Yes, I did this. Some of you may know what this is, some of you may not. For those of you who don't, it's basically exactly what it sounds like. You take your placenta and encapsulate it. Well, not me directly. I had someone do it for me. Here's my story.
When I had Lila, I was so excited and determined to breastfeed. I thought it was going to be pretty easy...and it was, physically. Psychologically, not so much. I very soon fell into that category of women who thought I wasn't making enough milk for my baby. This was mainly caused by a doctor that we saw when she was 4 days old and still down from her birth weight. A COMPLETELY normal situation. My milk hadn't really come in yet, but I was actually not even concerned at all until we went to the doctor for a check up. As soon as we left, I started freaking out. "If she hasn't gained by next week, we may need to start supplementing." WHAT??? Already? This was the furthest thing from my mind. I couldn't believe it. I went home with those words in the back of my head.
Now any first time mom would tell you that they were uncertain about things. The next day, I got my pump out and started pumping. (Keep in mind that Lila was only 5 days old at this time.) I was only pumping like 2 oz, which is totally normal for a 5 day old belly. But there it went. It was a numbers game from there. I ran off to Walmart later that afternoon and got a can of formula. Of course she sucked it down when I gave it to her, but THAT, my friends was the beginning of the end of my supply with Lila. 5 days into it. I continued to pump for 12 weeks supplementing a bottle or two a day until I called it quits completely. At that point, I was so stressed about it and not pumping as many times a day as I now know I should've been, that I was making almost no milk at all. I was mentally drained with the breast milk situation. Lila went to straight formula after that.
I want to note that there is absolutely nothing wrong with formula, it's simply a mother's preference on which one they choose to give to their baby. It has been scientifically stated, that breast milk is the perfect food for babies, that's why God gave mother's the ability to produce it. Anyway, this is only the first part of my story.
Part two begins when I'm about 4 months pregnant with my second baby. I had read of placenta encapsulation when Lila was a baby, but never before that so it wasn't an option in my mind with her. A girl I went to grade school with, Emily Stockdale, posted a piece on Facebook that she was going to do this. I immediately remembered that she also had problems with her first baby and milk supply. I read what she wrote and thought, "boy, I would really like to do that too". When she had her second baby, I asked her about the process and her experience with it. She was ecstatic about it all. She was making milk and actually storing some extra. So, I really wanted to do it then. She lives on the west coast and I wasn't sure how popular this process was in the Midwest, let alone small town Southern Illinois. Well low and behold, Emily found a woman in Carbondale who did it. I emailed her and we ended up talking extensively about it. I was sold. Now...selling it to Neil, that's another thing.
It was easier than I thought. He knew the struggles I had, both physically and emotionally with breastfeeding Lila and totally sided with me on this. After all, for $250, you can have someone take your placenta and turn it into pills that will not only help your milk come in faster, but can also assist in postpartum healing, physically and emotionally, as well as help your energy level. Thinking about that number by a dollar sign may seem a little steep, but when you calculate the cost of formula over the course of a year (or even 6 months) it definitely outweighs the $250.
Carolyn was so helpful in educating me on the placenta during pregnancy, during birth, after birth...there are a million things I didn't know. Humans and a few species sea creatures are the only mammals on the planet who do not consume their placenta in some way. I like to say that that's because humans are the only ones smart enough to know that it's kinda weird (hee hee), but seriously, there is a reason all mammals do it. Why not try it out? What could it hurt?
Fast forward to April 27 and Neil has taken the placenta into custody. LOL He had to bring it home for her. Carolyn came to our house and did the whole process. It took about 24 hours. She was done and gone before I even got home from the hospital. AND my kitchen was cleaner than it had been since we moved into the house. HAHA
I got started on the pills, which pretty much just looked like multivitamins in capsule form, as soon as I walked through the door. My milk came in on the next morning. I was in shock! Last time I never felt it come in and even when it was here, it didn't seem like what everyone said would happen, was happening. This time it was like magic. I honestly could not believe it. By the next day, I even had to cut back on the pills because they were doing their job so well! I can say that this time has been just amazing. I can't say that I still didn't freak out and wonder if she was gaining weight, but I trusted my instincts a little better this time. I didn't let a doctor (from who we have since switched) freak me out into giving formula and essentially tanking my supply within days of birth. I had great resources and great support from my husband. All in all, I'd say that breastfeeding this time has been a huge success! I'm getting ready to go back to work and will be starting my pumping routine, but I have hopes that this is all going to work out fine!
If anyone in the Southern Illinois area would like the name and number of the woman who did my placenta encapsulation, feel free to email me! I'll happy to pass this information on, I just didn't know if she would want me to publish her information here publicly.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Vivian Ruth
I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post on baby sister's birth, BUT it's harder to find the time with two. :) I have lots of stuff that I am wanting to post so sit tight and watch for multiple posts today and tomorrow!
The day was April 26, 2013. I had had about enough of work for the week and the day before had decided that I needed a day off. I took a personal day on April 26. I had a hair appointment and was going to take a few hours anyway, so why not the whole day?
I got up early and took Lila to daycare (this was a personal day after all) and came home and enjoyed my coffee. I took a look around the house and thought, "what baby would want to come home to this house?". It was filthy. It was a mess. So I headed of to the wonderful world of Walmart and stocked up on some cleaning supplies. It was amazing. I came home and did some laundry, cleaned the bathroom, the kitchen, the bedrooms, the floors, dusted, cleaned the fans. You name it, I did it. It still wasn't perfect though.
I headed off to my hair appointment and thought, maybe this sweet baby is just looking out for me. She doesn't want to come when my hair isn't ready...there would be pictures of course and what girl wants to look back and think, "my mom's hair was awful when I was born". LOL It was also a relaxing afternoon.
I got home in time to clean up a little more and then went to pick Lila up. We both decided that I wasn't going to be cooking supper that night (remember the personal day??) and Neil was working since it was a Friday. When I asked Lila where she wanted to eat, she of course chose Mackie's. Off to Mackie's we go.
Well, we no more walked through the door at Mackie's and my water broke at 6:00 PM. REALLY???? Not only was I starving from all the work I'd done all day, but Lila wasn't the only one craving Mackie's. Damn....
We ordered anyway because I wasn't 100% sure that my water broke. (Who am I kidding? Of course I was sure...I just couldn't believe it.) I let Lila play some games while I convinced myself that, yes this was all happening. I texted Neil and told him, knowing that he probably wouldn't answer a call since he was working. I called my mom, who mind you had been stalking me for the past week asking me if I was in labor, and she didn't answer. I called my dad...WHO DIDN'T ANSWER! Are we seeing a trend here?? Don't leave me hanging people! Finally got a hold of Deanna (who was with dad) and told them to get home because I had to bring Lila over.
You may be thinking, why on earth are you freaking out? This is your second and you know how long these things take. That's the thing. My labor with Lila was on the short side and everyone, EVERYONE, had told me that this one would go faster and not to waste any time getting to the hospital.
I finally got Neil by calling the ER. We got our crap together and to Carbondale we drove. The contractions were not as noticeable this time around. Got to Carbondale in a reasonable amount of time and got in the "holding cell" as I like to call it. I honestly don't know what it's really called, but it's the dreadful place where they put you where you have to sit and answer questions and get your labs done and make sure you're really in labor. It's a fun little place...not. It is quite entertaining seeing who is in labor with you and hearing them answer questions. LOL There are some dandies out there. I was dilated to a 4 when I got there, which was decent progress since I was dilated to a 3 at my appointment two day prior.
We finally made the move to the delivery room where I could relax and just, well labor. I knew a little more this time than I did last time so I walked the halls. I walked and walked and walked and folks, it truly helped the pain. I never did this with Lila. The nurse made me come back in every 45 min or so to check the contractions and fetal heart tones. It was dreadful in the room. By about 10:00, I'm thinking, we should be getting pretty close. I labored about 6-7 hours with Lila and this was supposed to be faster, right? I was STILL at a 6. I was making no progress, hour by hour. The minutes and hours just kept ticking. I was stuck...stuck at a 6 and not going anywhere. She was really low, but my body wasn't cooperating. Finally about 2:00, yes you read that right, 2:00 AM, Dr. Mulch came in and checked me again. She said she felt a pocket of fluid that had kinda wedged it's way to the side. She was going to pop it. And boy did she ever! Up to this point, I was doing great on IV pain meds and so far had not needed the epidural. She popped that pocket and I swear to you it sent me in a pain level I've never experienced. (I must've gotten the epi before that point with Lila). As you can imagine, the anesthesiologist was ordered and arrived very quickly. I got the epi and rested for about an hour before she was basically coming out on her own.
Dr. Mulch came in and two pushes later, baby sister was here. 4:03 AM 6 lbs 7.3 oz and 19 1/2 in long. She had a head full of dark brown hair and was just beautiful. She was bright eyed and ready to go. She was all smashed from being so low for so long and snorting a lot. Sweet little smashed piggy. We loved her already! Then they asked for a name...uhhhh Neil? What do you think? Vivian? Sure. I mean, unless you have something else? No? Ok...Vivian Ruth it is! LOL That's pretty much how it happened. :)
Later that day my dad brought Lila over to meet her new sister and she was just thrilled. I almost cried. It wasn't just my little Lila anymore. I couldn't spend all my time with her. Now I was going to have to manage to spend time with both of them. Tear...tear...tear...we'll cross that bridge later. Fast forward several weeks and Lila still loves her baby sister.
The day was April 26, 2013. I had had about enough of work for the week and the day before had decided that I needed a day off. I took a personal day on April 26. I had a hair appointment and was going to take a few hours anyway, so why not the whole day?
I got up early and took Lila to daycare (this was a personal day after all) and came home and enjoyed my coffee. I took a look around the house and thought, "what baby would want to come home to this house?". It was filthy. It was a mess. So I headed of to the wonderful world of Walmart and stocked up on some cleaning supplies. It was amazing. I came home and did some laundry, cleaned the bathroom, the kitchen, the bedrooms, the floors, dusted, cleaned the fans. You name it, I did it. It still wasn't perfect though.
I headed off to my hair appointment and thought, maybe this sweet baby is just looking out for me. She doesn't want to come when my hair isn't ready...there would be pictures of course and what girl wants to look back and think, "my mom's hair was awful when I was born". LOL It was also a relaxing afternoon.
I got home in time to clean up a little more and then went to pick Lila up. We both decided that I wasn't going to be cooking supper that night (remember the personal day??) and Neil was working since it was a Friday. When I asked Lila where she wanted to eat, she of course chose Mackie's. Off to Mackie's we go.
Well, we no more walked through the door at Mackie's and my water broke at 6:00 PM. REALLY???? Not only was I starving from all the work I'd done all day, but Lila wasn't the only one craving Mackie's. Damn....
We ordered anyway because I wasn't 100% sure that my water broke. (Who am I kidding? Of course I was sure...I just couldn't believe it.) I let Lila play some games while I convinced myself that, yes this was all happening. I texted Neil and told him, knowing that he probably wouldn't answer a call since he was working. I called my mom, who mind you had been stalking me for the past week asking me if I was in labor, and she didn't answer. I called my dad...WHO DIDN'T ANSWER! Are we seeing a trend here?? Don't leave me hanging people! Finally got a hold of Deanna (who was with dad) and told them to get home because I had to bring Lila over.
You may be thinking, why on earth are you freaking out? This is your second and you know how long these things take. That's the thing. My labor with Lila was on the short side and everyone, EVERYONE, had told me that this one would go faster and not to waste any time getting to the hospital.
I finally got Neil by calling the ER. We got our crap together and to Carbondale we drove. The contractions were not as noticeable this time around. Got to Carbondale in a reasonable amount of time and got in the "holding cell" as I like to call it. I honestly don't know what it's really called, but it's the dreadful place where they put you where you have to sit and answer questions and get your labs done and make sure you're really in labor. It's a fun little place...not. It is quite entertaining seeing who is in labor with you and hearing them answer questions. LOL There are some dandies out there. I was dilated to a 4 when I got there, which was decent progress since I was dilated to a 3 at my appointment two day prior.
We finally made the move to the delivery room where I could relax and just, well labor. I knew a little more this time than I did last time so I walked the halls. I walked and walked and walked and folks, it truly helped the pain. I never did this with Lila. The nurse made me come back in every 45 min or so to check the contractions and fetal heart tones. It was dreadful in the room. By about 10:00, I'm thinking, we should be getting pretty close. I labored about 6-7 hours with Lila and this was supposed to be faster, right? I was STILL at a 6. I was making no progress, hour by hour. The minutes and hours just kept ticking. I was stuck...stuck at a 6 and not going anywhere. She was really low, but my body wasn't cooperating. Finally about 2:00, yes you read that right, 2:00 AM, Dr. Mulch came in and checked me again. She said she felt a pocket of fluid that had kinda wedged it's way to the side. She was going to pop it. And boy did she ever! Up to this point, I was doing great on IV pain meds and so far had not needed the epidural. She popped that pocket and I swear to you it sent me in a pain level I've never experienced. (I must've gotten the epi before that point with Lila). As you can imagine, the anesthesiologist was ordered and arrived very quickly. I got the epi and rested for about an hour before she was basically coming out on her own.
Dr. Mulch came in and two pushes later, baby sister was here. 4:03 AM 6 lbs 7.3 oz and 19 1/2 in long. She had a head full of dark brown hair and was just beautiful. She was bright eyed and ready to go. She was all smashed from being so low for so long and snorting a lot. Sweet little smashed piggy. We loved her already! Then they asked for a name...uhhhh Neil? What do you think? Vivian? Sure. I mean, unless you have something else? No? Ok...Vivian Ruth it is! LOL That's pretty much how it happened. :)
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