I can clearly remember the nursing staff's response when I instructed they not discard of Ava's placenta after birth.
"Um, you want to do what with it? Uh, well, I really don't think that is legal. I mean it's biohazard and we have to dispose of it."
I'm sure they thought we were some weirdos who wanted to take home the dang thing to fry up in the skillet. I mean after all we (implying my husband and I) were weird enough to squat during labor, refuse pain meds, demand delayed cord clamping, and what seemed to be strangest of all - keep our daughter in the room with us at all times. So how much weider could we be by asking to take our placenta home? I mean it was mine and Ava's after all. Weren't we entitled to it's rights? Reluctantly, the nursing staff gave in and brought us Ava's placenta wrapped tightly in a bright red biohazard bag sealed securely inside a gallon size ice cream bucket. I was thrilled, they I'm sure were a little confused and slightly bothered.
No, we didnt' fry it up in the skillet. However it is popular in some countries to grind the placenta down, make a tincture out of it, and ingest it during the postpartum period to help balance hormonal flucuations as well as aid in many other medicinal purposes. See placentabenefits.info for more information on the many benefits of placentophagy.
We didn't eat Ava's placenta but chose to freeze it with plans on burying it underneath a tree, symbolizing the nourishment of life the placenta gave to Ava in utero by fertilizing and sustaining the growth of the tree.
So here we are, 20 months after Ava's birth. Today was a special day. Today we planted Ava's placenta. I agree, it's a little longer than we wanted to wait, but we wanted a special place, a place we could come back to and reflect upon. A place we would visit often throughout the years. We wanted a tree that would withstand the elements of time, that would grow and flourish and represent the beautiful, full life Ava lives every day. Today we planted Ava's placenta underneath a blazing red maple tree in the backyard of my parents house. A tree that will grow 70-85 feet tall and live well over a hundred years, reminding us of the beauty of life and the awesome power of God's hand in all creation. A placenta that sustained Ava, with a velamentous insertion at that, is now sustaining this gorgeous maple tree. A tree whose leaves will turn scarlet red each fall, mimicking the richness and depth of her scarlet placenta.
And yet this experience today represents not only the start of Ava's life, but a new cycle that is taking place in all our lives. A newness of sorts that we are entering into together - a planting of the old and preparing for the new. In this season of newness, Ava is weaning, we are moving to a new land, Billy is starting graduate school at one of the largest campuses in the U.S. and I am carrying our second child. (Wow. That seems like a lot.)
Today we remembered Ava's birth and gave a part of her, a part of us back to the earth. As the blazing maple transforms it's leaves from green to scarlet this autumn, we too will be transformed into new roles, new places, new adventures.
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