I took my three youngest children to the park tonight. Mainly cause it rained all blessed day, and were cooped up, they were starting to grate my nerves. They needed to run off the excess energy, and I needed some fresh air!
We were only there about 10 mins when my littlest one annouced "I have to PEEEEEEEEEE!" Well, even though it's only a 2 minute walk to our house, I figured, "hey, there's forest behind us, why not pee in the bushes". I had never thought to myself to "teach" our girls how to do this. My son is forever whipping it out when he needs to go. I guess I almost figured it was an inate skill that we all have. I remember peeing behind boats, car doors, trees, sheds . . . when I would go on road trips with my family as a girl. It was second nature.
So, Clo and I walk along the path, looking for a safe place to "quat" a pee. To my amazment, she had no idea how to coopy down with her pants around her ankes. She had kind of a drunken flamingo feel to her. Wavin and tippin about. So, I dropped my pants and showed her. I'm sure if anyone had walked up that path then, I wouldn't be sitting here writing about it. Probably getting a mug shot for indecent exsposure. Anyways, I then held her hand, and her pants, and her bum off the ground. She started, she giggled in delight as she watched her pee make a river down the trail. As she stood up, and realized there was no cussiony soft tp to be rolled of the alders, I passed her some tissue I had in my pocket. I figured we could wait for the lesson on what leaves can be used for, for another day.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
I'm out of Babies
My third child just truned 6, and my youngest, just turned 4. I also have an 8 year old, and a 13 year old, I really, truley, no longer have babies in my life full time now. I haven't thought about it too much, time just goes by, and life just goes on. But, sitting here this afternoon, as I listen to the little grown up conversations held by my children, I miss snuggling a baby to my breast. The smell of a tiny baby, the wonderment in everything they do and see as they approach toddlerhood. It tugs at the heart.
I am actually getting somewhat excited about this part in my life. My husband and I have never been on a honeymoon. We have been married almost 10 years! Hell, we have never been away from our children for more than 2 days alone together. I don't even know if we would know what to talk about if we had 72 hours alone. We could get past the first 2 days. Day 1: go to bed early, sleep til 10am, go for breakfast, go home, lay on couch and watch movies all day. Day 2: sleep in til 10am, go get groceries together, go to a movie, quiet dinner in child free restaurant & enjoy calm conversation about how nice being alone is, go home, maybe, finally, have enough energy to "cuddle" before sleep. Day 3: get up . . . . what do we do.
Besides being at the stage of my life where I now have to oppurtunity to spend more quality time with my hubby, I also am able to focus more on my career. I can get more work done during the day at home. My day is not all consumed by diapers, diswashing, dirt removal and dog crap clean up. I have no more diapers! My oldest does dishes! The kids know how to vaccuum! And my son is a dog poo pro!
I think life maybe actually getting too easy. Maybe that's why this afternoon I had time to sit and enjoy listening to my children. Maybe. I think, it's actually just a new chapter in my parental journey, and I am not sure if I am ready to start it just yet. So I'll sit a little longer.
I am actually getting somewhat excited about this part in my life. My husband and I have never been on a honeymoon. We have been married almost 10 years! Hell, we have never been away from our children for more than 2 days alone together. I don't even know if we would know what to talk about if we had 72 hours alone. We could get past the first 2 days. Day 1: go to bed early, sleep til 10am, go for breakfast, go home, lay on couch and watch movies all day. Day 2: sleep in til 10am, go get groceries together, go to a movie, quiet dinner in child free restaurant & enjoy calm conversation about how nice being alone is, go home, maybe, finally, have enough energy to "cuddle" before sleep. Day 3: get up . . . . what do we do.
Besides being at the stage of my life where I now have to oppurtunity to spend more quality time with my hubby, I also am able to focus more on my career. I can get more work done during the day at home. My day is not all consumed by diapers, diswashing, dirt removal and dog crap clean up. I have no more diapers! My oldest does dishes! The kids know how to vaccuum! And my son is a dog poo pro!
I think life maybe actually getting too easy. Maybe that's why this afternoon I had time to sit and enjoy listening to my children. Maybe. I think, it's actually just a new chapter in my parental journey, and I am not sure if I am ready to start it just yet. So I'll sit a little longer.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Placenta Works
Some shots of recent placenta prints I've done!
I find this so interesting. The shape is there waiting to be explored. All you need is time and paint!
I have not done many, but if anyone is interested, please feel free to ask!
How Cooking Placenta Became Normal - Part 2
How Cooking Placenta Became Normal – Part 2
Natasha Longridge, Doula, PES
I remember telling my friends and family what I had done, and of course, they thought I was insane. Staring at me with slack jawed awe at how I could cook and consume something that was once part of my body. I’m pretty sure cannibalism came up in a conversation or two. I didn’t mind, I felt great!
After spreading the word amongst family and friends, and co-workers . . . other women became more and more interested. Some people were a little more soft stomached, and wanted the benefits, but didn’t want to handle the organ. I volunteered. I felt every woman who wanted to experience the benefits should have the capacity to do so.
After a couple years of doing this for friends, I decided I really enjoyed this. I had a strong desire to learn more. The more placentas I saw, and encapsulated, the more I felt I needed to know. Each placenta has its own unique smell, colour, and story. I looked into courses for encapsulation training. The only “local” class I could find was through Placenta Benefits.info (PBi) - Avoid the baby blues with placenta capsules. It is a distance course offered out of Vegas! But what the hey! I found someone who can educate me on the science behind placenta encapsulation! It took me a couple months to finish the course, and I can now give people the many, many benefits of placenta encapsulation.
I love it! I love everything about it! Every time I am called upon to encapsulate another placenta, I feel giddy. I am so proud of the women who are taking their health and postpartum into their hands. I find being proactive is often the best cure, and I am blessed to be able to assist these women along their journey. Every placenta I hold, I admire. I thank Mother Nature for providing such a wondrous organ, which, not only, nurtures a baby for nine months, but also can provide nutrients to the mom thereafter. What an amazing thing this is! I take the placenta, go through each step, and feel grateful to be a part of it. I feel extremely honoured to be a part of each new family. Even if only for a short while!
The quirky thing about all of this, is, when people hear about it for the first time, they shudder. They look at me like I’m a nut, and they pause. After the pause, they start asking questions, “why”, “how come”, “does it work”. I give my little spiel on how it all goes down, about what it did for me, about how there is actual research on the how’s and whys. And of course, it works! Then, people pause, and most often, I get a “hey, I wish I had known about that 5 years ago”, or I’ll get the “wow, that is amazing!” It suddenly becomes “normal”. As with anything, information and truth, is key.
(c) Natasha Longridge, PES, Doula
Natasha Longridge, Doula, PES
I remember telling my friends and family what I had done, and of course, they thought I was insane. Staring at me with slack jawed awe at how I could cook and consume something that was once part of my body. I’m pretty sure cannibalism came up in a conversation or two. I didn’t mind, I felt great!
After spreading the word amongst family and friends, and co-workers . . . other women became more and more interested. Some people were a little more soft stomached, and wanted the benefits, but didn’t want to handle the organ. I volunteered. I felt every woman who wanted to experience the benefits should have the capacity to do so.
After a couple years of doing this for friends, I decided I really enjoyed this. I had a strong desire to learn more. The more placentas I saw, and encapsulated, the more I felt I needed to know. Each placenta has its own unique smell, colour, and story. I looked into courses for encapsulation training. The only “local” class I could find was through Placenta Benefits.info (PBi) - Avoid the baby blues with placenta capsules. It is a distance course offered out of Vegas! But what the hey! I found someone who can educate me on the science behind placenta encapsulation! It took me a couple months to finish the course, and I can now give people the many, many benefits of placenta encapsulation.
I love it! I love everything about it! Every time I am called upon to encapsulate another placenta, I feel giddy. I am so proud of the women who are taking their health and postpartum into their hands. I find being proactive is often the best cure, and I am blessed to be able to assist these women along their journey. Every placenta I hold, I admire. I thank Mother Nature for providing such a wondrous organ, which, not only, nurtures a baby for nine months, but also can provide nutrients to the mom thereafter. What an amazing thing this is! I take the placenta, go through each step, and feel grateful to be a part of it. I feel extremely honoured to be a part of each new family. Even if only for a short while!
The quirky thing about all of this, is, when people hear about it for the first time, they shudder. They look at me like I’m a nut, and they pause. After the pause, they start asking questions, “why”, “how come”, “does it work”. I give my little spiel on how it all goes down, about what it did for me, about how there is actual research on the how’s and whys. And of course, it works! Then, people pause, and most often, I get a “hey, I wish I had known about that 5 years ago”, or I’ll get the “wow, that is amazing!” It suddenly becomes “normal”. As with anything, information and truth, is key.
(c) Natasha Longridge, PES, Doula
How Cooking Placenta Became Normal
How Cooking Placenta Became Normal – Part 1
Natasha Longridge, Doula, PES
My journey into placenta encapsulation was fairly straight forward. I had been introduced to the idea by my midwives while pregnant with my fourth child. I had experienced horrible postpartum depression with my 2nd and 3rd children, and I was looking into “non-traditional” ways to prevent and treat myself with this upcoming birth.
As anyone who has ever suffered postpartum depression can understand, the depression didn’t stop once my baby was a toddler; it carried its way through all aspects and many years of my life. I needed to find something, anything, which had the potential to “cure” all symptoms. Or, in the very least, make life bearable.
After researching the idea, and convincing me and my husband, that this placenta could be my cure, we decided to give it a go! After all, what could it do to make things worse! I got the various recipes; how to make placenta Shepard’s pie, great placenta spaghetti sauce and raw placenta smoothies along with the encapsulation steps. Reading about cooking it up with onions and chilli powder didn’t strike me as something I could do (I haven’t eaten red meat in decades). The thought of a raw organ drink curdled my stomach. So, here we are left with the task of the encapsulation process. Not bad I thought, just clean it, steam it, bake it, crush it, and put it into capsules. All a fairly painless process, how hard could this be!
May 13th 2007, we not only left the birth centre with our new beautiful daughter, but the organ that had sustained her for 9 precious months. Packed snuggly in the car seat was our daughter, and snugly in my purse (in a bio hazard bag), was the placenta. Once we got home, I was still on the adrenaline rush of having my baby, and I poked the placenta into the back of my fridge. Still not 100 percent sure I needed to cut up this recently birthed organ.
My daughter was a couple days old, when I had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind,” I need to be prepared!”. So, I decided, I’m going to cook my placenta. First though, I had to admire the beauty of this thing. The veins, the membranes, the shape, all in a perfect tree form. I could see the branches, feeling how each one pulsated life into my daughter. I was enthralled at how something so soft and delicate feeling, could be so phenomenally strong and capable of sustaining a child. And, how it can also give me the strength to have a positive outlook on my postpartum!
My husband helped me clean and prepare the organ. We did it in the kitchen sink, as I watched the blood pour from the veins, I felt a little squeamish, and could I really do this? Could I really consume part of my body? Striping off the remaining membranes, placing it into the steamer, I actually started to feel good. I am taking control of my life, my pain, and my future.
Placenta in a pot on the stove. Not an everyday occurrence in most households. The house began to smell like liver and iron. Very potent, and we had to open the windows, breathing new air into the house. It was perfect, the smell of placenta invigorated me, the fresh air awoken me. I was getting so excited at the idea that this may just work!
After the steaming was finished, we let the placenta cool enough to touch. I suddenly had my doubts back, this steamed dark chunk of meat was supposed to help me? It didn’t look overly promising. Kind of like boiled liver, smelly and disgusting really. But I pressed on, if this has worked for thousands of women before me, I was going to see it through. I cut it up, stuck it on a cookie sheet, and put it in the oven.
Eight hours later I was the proud owner of placenta jerky. Gives new meaning to “mom’s home cooking”. I had a little hand blender that my mother gave me for Christmas, she thought it would be nice for shakes and fruit smoothies for the kids. I gave it a new role. It took me about 45 minutes to crush and grind up the dried placenta strips.
Now I am ready to make my happy pills! I sat down at the kitchen table, with a little encapsulation machine, 200 capsules, and my new placenta powder. It wasn’t too hard really, put the capsules in the machine, put the powder in the capsules, put the caps on, start again. My 4 year old son sat beside me, passing me the caps, telling me my vitamins smelled funny. My husband took pictures of us while we completed the project.
Finally, my miracle was complete! I ended up with almost 200 pills! I kept them in the fridge, and took a couple a few times a day for the first 6 weeks or so of my postpartum. I can honestly say I felt wonderful. I had plenty of milk, my mood was impressive, and I could handle nights with limited sleep. I still had the over tired days, that kept me in pyjamas doing nothing but boob my baby and neglect house work. Although, I believe that every mother, even on her best day, needs a day or too like that. After all, at that time, what better excuse to sit around than to cuddle and nurse a new born.
(c) Natasha Longridge PES, Doula 2011
Natasha Longridge, Doula, PES
My journey into placenta encapsulation was fairly straight forward. I had been introduced to the idea by my midwives while pregnant with my fourth child. I had experienced horrible postpartum depression with my 2nd and 3rd children, and I was looking into “non-traditional” ways to prevent and treat myself with this upcoming birth.
As anyone who has ever suffered postpartum depression can understand, the depression didn’t stop once my baby was a toddler; it carried its way through all aspects and many years of my life. I needed to find something, anything, which had the potential to “cure” all symptoms. Or, in the very least, make life bearable.
After researching the idea, and convincing me and my husband, that this placenta could be my cure, we decided to give it a go! After all, what could it do to make things worse! I got the various recipes; how to make placenta Shepard’s pie, great placenta spaghetti sauce and raw placenta smoothies along with the encapsulation steps. Reading about cooking it up with onions and chilli powder didn’t strike me as something I could do (I haven’t eaten red meat in decades). The thought of a raw organ drink curdled my stomach. So, here we are left with the task of the encapsulation process. Not bad I thought, just clean it, steam it, bake it, crush it, and put it into capsules. All a fairly painless process, how hard could this be!
May 13th 2007, we not only left the birth centre with our new beautiful daughter, but the organ that had sustained her for 9 precious months. Packed snuggly in the car seat was our daughter, and snugly in my purse (in a bio hazard bag), was the placenta. Once we got home, I was still on the adrenaline rush of having my baby, and I poked the placenta into the back of my fridge. Still not 100 percent sure I needed to cut up this recently birthed organ.
My daughter was a couple days old, when I had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind,” I need to be prepared!”. So, I decided, I’m going to cook my placenta. First though, I had to admire the beauty of this thing. The veins, the membranes, the shape, all in a perfect tree form. I could see the branches, feeling how each one pulsated life into my daughter. I was enthralled at how something so soft and delicate feeling, could be so phenomenally strong and capable of sustaining a child. And, how it can also give me the strength to have a positive outlook on my postpartum!
My husband helped me clean and prepare the organ. We did it in the kitchen sink, as I watched the blood pour from the veins, I felt a little squeamish, and could I really do this? Could I really consume part of my body? Striping off the remaining membranes, placing it into the steamer, I actually started to feel good. I am taking control of my life, my pain, and my future.
Placenta in a pot on the stove. Not an everyday occurrence in most households. The house began to smell like liver and iron. Very potent, and we had to open the windows, breathing new air into the house. It was perfect, the smell of placenta invigorated me, the fresh air awoken me. I was getting so excited at the idea that this may just work!
After the steaming was finished, we let the placenta cool enough to touch. I suddenly had my doubts back, this steamed dark chunk of meat was supposed to help me? It didn’t look overly promising. Kind of like boiled liver, smelly and disgusting really. But I pressed on, if this has worked for thousands of women before me, I was going to see it through. I cut it up, stuck it on a cookie sheet, and put it in the oven.
Eight hours later I was the proud owner of placenta jerky. Gives new meaning to “mom’s home cooking”. I had a little hand blender that my mother gave me for Christmas, she thought it would be nice for shakes and fruit smoothies for the kids. I gave it a new role. It took me about 45 minutes to crush and grind up the dried placenta strips.
Now I am ready to make my happy pills! I sat down at the kitchen table, with a little encapsulation machine, 200 capsules, and my new placenta powder. It wasn’t too hard really, put the capsules in the machine, put the powder in the capsules, put the caps on, start again. My 4 year old son sat beside me, passing me the caps, telling me my vitamins smelled funny. My husband took pictures of us while we completed the project.
Finally, my miracle was complete! I ended up with almost 200 pills! I kept them in the fridge, and took a couple a few times a day for the first 6 weeks or so of my postpartum. I can honestly say I felt wonderful. I had plenty of milk, my mood was impressive, and I could handle nights with limited sleep. I still had the over tired days, that kept me in pyjamas doing nothing but boob my baby and neglect house work. Although, I believe that every mother, even on her best day, needs a day or too like that. After all, at that time, what better excuse to sit around than to cuddle and nurse a new born.
(c) Natasha Longridge PES, Doula 2011
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