No, I said I wanted POLENTA for lunch…
Posted on July 14th, 2009 – 12:41 PMBy Kay Krhin
You can read Joel Stein’s Time article here.
(Click on the video at your own discretion.)
I myself, am slightly lightheaded after viewing it. Joel’s quips are amusing - but I think I’ve lost my appetite.
All I can say is, that’s the first time I saw what that disposable organ looks like.
I was busy with a brand new baby both times mine was delivered and I intentionally averted my eyes.
I really just didn’t need to see it.
Our birthing class instructor told us her nurse held up her placenta and asked her if she’d like to thank it before it went on it’s way.
She said she waved politely and said. “Um, thank you.”
Any related stories to share?
7 Responses to "No, I said I wanted POLENTA for lunch…"
Urp.
None for me, thanks.
I’m thinking it’s a pretty big mental block. If my OB handed me some pills and said “Take these, they’ll ward of the baby blues.” I just might. If he handed me the same pills and said “Take these, they’ll ward off the baby blues and we made them from your placenta.” chances are good I’d run.
I’ve not seen it at all, I think because I was distracted by baby in every case. But can I take this opportunity to put in a plug for cord blood donation? I have a friend whose children have needed stem cell transplants so I made a point to donate my cord blood this last time because of them. It’s very easy to do, doesn’t cost you a penny (unlike the private cord blood banks that charge an arm and a leg) and has the benefit of potentially helping so many different people. You just have to request the collection kit before your 34th week of pregnancy.
I remember mine. I thought it looked sort of like a lilypad. Only thick and bloody.
Nice, May. A lilypad? I like that.
I have to say that I didn’t look at my first one. I was grossed out at the thought of it. By the time I had my second baby, I had been a doula for two years and had finally listened to all the doctors and nurses who insisted it was beautiful if you looked at it for what it is - the organ that the mother made to sustain her baby, and the one thing that her baby cuddled next to for over six months (placenta is fully formed by around 12-14 weeks). Then I found it to be really beautiful and encouraged mothers & fathers to look at their baby’s placenta.
Still - I didn’t look at mine with my second baby, either! I think I forgot. Or I just didn’t care at that point when I had my beautiful baby to stare at…
I was weirded out by this article, too, but the whole idea got me thinking. I wonder if it really works? If it does, I think I could and would do this. There’s the weirdo in me coming out again. I swear, the weirdo in me seems to come out on Cribsheet.
I totally wanted to see mine. Is that weird? I was fascinated that my body created this whole separate organ that helped me make my baby. I have a friend that kept it and planted it under a tree. Seeing it was enough for me.
Ours actually caused some drama in the room. I techinically had my son before the doctor made it in the room (the nurse was there and caught him), so the doctor came to do the afterbirth, and while she was examining the placenta she bumped the clamp, and blood sprayed everywhere (I mean the ceiling, the lamp, me..etc). It looked like a horror movie scene with archs of blood on the walls. They had just renovated the rooms and they were pretty freshly painted. So one minute I’m laying in the bed, and next I know there is blood everywhere (but all was fine). Then my husband got a nosebleed to top it off!
Needless to say, the rest of our stay in the hospital everyone knew exactly who we were 
I definitely wanted to see mine, both times. Hubby about passed out the first time, but the second time he actually went into the other room with the midwife and checked it out. Surprised the heck out of me. I glanced at it the second time but was too wrapped up in my new son to really check it out (first one was a NICU baby so he was off with the neonatologists and I didn’t have a baby in my arms to occupy me). We did the tree-planting thing, too. I just couldn’t bring myself to throw it away. Though if I hadn’t wanted it, I know my midwife would have asked permission to take it and bury it on her property.
