A home water birth in a developing country with a homebirth ban
I woke up at 6:30 with what felt like menstrual cramps. I don’t know how many times I’ve read that phrase at the beginning of the scores of birth stories I’ve read over the months but it just didn’t seem real now that it was actually happening to me. I knew then that this was definitely labor, but couldn’t imagine I’d have a baby at the end of the day.
A photo documentary of placenta encapsulation: yes, you’re going to see pieces of bloody placenta
I decided to encapsulate my placenta. Or, rather, I decided to hire someone to come over to my house and encapsulate it for me (thanks, Melanie!). Honestly, if I think about it too much it still grosses me out. But I’m happy to report that the actual taking of the placenta pills is not as gross as I feared.
A sunset baby brings in a new beginning
Just when you think Offbeat Mama’s birth stories archive can’t get any more beautiful, something like Niko’s birth comes along and knocks you off your feet.
Making prints of lotus-born placenta
Lotus birth babies have two birth days, they have the day that they were born into the world from Mama’s womb and they have the day that their umbilical cord and placenta naturally detached from their belly button.
Eating placenta rocked my post-partum world
So, while I know it’s not for everyone (and it did smell kinda like funky beef jerky) eating my placenta really turned my birth recovery up a notch.