothers gave me a blessing and I went back home to try and get some rest. Oh and by the way, lady with anxiety and baby coming and attempting to rest just dont go together. I was too excited! I got just a couple of hours before I had to wake back up and meet the midwives.

No labor or contractions had started that night on their own. So I met with the midwives, was checked and dilated to a 3. If your water breaks you have a 24 hour window you have to have birth in before they send you to a hospital to induce. Just because of risk of infection. So we had to get things rolling. The midwives gave me some homeopathics to alternate every half hour that were supposed to bring on contractions and make them strong. Also they gave me the instructions to drink castor oil. Ummm never again!! I know it helps to bring on labor but I just cant think about drinking straight vaseline
again. It made me very nauseous to even think of the oil the rest of the day. Oh and they also told me to get walking. So I went home and did all my labor homework and actually managed a little nap in between some of the activities.

Well at 2PM I called them and said I was feeling contractions every 2 minutes lasting 30 seconds each. So they heard a couple on the phone and told me to come back in. So I packed up my bags and we headed back to the birthing center. I figured I would for sure be back since I was not screaming my head off yet so really I hardly packed anything. So we get to the birthing center, I was checked again and was at 4-5cm!! Success. Well success enough to not have to go to the hospital and I could finally be checked in! I told them I would like to walk around the Kohls that was nearby to see if I could start the contractions more before I was checked in. So we headed to Kohls, I suddenly realized it hurt too much to walk and we went back to the birthing center.

I was officially checked in at 4:00PM. Also by this time my parents and sister were on their way to come see this labor
through. So I got settled in, started bouncing a rolling on a birthing ball and walking around some. My family arrived and lets just say they kept me distracted from the contractions. I love how my family can mostly manage to keep my laughing even during pain. Well atleast for the first couple of hours. The midwives were doing 30 minute baby heartbeat checks and I asked if I could be checked for dilation again. I should add that it isn't common to be checked as often as I was. I requested the checks just to see where things were going. They do not recommend so many checks after the water has broken. Anyways, they said they didnt want to check until my
contractions were 1 minute long and stronger. My family was getting hungry at this point (6PM) so they headed to grab Wendys for everyone. While they were gone I managed to have 2 cry fits, asking why me and trying to figure out why I originally wanted to go natural. My midwives were able to diffuse both situations while I waited for my 2 doulas to return.

When my family returned, things started picking up. I got
checked and was a 5-6. Oh man I felt to defeated. I felt like I had gotten nowhere and was frustrated and losing my focus. They suggested I hop into the birthing tub and see where that took me. So I hopped in and it felt so good. But a little too good. My contractions started coming further apart and didnt feel as strong. I felt like I wasnt progressing enough in there. I asked them to keep the water in there for later but said
I was going to head back out. So I got out and put on my MuuMuu. My labor MuuMuu. Obviously my body knew what I had on because again things picked up. I started having a much harder time breathing through the contractions. I should mention that when I had gone into the bath, I had my family make their way to the waiting room just because I
was feeling a little stressed being not alone. I kind of figured this would happen because this is also how I feel when I am sick. I get embarrassed really easily and just want to be
alone. So my midwives were hanging out with me while things were picking up and I decided I needed back into the bath. Contractions really started picking up this time I got in the bath! Maybe a little too much if you ask me. I started hootin and hollerin. But not as cutely as the term suggests. I'm sure my labor team (family) thought I was insane. I was screaming "OPEN" then breathing in deeply then screaming "OPEN" over and over again through ever contraction. Contractions at this point were probably every 2 minutes and lasting 1.5 minutes long. They were so long and each one was so painful. I decided I wanted to get out of the tub again.

I went into the birthing room and got on the bed and mentioned I was very tired so the midwife had me try and lay down. That did not work for my contractions. I was thrashing around like a whale in there. So she had me get on my hands and knees and rock back and forth. Ding, ding, ding we have a winner folks! That felt as amazing as it could feel when your body is revolting(contraction). I asked if they could check me again to see if any progress had been made. I am sure they were dreading it since anytime they had checked me before when they told me the # dilated I was I would burst in tears and tell everyone I was not making progress and that I was
an idiot and why did I choose this and I cant make it. Ya, not so cute. But she humored me and checked and said, "Girlfriend you are a 9!". Instantly I started crying. But good crying this time. I could not believe it. Things could almost be over, the pain could almost be over.

All of a sudden at that second I thought I better use the restroom before things progressed. I felt like I had to do
a number 2 (sorry TMI). So I went to the bathroom and was just kind of sitting there when things changed. Contractions almost seemed to leave and extreme pressure took its place. Let's just say it felt like my bottom was falling out my bottom. They asked if I could manage to sit on the birthing stool so they could still check to see if the baby was close or anything. So I sat down and asked for a warm washcloth. I was holding the warm washcloth down below to try and prevent any tearing. They said they would grab my husband for when it was time to push. Well all of a sudden I started screaming bloody murder and the baby flew out! Literally like no pushes. It was incredible. I swear I remember asking what happened. They rushed to get my husband and I had her wrapped since
we were team green and we got to see the gender together. Ryan got an eyeful of the umbilical cord and said it was a boy. Then we checked lower and our sweet baby was a girl! I WAS AND STILL AM COMPLETELY SHOCKED!!! I got my sweet baby girl.

They wanted me to go lay down so I could birth the placenta and they could check for bleeding and tearing. While we were in the bathroom still they had to do a couple of rescue breaths that scared Ryan and I so bad. But she started screaming soon
after so she was ok! I made my way to the bed and laid down with my sweet girl. I sent Ryan back out of the room so I could get cleaned up, birth the placenta and get stitched. My poor family still hadn't seen the baby! It took longer than expected to get stitched up. I had several tears. I guess that is what you get when you don't really push. But the baby nursed like a champ the entire time. It was amazing! Ryan came back to grab the baby and I went to take a quick shower. I made my way back to a clean bed and my family came in. They were in love with my sweet little angel baby. And they all came and gave me a hug and said they were proud of me. I still could not believe she was a girl and that I actually managed to give birth!

I must say the whole natural birthing experience was incredible. It was so much more painful than I could
have ever expected. Holy cow, there is no way to explain the amounts of pain that is involved. But maybe I just have a lower pain tolerance haha. I felt like such a wimp. But right after I felt incredible. I felt ready to take on the world. I still feel that way actually. I just feel amazing. The stitches hurt. But nothing else feels even out of place. Things feel normal but now I just have a baby.

The baby is so much better than I expected. She is a little angel. Her name is Zuma Preslie Anderson. She
weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and was 19 inches long. Literally perfect in every way. I am so in love with her
and have been smothering the poor girl with kisses nonstop since she flew out.

Oh and Zuma has still not met my 3 little cats yet. Even though we left 4 hours after the birth we went directly to my parents house and will be here for a week. Heres some pics: