I’m a Grandma!

On June 8th at 10:03am, I became a Grandma to ‘Mazzelyn Faye Traver’….aka: Mazzy! Oh my gosh…..the feeling of your “baby”, having a baby is overwhelming! I think the only one more elated than I, was Nicolle (my daughter). I’m kidding but the feelings that came over me that day were indescribable. 

                      

Nicolle and Levin set out to have a natural birth and I don’t just mean a vaginal birth but having their child in the comfort of their own home, in water….with lights dim and essential oils filling the room. I always try to support anything my children need but I was especially supportive of this decision as I try to live an “all natural” life myself. Having a baby laying down in a hospital bed with flourescent lights, nurses in and out, poking and prodding isn’t the most natural setting. Well, at 17 weeks she found out she had placenta previa. We were all hoping the placenta would migrate as time went on but no such luck. So a cesarean section was planned as she got closer and closer to her due date. Her last ultrasound on a Friday, showed that the placenta was still hanging out and a c-section was planned for the following Monday.

A lot has changed! The day she had her c-section, we all assumed she’d have the baby and we’d see the baby and daddy in the nursery, getting all cleaned and weighed etc. And poor Nicolle would be recovering …..without her baby 🙁 BUT that wasn’t the case at all!!!! Mazzy was born and Nicolle and daddy had a couple of hours alone with their baby – getting skin to skin contact and Nicolle being able to breast feed. As much as I wanted to see my daughter and know that she was ‘ok’, as well as seeing my granddaughter for the first time, I was very pleased that hospitals do this now! In fact, there is no nursery! Unless the baby is in critical condition, mommy, baby and daddy all get moved into their room where they will all spend the duration of visit — together!!! So while my Colie (Nicolle) didn’t get to experience a home birth, I feel that she got a lot more than mom’s did years ago, when the surgery/recovery proceeded the need of mommy and baby needing time …..bonding, staring into each others eyes and nursing.

            

While Colie was in the hospital, I got the pleasure (and I do mean, pleasure!) of taking her placenta home and preparing it for her to consume. I only prepared 1/3 of it to freeze in cubes (for smoothies) and then rest of it, my daughter wants to do herself – dehydrating and encapsulating. She realizes there is no scientific proof as to the benefits (or lack thereof) of consuming your own placenta but the research that she did do, points in all positive directions. Many mother’s in other countries have eaten their placenta for centuries. Postpartum Depression is quite a bit lower in those countries. She’s also read that these women have had great milk supply, more energy and helps with insomnia. She figured that it was worth a try! It makes sense – that’s where all the nutrients went to feed her baby in utero, so why not get the benefits as well…..and even out those hormones after a birth? I wasn’t at all freaked out about preparing it. First of all, it was for the benefit of my daughter but also, I cut up animal liver for my own benefit…..so I felt completely comfortable making sure this was prepped and ready to go for my Colie.

My precious Mazzy is home now! And she’s more adorable each day! I can’t get enough of her. Mommy is doing fine. She feels sore and hates that she’s not able to jump up and do for herself or her daughter — tho, she can’t “jump”, she’s up and about doing things as she just doesn’t like relying on people! So we have to remind her that she just had surgery and let people help her for a while.  She’s doing great tho! She looks happy, content and actually quite bright eyed for just having surgery and a baby a few days ago! 

Well, there you go! All this to say, “I’m a Grandma”. I don’t care what I’m called — Grandma is just fine but of course if my Mazzy starts calling me something else, I’m going with it!