My own placenta experience
2020 saw big changes for us all with the covid 19 pandemic and all the upheaval it has brought to all our lives. It especially had a huge impact on those that were expecting babies. I was one of them as we just welcomed our third little boy Max at the beginning of the first lock down. It was tough to have to experience much of my early labour alone, attending appointments alone and just the anxiety that came with this unknown virus as it was still so new. But I felt very lucky to be able to create my own placenta remedies this time around!
I was part of the dominos scheme in Waterford Hospital so I was fortunate to be back home within 12 hours of giving birth. It was an amazing service and I would highly recommend it! My husband had brought the placenta home with him after delivery and as soon as I was in the door I went straight for the blender! I made a placenta smoothie to kickstart my healing. In it I had fresh orange juice and a frozen berry mix that I had ready mixed in the freezer. Some banana, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. I added a small piece of my raw placenta into it and wizzed it up! It was so refreshing and tasty and I really felt like I was giving my body exactly what it needed to recover.
The following day I then made the rest of the placenta into 218 capsules. I regret so much for not making a tincture and placenta oil from my placenta so will definitely make these remedies if we have any more Children.
So how did I feel?
Honestly, I felt amazing. This was my third baby. To analyse each of my births: My first, Jake was an emergency c-section. I was young and new to all this and had no idea about the birth process and so just did what I was told. My second, Oscar was such a lovely birth and I felt like superwoman after achieving my much wanted VBAC delivery. However, the recovery was tough as he was a buster at 9.2! Then my third, Max. If you removed the whole Covid-19 pandemic from it, then it was the ideal birth. If you are interested, you can see my full birth story below. The recovery was definitely the easiest this time around and I really believe it was because I consumed my placenta. I now had 3 small kids aged 6,1 and a new born and I had so much buzz and energy. While our breastfeeding journey was not what I had hoped, my milk did come in quickly. I felt so balanced in my mood and mental well being. No baby blues here and my hormones just felt normal. My iron levels came back up pretty quickly too which was great as there was some concern from the midwives in delivery that I may need a blood transfusion but thankfully I managed it myself. In the weeks that followed after I continued to feel great and everyone commented on my hair and skin. I was still glowing!!