This post is a bit of a downer. Sorry. Life can be a downer sometimes.
Lately, I’ve been feeling a little uninspired. It has nothing to do with what I’m wearing. It’s my hair. It’s driving me crazy. It definitely needs a trim and a touch up. But there’s more.
Everyone seems to focus on the pleasant aspects of pregnancy. Oh, you’ll have a glow and oh, your hair will get all thick and luscious. Nobody ever talks about how pregnancy can actually give you splotchy skin *raises hand* and that all of that lush hair you had during your pregnancy eventually falls out. I’m in the falling out stage right now. It’s a little devastating.
I started growing my hair out just before I got married in 2008. My goal was to have hair down to my ribs. I finally got my hair where I wanted it this summer. It’s been fun trying out new techniques and styles. In early December, my hair started coming out in frightening amounts, especially when I showered. My hair was always relatively thick so I had no idea what was happening. I thought perhaps it was my diet. After a little research, I found out it was normal. And now, I feel like I cannot do anything with it. It’s stringy when it’s down. My receding hairline is embarrassingly apparent when I pull it back. All I want to do is stuff it under a hat {see more hats}.
I’m visiting my guy next week to clean this mop up. I’m hoping it makes me feel better to have some fresh color and a cut. We’ll see. ‘They’ say this hair loss tapers off around six months postpartum and the hair should start to return to normal. I’m not convinced.
Let’s be honest, pregnancy wreaks havoc on a woman’s body. The life changes have been a cake walk. Stella is beyond a good baby. It’s my physical changes that have hit me harder than I expected. I wasn’t prepared. I don’t feel like a woman right now for a number of reasons. The hair loss has just exacerbated that feeling.
Look, I know this isn’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Moment of perspective: It’s just hair. My baby and my husband are healthy and happy. I’m healthy and almost always happy.
These are just thoughts that have been weighing on my mind for the last several weeks. Putting these thoughts here is almost like opening the cage that keeps the negativity in my head. Whoosh. Out damn spot.
Had a baby? How did you cope with your physical changes postpartum? Maybe something else has changed you physically? How have you handled the changes?
