Placenta Encapsulation, Smoothies and Post Twin Tummy

Ok so a review on the Placenta Smoothie and Encapsulation first.

As I said in the birth story, Lesley from IPEN (http://placentanetwork.com/utilities/userServices/user_profile.asp?userId=1221 ) came to mine a few hours after birth and made me a smoothie out of both Jack and Megan's Placentas, unfortunately while being so out of it I didn't think to take a picture so pinched one from somewhere else to give an idea of what it looked like.

It looked very much like this!

Here is a link on how to make the Smoothie

http://www.placentanetwork.com/placenta/remedies/Smoothies.asp

It tasted of nothing but fruit, it was thick however but perfectly pleasant and easy to swallow :)
I noticed a big improvement in how I felt energy wise as prior to drinking it I felt absolutely awful, washed out and although it wasn't a hard long labour it was most definitely the most painful and exhausting (at the end) birth compared to the girls labours and I guess all that pre labour I had experienced over the weeks before had caught up with me too. I wouldn't say it made me feel on top of the world after, I still felt like I'd given birth! but it was a good 'pick me up'. I had another one the next morning after having not slept all night and it managed to make me feel a little more human again and able to cope with the lack of sleep.
I would highly recommend it to other mums to be, particularly those who have other children to care for as well because of how low energy is after birth (also depending on how birth went) and if there is anything that can help make that a bit easier it is worth its weight in gold!


The Placenta Capsules

So a few days later Lesley came to mine with a bag of goodies :)

Megan and Jacks Cords (Lesley made a J out of Jacks :) )

In the bag was dosage instructions, IPEN leaflets, Lesley's business cards, Jack and Megan's dried cords as keepsakes, Megan's Placenta capsules (Raw) and Jacks Placenta capsules (TCM) 

Visit here for Raw version information

Visit here for TCM version information

Megan's capsule

Jacks capsule

So for around the past 10/11 days I've been taking Megan's Raw placenta capsules, I felt drawn to taking these at the moment and here are a few things I noticed :-

* Breast milk - I had a very good flow by day 3 and have continued to have a very good flow of breast milk, now I know putting them both to the breast as much as I have has obviously helped that (supply/demand rules) but I'm not a breastfeeding novice and with both girls it took a bit of extra work to get a nice steady flow going and usually by 6 weeks there was a lovely supply but it seems to have happened already and I guess having the two of them working at the supply has also helped but my eating pattern hasn't been the best at all (naughty but hey ho....) plus Megan is a nipple feeder (ouch!) so with all this I'm quite certain the capsules have played a part in my lovely abundant milk flow!

* Energy/Moods - Well I wont lie I've been a moody cow BUT not long after taking the capsules I do notice a change in my mood for a good few hours after, I feel less irritable and a bit calmer. This has happened AFTER taking the pills each time. Along with this (and possibly why my mood is elevated) my energy levels are a little higher and I'm able to function. Considering  I barely get a few hours here and there during the night I would be expecting to feel like the walking dead but I don't. Although it's certainly not good for my mental well being to have only a few hours sleep, I'm able to rest comfortably still without feeling like each inch of energy and life force is being sucked away at every feed :)

* Bleeding/After birth pains - After birth the after pains kicked in immediately (as expected) they did make me wince a little, especially during the feeds, I took paracetamol for the first day. After having the smoothie I barely noticed the after pains (along with taking pain relief) this was actually quite surprising for me as with Charlotte even while taking pain meds the pain was crippling and during every feed for the first 3 days felt like I was in labour (most of the time) it was awful, after pains went on for nearly a week. With that in mind I was expecting it to be far worse with a bigger uterus (which actually contracted down very quickly after Jack was born) and bigger wound area where both placentas were. The next day I didn't need paracetamol for it (only took some because of unrelated pelvic pain) as it was bearable and easy to manage, by day 3 I barely felt anything but a few mild cramps. Whether it was the smoothie or not I'm not sure but I'd like to say it contributed.
The bleeding has been very steady and most days mild/light period. With both girls I bled for weeks (6 weeks with Olivia and around 3/4 with Charlotte) Since I started taking the capsules the bleeding had remained mild/light and because of that along with increase in mood/energy I then started over doing it :-/ It lead me to believe that my body was able to go back to doing what I did before, which is my own stupid fault (not the capsules fault!) and the bleeding for the past two days or so has been quite a bit heavier and I've been feeling very 'periody' (not a real word but you get what I mean!) so I've slowed down again and so has the bleeding (yey!).

I'm planning to start the TCM (Jacks) once my cold/cough has cleared, it's recommend you don't take them while unwell (Infection/fever)

Quoted from gentlebirth.org http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/eatplcnt.html

Contraindications: placenta should not be taken alone if there is heat from yin deficiency. This would be characterized as flushed cheeks, hot palms and feet, afternoon fever, nightsweats (yes, these are common menopausal sx- many of which are caused by yin deficiency). Because in TCM many acute illnesses, esp. those characterized by fever, chills, aches, sneezing are seen as the invasion of a pathogenic evil, placenta should NEVER be taken with these symptoms. Placenta is a powerful tonifier and cannot differentiate between the body's defensive qi and the invading pathogen. Taking it while fighting off, say, a common cold, or more to the point, a breast infection (which sx are fever, aches, chills, etc.) can make the pathogen stronger and go deeper. (This is the same reason ginseng--a tonifier--is not to be taken with a common cold.) Watch those ladies right now who get influenza after delivery--they should avoid any tonifiers (placenta or otherwise) as well.

Apparently this isn't so with the Raw ones from what I remember (correct me if I'm wrong!)

Post Twin Tummy!

Now after I gave birth my uterus contracted down very well, I did feel like I needed to hold my stomach when I had my bath and shower. Over the next few days it went down a little more, but you could most certainly see it sticking out under my top but considering I just had two babies it wasn't bad!
By day 3 I popped on the corset and left it on day and night.
Two days after I noticed an immediate change (haven't got after birth tummy pic doh!)

Corset has a velcro fastening on the side and just stretches over.

Here is a link to where I bought it Clicky  (ebay person will love me!) 

I got the smallest (6-10) as I'm a size 8-10 pre preg but it would easily fit someone who was a size 12 pre preg as it's quite big and has a lot of stretch.

Here I am a week after giving birth

I just can't believe how much it's gone down! I think along with breastfeeding, possibly the placenta pills and corset it's all played a part in helping it all go down. The interesting thing is that after I had Charlotte my tummy was much bigger than this and I had a 'belly' for a good 3/4 months after! So I'm really impressed and feel optimistic about getting back into shape later on :)