Placenta encapsulation! Breastmilk soap!

While taking a shower, I got a great idea the other morning! The best ideas always come to me in the shower. I suddenly thought of offering placenta encapsulation services to my clients, as well as non-clients. I think that had I been able to have someone process my placenta for me after birth, I would have been down with it. I still have Oliver’s placenta in the freezer. It’s great for grossing people out when they are in the kitchen with you 😉

Any how, if you’re not familiar with the benefits of placenta, it is believed to help relieve post-partum depression, increase milk production, replenish iron stores, lessen post-natal bleeding, as well increased energy. Some women also choose to ingest a small portion of their placenta raw immediately after birth to prevent or halt hemmorhage. Some have it in a smoothie, or others just pop a piece in their mouth. I was up for it if I experienced a lot of bleeding, but that did not happen.

So, I am reading a lot more about this process, and looking forward to trying it out!

I am also excited to say that I am going to offer handmade breastmilk soap, made from client’s (or non-clients! I don’t discriminate!) own milk. I have made batches from my own breastmilk, and loved how it turned out. Very sudsy and clean feeling. Each batch makes about 25 bars of soap, and they last forever. I will be putting up some information about both of these services under the “Other services” tab.

Long labor.

I attended my longest birth so far last weekend. Twenty-nine hours. It was long and hard, but great practice for me. I ended up crying at the end, all alone in the cardiac department, because I was so exhausted and missed my family terribly. I wasn’t able to sleep for almost two days, and by the end, I was a wreck. I had never been away from my kids that long, and I didn’t realize how lack of sleep would make me feel.

At the hospital

It was also the first time I had a negative experience with nurses. They were very rude, and any time I walked by they glared at me. They were not welcoming at all, and when they were out at their station, they just sat and chatted. Many times when I walked by, I could hear them talking about the mom I was with. This was the same hospital I gave birth to my daughter at – St. Vincent’s in Portland. Brought back a lot of memories.

A lull.

Been quite quiet so far this summer. I have been reading lots more about doula-ing, and preparing lots of paperwork and info. Getting a 13-tabbed folder especially for printouts. Thinking about making up binders for clients in the future. Lots of thoughts going on. I am still in student-doula limbo-land, and I know pretty soon I will have all my births complete, be certified, and out there. Ah! How scary!

I have a birth coming up at the beginning of next month, then one in September. It’s going to whiz by, I just know it.

Finally, a name and a blog.

I think I have settled on a name for my business: Zipadee Doula. Ha! The name was suggested to my by my lovely friend, Sarah. She has the same kind of humor as I do, and we both agreed on not having an ‘ooey-gooey’ business name. Such a name does not fit me at all. Not that I don’t love the fluffy birth stuff, but personally, I think it misrepresents me. And I wanted something that would stand out from all the other names out there. So, there we go. I think it’s set.

[Sunrise I saw driving home last week from the first birth I was able to see]

I’m not new to having a blog. Though, I am new to WordPress. I think I like it. My own personal blog has been running over at Livejournal now for ages, and it took a lot for me to venture out and try a new thing. I get settled into my little comfy ‘chairs’ in life, and don’t like to move.

I am not completely sure as to what I am going to be really talking about on here. I think it will probably be a mish-mash of personal thoughts, videos, news, how my business is going, and hopefully some birth stories. I am very excited about this new venture.