Our goofy placenta story

Have you ever heard of the terms placental and non-placental?
Well, I never had until today. Our biology lesson on mammals talked about categorizing animals this way. So, this led to an explanation of placentas. And I kept giggling every time I said that word. You see, we have a placenta story in this family (how many people have one of those?) and so I had to share it with Joy, Nathan and Andrew because they'd never heard it and how often to placentas come up in conversation. ; )
(Zach was probably really glad to miss this by doing chemistry)
I told them the story and they totally grossed out and I laughed. (I needed a good laugh)
Now, I'll share it but you may not want to read it if you are eating or about to eat. (especially not if it's ice cream)

When we bought our house, Zachary was 21 mo. old and I was 8 mo. pregnant with baby # 2. The house was small but it had a large fenced in yard and it had the two things that I asked the Lord for: a beautiful tree and a porch swing! That's how we knew that this one was for us and because it was the only one we found in our little price range. ha ha
I was SO happy to have a yard for Zachary! When we were given a housewarming party we made it into a 'landscaping' party! Everyone brought plants, flowers, trees, or clippings from their yard as gifts and then we all planted them. (great fun!)

Well, baby # 2 (Nathan) was going to be born at home. (I have lots of home birthing stories to share in the future)
I heard that some people actually save the placenta after the birth and plant a tree over it. -Good for the tree and a nice reminder of the birth. The tree grows as the baby grows etc.... Sounds kind of weird now, but it seemed kind of sweet to a woman who was THRILLED about having her first house and YARD!

Nathan was born 6 weeks later...
The placenta was put in a couple of plastic shopping bags and stuck in the freezer for us by the midwife.
Well, with a brand new baby and an almost 2 year old to take care of, I didn't give that 'placenta tree' idea another thought! Every once in awhile, my hubby would tease me about it or I would see that bag in our freezer and think-"Is that thing still in there?! Gross!" And I would just leave it in there!

A couple months after the birth, we had a young couple from church over for dinner. They'd just started dating and they were kind of shy around each other. I served ice cream for dessert. When I offered some to this girl, she looked REALLY, REALLY uncomfortable and she declined. (I think her boyfriend had a little bit.)
LATER, I found out that one of my hubby's friends (the biggest practical joker I have ever met) told them: "If they offer you anything from their freezer, be sure to say 'no' because they have a placenta in there!!!"
That poor, poor girl!


Now, if I would have known then what I do today, I could have said "Would you like placental or non-placental ice-cream?" ; ) just kidding!

~ Becky
-who did eventually get rid of it and never saved another one for any form of gardening!