We had our first three hour birthing class on Tuesday this week; the first of seven.  The classroom is comfy and relaxing and we became acquainted with our mentor and classmates, all of which have a unique story and plan for their births.  We learned of something very interesting during this class that neither of us had ever heard of or considered.  If you have a weak stomach, you may not want to read further.  It’s called placenta encapsulation.  Apparently ingesting the placenta after birth is very common in the animal kingdom and is becoming more and more researched and well known with humans.  We learned that the placenta actually originates from the cells of the baby and contains a lot of the hormones that are present in women during pregnancy.  For that reason, they are fantastic sources of nutrients and hormones after birth, when those levels drop dramatically.  Some people like to make food with their placenta and you can find placenta recipes everywhere with a little Google magic.  I wouldn’t know – probably not my preferred route.  There is another process however that sounds interesting.  They encapsulate the placenta and you just take pills of it during the weeks after you give birth.  You can even save your pills for when you go through menopause and they are supposed to assist with the side effects.  It’s all very interesting stuff and more and more research is yet to come, but as of now, there are no studies that suggest any negative aspects of this ingestion.

Onto more mainstream things – here’s a recent pic of our babe in my belly – us at almost 24 weeks!