One of my main concerns about being separated into different hospitals from Mira right after she's born (other than just not wanting to let my newborn go) is: How will I feed her? I breastfed my first child, Dustin, for 4 months; and I breastfed my second child, Aryanna, for a year. Nursing my babies has always been such a special gift during the process of becoming a mother, and Mira is going to need every healthy advantage she can get!
After a lot of research, I have discovered that there are a few things I can do to increase her odds of pulling through her surgeries.
1) Breastfeeding. Breast milk has development boosting nutrients, immune boosting antibodies, and colostrum that is designed for a newborn's gut to start running as healthily as possible. Formula introduces bacteria into the baby's gut that their digestive tract is not yet ready for. Breast milk will ensure that she will get the maximum number of nutrients without introducing any foreign bacteria that could give her problems.
Breastfeeding will be difficult, though, because she will be in a different hospital. I am going to have to pump and hand express into little cups, and family, friends, and hospital staff will have to take turns transporting the milk over to her. Joe is going to have to learn how to syringe feed her because he is the one that will be with her at all times. She'll most likely be confined to an incubator, while lying on her stomach, so bottle feeding would be pretty difficult, if not impossible, for a little while. It will be difficult, but it's not impossible!
2) No Vaccines. Mira is already going to be waging a battle against her own body and against the trauma of surgery. Vaccines are filled with toxins and chemicals that can cause many complications, and almost always cause fevers and difficulty eating. Because of the battles Mira will already be waging against her own body, she does not need to have a war going on inside her blood, as well. She also needs to have the best shot at eating when she's allowed to have nutrients, so the last thing she needs are toxins that would bring complications into an already complicated recovery.
3) I am looking into Placenta Encapsulation. I have never consumed or encapsulated my placenta before. However, after I had Aryanna, I spoke to many women that did just that; had their placenta dehydrated, put into pills, and consumed them. If you've never heard of it, it can sound pretty strange or maybe even gross. The benefits, however, are astronomical! Also, there must be a reason why every other species on the planet consumes it's placenta after birthing babies (I think the rest of God's creatures are onto something). Throughout pregnancy, you feed your hormones, proteins, and nutrients to your baby (that sounds pretty obvious), but you also feed them to your placenta. The placenta absorbs all of these wonderful nutrients and chemicals that your body loses throughout the entire pregnancy. When you get the placenta encapsulated, you then take the pills, which turns into a wonderful medicine that is already engineered from your own body that encases all of the nutrients, hormones, and chemicals that you lost during your pregnancy and delivery. As soon as you start taking these pills, your body gets back what it lost, and what it desperately needs replenished.
The benefits of taking placenta capsules include: Getting rid of the "baby blues" and postpartum depression, increasing lactation and enriches your breast milk (great advantage for Mira because then she'll be getting all of these nutrients, as well), fights off infections, increases energy, stops bleeding and aids in wound healing, natural anti-inflammatory, boosts the immune system, prevents anemia (which is very common after delivering a baby), combats stress, and releases Oxytocin (the chemical that creates happiness).
Mira will get all of these wonderful benefits from my breast milk, as well, and an increased milk supply so she can eat as much as she can! It really sounds like a win/win, and I think it's just another small step in ensuring she is in the best shape possible to bounce back from all of this!
Breastfeeding and no vaccines are crucial to her recovery, and I'm beginning to become just as passionate about placenta encapsulation, even though it is entirely new to me. I will have to arrange all of this ahead of time with my family, friends, and all the medical personnel that will be helping us to ensure that my wishes for my daughter are followed. But, just to be safe, we will make a special sign that goes on her incubator, and it will read: "Absolutely no formula or vaccines. Seriously... we will sue!"
All babies deserve the absolute best, and I will do everything I can to ensure Mira gets exactly that!
Here are some informative links about the benefits of breastfeeding and placenta encapsulation, and some risks associated with vaccines:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-breastfeeding-benefits-you-and-your-baby_8910.bc
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2011/10/the-benefits-of-placenta-encapsulation-for-postpartum-healing.html
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-risks-of-immunizations.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment