I ATE MY PLACENTA

Lyric’s cord, beautiful keepsake. PHOTO CREDIT: Nikki- Onglowing Placenta

My second pregnancy brought a mountain of scares, lots of groin/pelvic pain, relentless exhaustion but also gave me a beautiful baby boy. Our rainbow baby. I always knew baby number two would be, bitter sweet as it would be the last of everything. The last time I’d be (planned) pregnant, the last time I’d give birth and the last of all the milestones once baby arrives. So, I chose to embrace this journey differently. Every appointment and ultrasound, I’d waddle in and say,

“Hi how are you?, please don’t tell me the sex of the baby”,

Thankfully they managed to keep it a secret, referring to the baby as bubs, it, baby, bubby etc. It was decided early, I’d pursue an all natural birth and the best part, keep and encapsulate my Placenta.

Sounds like an undesirable request but when you choose for a medicine free pregnancy and birth, encapsulating your placenta is an easy sell. I initially thought this kind of magic could only be accessed by societies elite. However, to my surprise, the process was easy to organize and affordable. I was very skeptical about the whole process but the more and more I looked into it I was enticed by the benefits it was said to offer. For example; improve mood and energy, aid in milk supply, decrease the effects of post natal depression and help with post partum healing. That last part was music to my ears after my episiotomy with my daughter, I welcomed all and every medicine free method of healing. I am definitely not anti- medicine but I was all in, with the idea of a “Natural” approach.

Last hospital visit days before Lyric was born.

I proceeded to do what everyone does and took to google and searched;

‘How to save my placenta after birth’

‘How to eat your placenta after birth’

and my favorite, ‘Who cooks your placenta after birth?’

I was trying to narrow it down to someone based in Melbourne, who had the reviews to support how well they handled the placentas and the process of encapsulating. I immediately became overwhelmed, so I turned to my other trusty source, of information the online Facebook Mum groups. Yes, Mammas you know the ones I am talking about the extremely helpful ‘Mum groups’ who rally behind one another and share all their recommendations. It was within this online community I found my placenta guru, Nikki.

Founder of Onglowing Placenta, Nikki was so patient as I asked all the questions, I had about Placenta encapsulating. We discussed the benefits, the taste, the texture, the process of getting the placenta to her and how it would be returned. I was extremely nervous to make the call but she made it so easy to understand, I even had my placenta capsules ‘Boosted’ with lemongrass, ginger and chilly. I didn’t even know it was possible to ‘Boost’ a placenta. There were other options as well but I chose to encapsulate. Not long after the ball was rolling, I was filling out paper work and even received a card to hand in at my next appointment. The card instructed the medical team at the hospital, to safely store my placenta after birth. This was all conveniently done online and over the phone as well, I’ll just add. Closer and closer to baby’s due date I kept reminding the midwives and my husband about saving my placenta. At about 35 weeks ( I think?) I received a cooler bag and more easy to follow instructions from Nikki, for the hospital.

I made sure Nikki’s number was saved in both our phones and before I knew it the day had come. Recognizing contractions, I messaged Nikki saying I think it’s time, her joy gave me motivation. Fast forward, I had given birth to our son and as he lay feeding on my chest they informed me, it was time to deliver my placenta. The long awaited moment and my placenta got stuck. The nurses pulled, yanked and I blurted out,

“Don’t break my placenta I need to eat it!”.

Lyric had latched before I even knew I had a baby boy.

They laughed, lovingly and reassured me they would take good care of it. You could say I was overly eager to begin my placenta journey . A few more pushes, wiggles and a catheter bladder let down later, my beautiful, bloody, veiny, squishy placenta had been delivered all in tact. The nurses pointed at the deflated sac my baby had been living in and I got to see the umbilical cord as well. I didn’t see any of this with my first born, as we were in theatre with labor resulting in a forceps delivery. It was absolutely fascinating and mesmerizing to look at.

Nikki had arrived not long after to collect my placenta, she was the sweetest. I will never forget her congratulating me on the other side of the curtain, I encouraged her to come and take a peak at my new arrival. She was so respectful she said she didn’t want to disturb, but I was not passing up the opportunity to show off my son-shine. She ever so delicately drew the curtain back and smiled at us, a brief moment but wholesome nonetheless. 24 hours later, still in hospital I had my placenta pills in my hand, just like that. Magic! It also contained the sweetest gift, the umbilical cord, dehydrated in the shape of an “L” for Lyric. An amazing keepsake. My Placenta weighed 558g which made 231, boosted capsules. The well packaged capsules had clear instructions. I began the healing process and took two capsules three times daily for the first ten days. Then two capsules twice daily for the next ten days.

The new born stage is euphoria. The joys of bringing life into the world and the fast approaching milestones you go through, made it difficult to know if my placenta was contributing to my high. Another ten days would go by and just like that, my four week old swaddled blessing, had found his place in our family. I had almost completely healed six weeks later, the bleeding had almost stopped and many soaked breast pads later it was safe to say my milk was free flowing. I was feeling good about myself.

I continued to take my placenta capsules as I hit a few hiccups along the way due to exhaustion but my body was responding. I had transitioned from being a mum of one to two and everything was running perfectly upside and inside out. Physically, mentally and emotionally I was keeping my shit together, happy and gratefully coping (for now). A few more weeks would go by, I had returned to work a few days a week and I had only taken my capsules as I remembered or when needed.

Three months postpartum and we had hit the four month sleep regression- early and hard. No sleep, no coping, no processing, no joy and no auto-pilot to fall back on. I entered a new realm. My husband had returned to work for a few weeks by this point and I was out of my depths. My son proved to me, all babies are definitely different and run on their own frequency’s, within their own race. Everything I implemented with my daughter was thrown violently out the window and shattered into a million pieces on the concrete pavement.

I was experiencing anxiety, panic attacks, break downs- yes, multiple breakdowns! I played the hero when my husband was around because I wanted to be everything he and many others thought I was, super mum. Eventually I broke. I needed to kick and scream and just let it all out! So I did- reluctantly and uncontrollably. I felt everything I needed to, picked myself back up and dusted myself off. My husband and I came up with a plan where I was comfortable enough for him to take charge on certain things while I tried to rest. This is where I turned to my placenta capsules. The fourth trimester was over and I decided one or two capsules here and there wasn’t going to cut it. I amped it up to three a day especially on days where I didn’t achieve rest or sleep.

My son, Lyric, had turned five months old and I was still juggling my family, work and now a sleep consultant had come on board. I looked back and accepted nothing much had changed yet with baby’s sleep routine for almost two months since the regression began. There I was again at last, happy in my chaos. My anxiety had lessened, I was still exhausted but I felt like I had clarity. At this point I made sure to take a step back and a make mental note of everything happening at this time to be able to blog about it. I finally caught my breath and found my feet six months post partum.

If you are thinking of encapsulating your placenta you will probably read there are no scientific evidence to prove consuming your placenta actually works. I considered this too especially as I finally got around to writing this. My experience is just that, mine. Do I think eating my placenta helped me? or Did it work? ABSOLUTELY! So much so I still have some as I’m saving them for a time I feel so out of my depths again or I need a boost. There was no foul taste or after taste and my stomach wasn’t effected by it. Could it be a placebo effect? Maybe. But I’m going to say it worked for me and I’d do it again and again. How many people do you come across that are proud to tell you they not only ate their placenta but they’d do it each and every time, I can’t imagine too often but I’m definitely advocating for the benefits of eating your placenta.

DISCLAIMER - Please seek professional advice before deciding on consuming your placenta.

By Liela Thurling

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