Our Home Birth Story

The Birth of Arlen Matthew

On January 23rd, the night before my labor began, I fell asleep and Matt left for work around 10pm. At 2:15am, I woke up to a gush of fluid. I took a second to gather myself to figure out if I had peed the bed, or if this was it. I quickly realized that my water broke, and rushed to the bathroom so that I wouldn’t soak the bed. I made it about one foot away from the toilet before my bag of waters ruptured completely and covered my bathroom floor. I sat on the toilet for a moment to allow the fluid to finish leaking before I put on some new clothes and rushed over to my phone to call Matt. I already felt a small rush of adrenaline because I knew that my baby was coming. I could tell there was an anxious excitement in his voice when he answered the phone. I told him that it was time to come home and he immediately knew what I meant. He told me he was leaving work immediately and excitedly got off the phone.

I immediately called my midwife, Connie, to let her know that my water had broken. On the phone, she asked if I had any contractions since it ruptured. At the time, I did not have any contractions. She told me to try to go back to sleep and get some rest, and to call her with any changes. I sent a text to my doula, who is also my childhood best friend, letting her know in all caps that my water had broken and it was go-time. Then I called my birth photographer, Cheyenne. I told her what was going on, and she told me she was going to get ready to head over to my house. I told her to hold off because my midwife told me to go back to bed, and she said she would wait for my next update but would start packing her things.

Last, I made a phone call to Wyatt’s dad letting him know that I was in labor and that he could come pick up Wyatt now or after he got off of work in the morning. He decided he would head over to pick him up right away.

By 3:00am, Matt arrived at home. I felt his nervous, excited energy the minute he walked in the door. At this point, I was having very mild contractions every 5 or so minutes apart. They were not painful, but they definitely were enough to take up my full attention to get through each one. I texted Cheyenne to give her an update. She immediately responded that she was driving over, so I called my midwife to let her know that my contractions were picking up. Once my midwife and photographer were en route to my house, I began frantically calling Meagan to wake her up. After several calls, she texted me back that she was packing her stuff and would be on her way shortly.

Matt woke Wyatt up at 3:45am to get him ready to leave with his dad. He told Wyatt “Buddy, it’s time to get up and go. Your dad is coming. Your mom’s water broke, she’s going to have the baby.” Wyatt’s response was “Her water broke!? How much is it going to cost to fix it?”. Matt laughed, and continued to get him ready to leave while I packed up his backpack. Wyatt’s dad arrived at 4:00am to pick him up. After that, I decided to hop in the shower. My hair was oily from the massage I had gotten 12 hours prior, and I did not want my hair to feel dirty during labor.

Once I got out of the shower, Cheyenne was the first to arrive. We talked and laughed about how this birth was starting out a lot like my first. I would pause during contractions to focus on my breath and getting through each wave. Matt helped by rubbing my back and applying some counter pressure during surges. I found that leaning on the side of my bed was the most comfortable for me. The next person to arrive was my midwife, Connie. She asked me how things were progressing, and I told her that my contractions were getting stronger and closer together. The next person to arrive was Meagan. She came into my bedroom while I was leaning on the side of the bed while Matt comforted me. She immediately jumped in to offer comfort measures as well.

Connie recommended that she check to see how dilated I was. Once I had made my way through a contraction, I laid down on the bed for a cervical check. Matt and Meagan laid on each side of me and held my hand. The cervical check was excruciating. I yelled out in pain while Connie checked my cervix, and she happily informed me that I was already dilated to a 6. We all looked at each other excitedly because my labor was progressing very quickly. At some point during this time, Matt began inflating and filling the birth pool.

I began to inhale lavender oil and squeeze a wooden comb to help me get through each contraction. Meagan and Matt took turns applying counter pressure to my hips. I decided to move to the toilet so that I could sit down while they applied pressure to my lower back and hips. At this point, contractions were becoming increasingly uncomfortable and I asked if it was time for me to get into the tub. I labored through a few more contractions with Matt by my side until the tub was filled. At 5:00am, I got into the tub. I felt immediate relief upon getting into the water. I worked my way through each contraction while focusing on the affirmations I placed on the wall in front of me. I used moaning and breathing techniques to cope with the discomfort of each wave. The lavender oil and comb never left my hands. The acupressure from the comb allowed me to focus on something else other than the pain.

Matt and Meagan sat close by and offered encouragement through each painful surge. Matt stayed close to my face, reminding me how strong I am. Meagan continued to offer me water and a damp rag. The water cooled quickly, so Cheyenne and Meagan went to work heating up water on the stove to keep the temperature up. Cheyenne documented moments during the labor so quickly and quietly that I hardly noticed she was in the room.

Around 5:00am, Connie’s assistant, Jen, arrived. She began intermittent heart rate monitoring. I moaned through each contraction. I felt relief between each one. Meagan continued to add more hot water to the tub, while offering me lots of water to drink. Matt held a wet wash cloth on my head for comfort. Around 6:25am, I began to feel more pressure in my pelvis. Connie told me that the feeling would increase and I would know when it was time to push. Around 6:50am, I began instinctively pushing with Connie’s blessing. After about 10 minutes of pushing, Connie and Jen recommended that I move from the tub to the bed due to the baby’s heart rate dropping a bit. I was instantly filled with concern and fear. I did not want to get out of the tub. Connie, Jen, and Meagan all encouraged me that this was safest for baby and that everything was okay.

Connie did a cervical check once I was in the bed. I was 10cm and fully effaced. Contractions became increasingly difficult to get through. I began to feel myself panic a little about the baby’s heart rate due to the consistent checking. Everyone reassured me that the baby was safe, but that oxygen might help me be able to relax and breathe easier. At 7:22am, I was given supplemental oxygen and the baby immediately responded positively. Meagan held the mask on my face in between contractions while she and Matt both continued to comfort me through pushing. At 7:50am, the head became visible. I struggled through pushing because of the immense pressure I felt in my pelvis between contractions. Matt and Meagan helped me pull my legs back so I could bear down with full pressure as I pushed. 

At 8:05am, I was able to push out our baby’s head. Connie mentioned the baby had a very large head, which is what made pushing so difficult. Connie rotated the baby so that the shoulders could be delivered. The baby was looking directly at Matt before being born.

At 8:07am, our baby boy, Arlen Matthew Munoz, was born. He was immediately placed on my chest. Matt and I stared at him in awe. I took a few moments to catch my breath. Matt hugged Connie tightly. Then we just looked at each other in complete shock and awe of what we had just done. Meagan and Cheyenne quietly took pictures while Jen checked the baby. He quickly let out a cry on my chest. After 5 minutes, the umbilical cord was clamped and Matt cut it. At 8:20am, with a few small pushes, my placenta was delivered. Everyone in the room immediately commented on how large it was. Later, it was discussed that the baby needed to be rotated because loops of the umbilical cord were around the shoulders, making pushing out the shoulders more difficult.

Matt and I spent the first hour doing skin to skin with our baby boy. Cheyenne and Meagan captured photos. Meagan got to work on draining the tub with Cheyenne’s help.

At 9:00am, Jen and Connie performed the newborn exam. Connie announced that Arlen was 8lbs 2.5oz and 20 inches long. We were very surprised by how big he was. Connie finished the exam and passed the baby to Matt while Jen helped me to the bathroom.

After returning, we tried nursing. Arlen latched immediately. We went over the birth certificate with Connie before she and Jen departed. Cheyenne left shortly after, and we spent the morning doing skin to skin with our boy. After a few hours, Matt left to go submit his leave request at work. Meagan took photos of Arlen so we could announce his name and gender. Matt returned home and we spent the day falling completely in love with our son and sharing our amazement at the beautiful home birth we accomplished.

We couldn’t have achieved the magical home birth that we did without the carefully selected team of women we had supporting us.

Connie and all of the nurses at Canyon Midwifery provided us with the best prenatal care during our pregnancy. They were loving and supportive of all of my preferences during pregnancy and birth. There is no other midwifery team that I would have felt safe attempting a homebirth with, and I am so grateful that we found Canyon Midwifery just a month before we found out we were pregnant.

All of the images shared were taken by the wonderful and talented Cheyenne Pape of With Love, Cheyenne & Carey. Cheyenne went above and beyond her photographer duties during our birth, and provided us with the most beautiful and authentic images that we can look back on for years to come. I cannot recommend her enough.

Last but not least, I couldn’t have done this without my doula and best friend of nearly 20 years, Meagan Tanner of The Mother Hen Friend. I knew from the moment I found out I was pregnant that I needed her by my side for this birth. She has been a source of unwavering love and support through my pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience. I have always known she had a passion for pregnancy and birth, but going through this experience with her as my doula confirmed for me completely that she was born to do this work. I feel so blessed that she was such a huge part of our birth experience.