Tag: families
Mom throws gender reveal party for 20-year-old son
When Adrian Brown told his mother that he was transgender and wanted to transition from female to male, Heather Lundberg Green didn’t know how to support her son.
“When he told me he was transitioning, I was determined to support him through his journey, but I had no idea how,” Green, who’s based in Louisville, Kentucky, wrote in a blog for Love What Matters. “I have always had many friends in the LGBTQ community and still I wasn’t sure what steps I should take as his mother, or even what an appropriate response was outside of ‘I still love you.’”
But she had a clever idea: Throw a gender reveal party to celebrate her son’s 20th birthday. Green coordinated an elaborate photo shoot for her son, where she swaddled him with a white blanket inscribed with “It’s a boy!”
She shared the photos on her Facebook page, which quickly became a social media sensation and attracted more than 10,000 likes.
“My kids are used to me coming up with these harebrained schemes all the time,” Green told WAVE. “He was like, ‘You’re crazy, but yes,’ of course, which was a fair reaction.”
Brown first came out to his 17-year-old brother Lucas in September, and his younger sibling was extremely supportive.
“[Brown] asked what he would think if he changed his name to Adrian and Lucas’s response was that he’d have to change his name tag at work,” Green told The Washington Post.
Green’s online community has been equally supportive of Brown’s transition.
“So glad you are you and teaching the world to see you for who you are,” wrote one user.
“I’m so proud and have all the feels, even though I’ve never met Adrian,” wrote another user.
And Brown’s story is even saving lives. Brown told USA Today that Lucas shared with him a heart-wrenching story about one of his classmates.
“He proceeded to tell me that a trans boy at his school had come out to his parents after seeing our post,” Brown said. “He had been considering suicide before coming out to them and because of our message he had the courage to tell them and found out that his parents were going to support them. He would not have had the courage had we not taken these photos.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/02/08/mom-throws-gender-reveal-party-for-20-year-old-son/
Mom blends her placenta into smoothie and feeds it to family
A mom of four turned her placenta into a smoothie and fed it to her husband and their 3-year-old son for the health benefits.
Jay Woodall, 33, has four children, Logan, 9, Demitrius, 6, River, 3 and Storm, nine months, with husband Jon, 34.
Woodall always dreamed of repurposing her placenta but missed her opportunity with the first two, but found a solution by the time she had her two most recent children.
She paid $42 for her raw placenta to be turned into smoothies, and everything leftover was dehydrated and turned into pills – costing a further $210.
Woodall said: “It’s a mixed reaction, a few people think it’s a bit gross — not very appetizing.”
“There are some people that think about it and are interested and ask questions about it, I’ve had some people that listen to what I say and do it themselves as well.”
“People are grossed out, some people are interested.”
“I don’t care, everyone is entitled to their opinion and it’s my body. I’m the one that looks into stuff and I make up my own mind about whatever I do.”
“I’m up for trying things out if it’s going to benefit my health and my body, or my children’s bodies.”
“It’s not really much different from eating certain meats. A lot of animals do it, especially mammals, we’re the only ones who don’t eat the after birth.”
Woodall, a self-confessed hippy from England, even had her umbilical chord dehydrated and turned into a keepsake.
Woodall continued: “It just tasted like a berry smoothie. It had coconut water and berries in it so tasted really nice.”
“I had a boost of energy, better deeper sleep, and my mood was boosted – I felt really good.”
“Milk production was good too, I had to take less because I was producing too much milk.”
“The recovery after birth was quicker as well.”
“It didn’t really taste of anything because I had it with coconut water and berries.”
“But I did have a little taste of it on its own before and it just tastes a bit like liver, an irony, metallic taste. It’s not horrible, it’s not a disgusting taste at all.”
Woodall even fed the placenta smoothie to her husband and son, Demitrius.
Woodall said: “I think everyone had it. My husband had some just out of pure curiosity and my son tried some and said it was yummy. But again it had berries and stuff in it.”
“With my mom, I gave her half of my placenta pills when I gave birth to Storm because she was suffering from a few hormonal issues.”
“It was a similar response, they said it tasted nice and their energy levels increased. Mom said it made her feel very alert and very connected.”
“It’s a highly beneficial thing to do, I know mothers that have suffered from postnatal depression and I think it would help that, in my opinion.”
“She said it made her feel loads better and gave her a lot of energy. And I thought hormonally it made me feel a lot better too.”
“I’m quite an emotional person anyway, and it felt like my hormones were nicely balanced after I had it.”
“When you think how much some people spend on vitamins, it sounds like a lot but if it lasts you a whole year then it’s good value for money.”
“After I had the placenta smoothie, with both girls, I was able to go out that same day after giving birth.”
“A really calming feeling came over me. I had a boost of energy and just felt really good about myself. It was really lovely to experience feeling that.”
“It’s one of those things that you can be skeptical about it, but in my eyes, there’s nothing negative that could happen from it.”
“I was a bit more connected and bonded to my baby, I was able to have a very deep sleep after having it, so it just outweighs the negatives.”
via: https://nypost.com/2018/03/29/mom-blends-her-placenta-into-smoothie-and-feeds-it-to-family/