Placenta Power!

Two days postpartum I finally got around to encapsulating my placenta. *Note to self: put more thought into postpartum care! I had been so used to being back to my normal functioning self with in a day or so that I over did it!  Mama's need pampering after giving birth!

Ok, so when I pulled out my placenta from the fridge (getting my first good look at it) I noted a couple things:

1. The cord was really short! We're talking about 13 inches long! No wonder I couldn't pull him up to my chest!

 

 

 

All but a couple inches of the cord!

2. Placenta's are so cool! This funky looking disposable organ supplies all a growing baby needs from implantation to birth! And it can help mom after the birth as well! Who knew that after three hospital births that I would not only give birth at home, but I would play with and then ingest this little unappreciated wonder!

Looking at the maternal side you can see the way that it attached to the lining of my uterus.  It was complete with out any calcifications, lobes, or missing pieces! Ok, I admit, its not the most attractive or appetizing looking thing in the world, but the benefits!

Ready for steaming

So on to the processing! I used the traditional Chinese method of preparation.  I lightly steamed it with lemon and ginger. Then it was sliced and put in the dehydrator. Once dry it gets ground up and packed into the empty capsules. Easy as that! It does have a strong odor! Rinsing it was probably the most potent part, during steaming you get the sent of the lemon and ginger mingled in and it starts to almost smell good!

Mine yeilded about 170 capsules! I've decided to use most of them for my postpartum thyroiditis which usually rears its ugly head between 4 and 6 months post baby for me. I'm really hoping that it will give my body the needed hormonal stability during its time of funky highs and lows.

So far I've noticed an increase in energy. Chasing three kids under 6 and dealing with a newborn is no easy feat, but I've been able to actually keep up! My milk supply is great! We had a couple weeks where I could not convince baby to latch to my inverted nipple, my breast shrunk and I did experience a decrease in supply on my right, but I didn't lose it completely! We are now rebuilding the supply on that side.

I've also noticed that I don't have overactive let down this time around. All of my previous kids it was bad.  My first child when let down hit, I kid you not, I could shoot almost two feet with out touching my breast. It was impressive on a WTH is this scale, but not so much since my poor babies were drowning in milk!

Finished product!

Only time will tell if it helps with the PPT, but just with the benefits I've seen so far, I don't think its so far fetched!