Continued Postpartum Healing

Postpartum care-

This blog post is strictly dedicated to what I have experienced over the course of three births within five years, my opinions on my own personal postpartum healing journeys, and what I’ve found to help me most from day 0-365 after baby arrives.

Having three kids in five years was exactly what I wanted for our life, however it’s not exactly a cake walk for your reproductive organs or your mind. What I experienced with Liam wasn’t the same thing I experienced with Lavender, or Louis. They all gave me a new reality and I had to make new choices each time based on new information and different circumstances. Kind of exhausting. Kind of hard. Totally worth it? Ask me in about a year 😂

Just kidding.

I love. LOVE. that we accomplished the goal I’ve had since I was a little girl-having lots of babies close together. I have been dreaming of this life since I was 10. I’m walking in a dream with them.

In loving my kids, I lose pieces of myself a bit during each postpartum, and with each baby I still must do everything I was doing for the previous one. Parenthood is a crazy balancing act between keeping your relationship alive, keeping your kids alive, keeping YOURSELF alive, working, staying up to date with all the new parenting news (which changes each time I have a kid, even though I’ve had them so close together), and maybe, JUST maybe in like six years have a social life on a rare occasion. It’s been five years and I still don’t have a social life so I’ll get back to you on that one in a year as well. 

Because I had pre-existing depression before I became a mom, I knew that would be a huge part of my postpartum care each time. I began researching and came across placenta encapsulation and was intrigued. Definitely kind of grossed out but intrigued. For my first baby there just so happened to be a placenta encapsulation business that was in partnership with the birthing center we used so I said well it can’t hurt let’s do it. About 200$ and a baby later I have a placenta smoothie while laying in bed watching 300 with my husband and son. Was I grossed out? Yes. Did I chug it? Also yes. I will do whatever when it comes to not being depressed because that shit sucks. The woman who ran the business at the time made it perfectly with about a thousand other ingredients in a huge glass mason jar-if I hadn’t known, I would have never known there was a human organ in there.

Along with that I got a print of my placenta which has become one of my most cherished possessions and something I also had done for my other two babes, strongly recommend-a tincture, and placenta capsules. I didn’t have to touch a single thing in the process and I was able to use these meds as I pleased throughout the coming months.

With my daughters pregnancy I only had capsules made and I wasn’t able to take them at all. They made me so sick..not sure why, just did. I keep them on a shelf and am sentimental about them even though I can’t take them, I’ll probably do something crafty with them like a breastmilk ring but who knows.

With Louis I also just had capsules made and have been very adamant about taking them. On the days I forget Dylan can usually tell. 

“Did you take your meds?”

Sometimes it bugs me when he says that but it’s usually because I haven’t taken them.

Do I know for sure that ingesting your placenta postpartum is scientifically proven to decrease ppd? Or boost milk supply? Or level hormones? No. I do know animals do it without question immediately after birth, and I know my husband can tell when I don’t take them, but that’s as far as it goes.

Cannabis

A steady postpartum care contributor for me has been cannabis. In a previous post I talked about my experience with depression and anxiety medication, specifically related to it impacting foods I enjoy and the inability to safely consume while breastfeeding or pregnant. These are big no-no’s for me, if I’m not breastfeeding I’m pregnant. But I still suffer during those times. Do I as a mother need to suffer without pharmaceutical intervention? Absolutely not! Self care is family care. Eating the foods you love, refraining from the chemicals that aren’t safe, taking care of yourself, this is health care in it’s purest form. Gut problems, diabetes, cancer, depression, anxiety, heart health, skin health, reproductive health, all can be cured by proper natural remedies, holistic medication. If you ask me, cannabis has the power to heal both the body and mind.

Every day I take my placenta pills, sometimes three sometimes five, and my prenatal pill. I’m much more weary of my supply this time, prenatal pills have been a staple for me and I will always tell moms to continue to take them after pregnancy, especially breastfeeding moms.

After my meds are taken and my coffee is drank, I unapologetically take time to smoke and begin my day. Now that my placenta pills are starting to run out I’m a little nervous. I’m not ready for my moon cycle to come back, I’m not ready for my endometriosis to come back and I’m not ready to be done with this part of motherhood, but I know I have no control over that. Louis is our last baby and this is my last time experiencing this so I definitely am taking full advantage of it, savoring each piece and holding onto whatever sentimental objects I can. There are days when it’s overwhelming and I’m especially grateful for my plant based medications- my essential oils, my cannabis, soulful foods- to guide me to a place of acceptance and gratitude, because really isn’t that all we can ask for?