Placentas...

[Mom2baldie]

What is everyone planning on doing with theirs? I would like to make a placenta print this time. Has anyone else done that? Any tips or advice for me?

[Kabes]

I saw a post on this somewhere else. Maybe you could search and find it. I seem to remember something beings said about large finger paint paper (b/c it is absorbant-sp) and blotting and making several prints.

I've never done anything with mine other than look them over well cause I thought they were cool. What would you do with the print? I guess if it looked neat you could frame it, or just put it in the baby book.

[4under6]

I always make the doc bring it to me so I can look at it!
It's cool!
But no placenta eatin' or planting for me.

[chrissy]

I want to do a print too!

And I think we'll plant in. I've been reading that if you eat it (even if you dry it and eat it in capsule form) that it's really good for you. I'm not sure I'm up for that though, we'll see.

[guestmama9924]

I've done prints at homebirths I attend. All I can say is, it is messy. And wet. And regular paper just makes a big ol disaster :LOL
I suggest a thick art paper and a good place to let it dry.
At this one birth I went to, MW and I were trying and just making bad picture after bad picture. By the time the mom shuffled out of her bedroom, we had these pictures hanging all over her kitchen.
BTW with my own, I wrapped it , froze it, and planted it with a special tree on her 1st birthday and did a blessingway.

[Mom2baldie]

Chrissy,

Ive heard that too (about drying and encapsulating). I would actually really like to that also because I read that it can greatly help with postpartum depression. I dont think it would be too bad if it was in a capsule at all. I guess I need to find instructions on how to do that also.

Keysmama,

Thanks for your input. So I guess its not as easy as it looks in the pics at Birthdiaries.com, huh?

[sistermama]

My midwife and my labor nurse had to steal my placenta out of the hospital for me, and now it is still in the freezer!!! I just haven't decided what tree I want to put it under yet. But I did dry Jack umbilicus and make a special box to put it in. It shrinks WAY down. The cool thing about his cord is that it has a knot in it - although it obviously didn't stop my 10lb baby from getting nutrients!

[wardermom]

Speaking of placentas in the freezer, I have 5 in mine I just don't have a special place to plant them yet.

[Caroline248]

I guess I am the odd one around here...but I most definatly do NOT want my placenta. I am way too squemish to even think about transporting it and doing something with it. If they took a kidney out, I wouldn't want that either....


Caroline

[woobysma]

Wow, up until now, I thought I was the odd one - my mom gave me the idea of planting it, but I'd never heard it brought up by anyone else!

We planted ds's under a beautiful climbing white rose bush at my parents' home - I love it!

(it was really weird carrying it out of the hospital in a cooler though...... and it totally blew me away that nobody batted an eye when I asked the nurse to save it for me......)

[chumani]

Melanie- Wow someone with more placentas than me!!! I have 4 in my freezer! We haven't decided what to do with them! If anyone has any great ideas please let me know! We have all the kids cord stumps in traditional leather/beaded pouches. We just don't know what to do with all these placentas.

OT: fresh unfrozen placentas are prized by midwife students to practice suturing on.

Sarahb

[Mom2baldie]

Sarah,

How long did it take for the umbilicus to dry? What did you dry it on? I read on some website that you can dry them in a heart shape or spiral...

SarahB,

At the ATM (texas midwifery) trainings they use raw chicken breasts to practice suturing on. Ick.

[karuna]

Keysmama: what's a blessingway? (stupid question?) I have a frozen placenta and when dd turns 1 in August I want to plant it and have a little ceremony... Any suggestions for readings, etc.?

And, wow, I never heard of drying and encapsulating, what an awesome idea! I might have tried this, except dp left it in the car overnight after the birth (in the summer!) and I think it's probably not good eatin' now!

Since this is a placenta thread, but sorry if this is way OT, has anyone heard of or done a lotus birth? (That's when you leave the cord and placenta attached to the babe until it falls off naturally... no cutting. It usually takes 3-7 days, and people keep the placenta packed in salt or lavendar in some sort of pouch. We thought about doing this for a while, but then dreaded all the comments from family and friends who came to visit, so just left it attached for a while before we left the birth center.)

[sagira]

Yup, I had mine in encapsulated form. No PPD, so I guess it worked. I had severe anemia during pregnancy and I'd like to think taking my placenta also helped to bring it back to normal.

Cheers,

[sistermama]

Melanie and Sarah - Thanks for making me feel not quite so weird for having my measly 1 in the freezer!

Lynsey - I just misted some oil on a plate and laid the umbilicus on it in a spiral shape. Then I put it up on a really high bookshelf - didn't want to tempt the cats! It took about 1-2 weeks to dry.

[guestmama9924]

Originally Posted by karuna

Keysmama: what's a blessingway? (stupid question?) I

Not a stupid question at all. But a bit T I suppose so I won't get too into it here. Blessing Way Placenta Story
Some use a food dehydrator for the placenta to do the capsules.

[karuna]

Woops, I saw this thread on the main forum page, so clicked in. I JUST realized that it's a due date club! Sorry for the intrusion, I'm not pregnant. (I keep getting myself in trouble entering discussions I notice on the front page!!! I've gotta stop doing that!)

Thanks for the link anyway! Good luck to y'all.

[guestmama9924]

Originally Posted by karuna

Woops, I saw this thread on the main forum page, so clicked in. I JUST realized that it's a due date club! Sorry for the intrusion, I'm not pregnant. (I keep getting myself in trouble entering discussions I notice on the front page!!! I've gotta stop doing that!)

Thanks for the link anyway! Good luck to y'all.

whoops, me too...I love bellies...

[mum2tori]

I don't think anyone minds. We like to chat over here so feel free to add if you have info about the topic.

I don't think I'll be doing anything with the placenta. Never really had the desire to keep it or anything. Don't think I could eat it either.

[cottonwood]

If I'm bleeding after the birth I'll cut off a bit and swallow it (like a pill,) and then dry and encapsulate the rest for postpartum. I have serious hormonal swings PP so hopefully that will help.

The funny thing is that I can't stand handling butchered meat. I avoid it like the plague. I really, really think it's disgusting. I've never felt even the slightest bit of revulsion at handling my own placenta though. It's just a completely different thing to me.