8 Proud, Glorious months of Breastfeeding!!

I am not shy to say I am proud and so I should be, the 23rd of July marked 8 awesome months of breastfeeding for me and my darling little H.

It gives me such joy know I am giving my gorgeous girl the best start in life I can. 

Even though we started out with a few problems we had to work through since 8 weeks it has been smooth sailing. 

There were times at night where she was waking 1-2hrly and I will not lie it wasn't what I would call fun but I was happy to wait it out I understood it was normal and she needed it even though it wasn't that nice for me, this was happening  up until about 2 weeks ago but I'm so happy I just waited it out because now she is happily going for 4-5hr blocks at a time overnight. and its so good to know she did it all in her own time no sleep training or horrible periods of crying necessary. 

Here's to many months more of beautiful breastfeeding.

I sure did eat my placenta!!!

Ahh my last lonley placenta capsules and to be honest I am quite sad about it, I wish they could last forever.

Yes folks that is right I consumed my placenta after H's birth, not only did I encapsulate like you see in the green cup here but I also had pieces raw right after the birth to help stem my bleeding that was looking to be on the high side and if you had asked me if I could of done this a year ago I would of probably said " ewww gross" or "why would you" but I kept an open mind and researched it and decided it was something for me and the ewww thought I would of had in the past was just a reflection of our society's misunderstanding of the magnificent organ that is the placenta.

There are many benefits of placenta consumption:
-it was made by you for you and contains your hormones
-boosts iron levels
-has been shown to boost milk production
-reduces  post-partum bleeding
-helps reduces the severity of the baby blues and reduces the risk of developing post-partum depression by quickly restoring depleted hormones
-can be great to take for when your cycle returns too and just for general periods of moodiness ect.

The placenta has very high levels of some vitamins and mineral, B6 being one of them which is the one which plays a major role in warding off PPD when ingested by the mother.


There are several ways for you to consume:

Raw- on its own straight after birth some women like to hold a piece in their cheek to stem bleeding, or some like to cut up into pill sized pieces and freeze then you just take it as you would a pill if you are worried about tasting it I suggest using something like OJ which is strong to hide the taste, or some women have like to have it as a placenta smoothie.

Tincture- is a rather subtle way to take it, and can be taken as needed not only for mum but for bub as well during times of stress like teething

Encapsulation- the process where you dehydrate your placenta in an oven on low or in a dehydrator for 8-12hrs, you then grind it up and put into capsules and take as you would any other capsule. This method is appealing to most because it is just like any other pill and the encapsulation process it rather easy to do yourself or for you caregivers/family to do.

Cooked in a meal- some people make placenta casserole or incorporate it into other cooked meaty meals.

Consuming fresh raw placenta will have the most nutrient value but any of the other ways still have huge benefits and is absolutely worth while.

My own experience was great and is something I would do again. I personally had some right after birth fresh and raw as pill sized pieces as did Pappa B which a lot of people would think was odd but I love that he did, he wanted to be a part of it all and I think its pretty cool how many men can say they have tried raw placenta!!!
 My midwife also cut up some more pill sized pieces and popped the in the freezer for me to take before the encapsulation process was complete and she also cut up the rest in slices and put in our oven on low which we then left for about 10hrs then I did the grinding and the actual encapsulating myself.

I can say from my experience it helped with my energy levels, reduced the duration and severity of the dreaded baby blues, helped with my milk production and my PP bleed was light after the initial bleed after the birth and another thing I noticed was with H she didn't get the hormone pimples all babies get after birth that badly only one or 2 at a time which was different to my other 3 little ones so I wonder if the hormones passed onto her through my breastmilk helped with that too.

You can see in the pic above that we also did placenta prints, we did both sides H's side and my side I love that we have this and I can show H her "tree of life" I will get them framed and hung when I get around to it.

So for anyone interested in learning more about this here are some links I found useful :
http://www.cafemom.com/journals/read/1577334/Placenta_Encapsulation_Instructions_w_Pictures
http://codenamemama.com/2012/01/09/placenta-smoothie-recipes/
http://placentabenefits.info/medicinal.asp
http://2doulasonamission.com/benefits-of-placenta-medicine/

Ahhhh so neglected I'm sorry, so anyway here's Wordless Wednesday

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY :)

 Really this doesn't need a description does it?

Raw honey and lemon for hot drinks and Olive Leaf extract to help kick my cold.

Mmmm, my yummo signature green smoothie.

2 Bananas, raw honey, raw cacao, chia seeds, some greens this time I used spirulina but sometimes I use spinach and milk so so yummy, so so good for you.

I have started making water kefir which is a pro-biotic drink made from fermented grains, this was my first batch I have done many since and have finally perfected it I think. Blog post to come about this in the coming days.

Last but not least my crystals out ready for a cleanse in tonight's full moon, they certainly need it too!!!

There we go enjoy my first Wordless Wednesday its something I plan to do every week, we have had a lot going on lately so the poor blog has been neglected and am hoping to break that drought.

Enjoy.