As much as I could be talking about a dinner roll recipe - I just HAD to share this little slice of mama bliss that I captured the other day. My little Cincinnatus' RAW vegan cellulite is just too adorably cute (click the image for a close-up!!).
Only since I have been a mother have I actually thought cellulite was cute.
I was completely vegan during my pregnancy with Cincinnatus. He was born April 5th and weighed about 8 pounds. He had doubled his weight in 6 weeks on mama's milk only. When he was almost 3 months, we went RAW vegan and needless to say he (and I) have been thriving ever since (he is still only consuming mama milk).
Percival initiated my contractions about 9AM after Bret suggested letting him nurse the day Cincinnatus was born. Cincinnatus was 2 weeks later than we thought his due date was, but in actuality I just had my conception dates a little off. While WE were impatient, HE was right on time! Bret and Tyler filled up the birthing tub with warm water down stairs. Things got intense and I got in the tub about 1:30PM. We called Peggy & Louisa (our midwife and her assistant) at that time and they got there about 2PM. Little Cincinnatus was born at 3PM. Completely intact perineum and a perfect baby too.
When he popped out all I saw were his enormous hands and shoulders!
This kid is burly! I thought. He was a hairy little muscle man!!! He has since filled out to be a bit more
proportionate, yet he is still a hunka hunka CHUNKA burning LOVE!
After Percival was born, Bret felt that even though he did not cut the chord until after it had stopped pulsing, he still felt it was too soon - he had an intuition to leave the placenta attached to the umbilical chord and the baby for at least 24 hours after birth. He thought it may help the baby avoid weight loss and jaundice and possibly some emotional trauma too. We found out later that this ritual is called a "Lotus Birth" and does indeed limit the weight loss and jaundice that Lotus babies experience. So with Cincinnatus we got to give it a try.
Bret wrapped up the great big meaty piece of vegan-grown placenta in a couple of plastic sacks and an ice pack and then in a couple towels (by now the bundle was bigger than the baby) and we had two "babies" for the first 24 hours. When he unwrapped the placenta, Bret noticed that it was still very vibrant and had not begun to rot at all. Had we a chance to do it again, we would probably leave it attached for another day. I love my two baby contribution to the world - Bret would love a few more. We shall see...
The Lotus experiment worked, Cincinnatus lost zero weight, in fact in 5 days he gained as much as most babies gain in 2 weeks! We were thrilled. He was slightly jaundice, only slightly.
When the tide was all the way in, Bret took Percival's frozen placenta and Cincinnatus' quite fresh placenta to the end of the dock in our little beach community of Indianola. He put them both in a pillow case with some weights and threw them off the end of the dock - as an offering. A bald eagle flew by in thanks.