Being pregnant with my 3rd daughter, Alex, was an awesome experience for many reasons:
- I was 39 years old and went into this pregnancy with eyes wide open.
- After being divorced for 12 years, I remarried. I will always consider Alex the most precious gift to my husband (who didn't have any children) that I could give.
- My natural hair flourished unbelievably.
You guys, when I say that my hair flourished....my hair FLOURISHED! But, I feared that it would be short-lived because of the upcoming postpartum shedding. And I was right. I had experienced moderate postpartum shedding with my 2nd daughter but nothing like this! I lost SO MUCH HAIR. I tried desperately to hold on to it - Garlic shampoo, Hair vitamins, anything that Amazon would sell me. But it just kept falling out. When the hair fall stopped, I was left with unhealthy, scraggly split ends that I tried to keep for over a year but eventually cut them off - about 3 inches. This entire experience was absolutely awful.
But the come back has been real
Here's how I did it: I sat down and came up with a strategic method for regrowing my natural hair and the results have been damn near magical.
|
Benefit |
How this is achieved during pregnancy |
How this can be mimicked when you are not pregnant |
|
Increased Growth |
Pregnancy causes an increase in the androgen hormone which increases hair growth and hair thickness. |
The combination of eating well, taking hair vitamins, using nontoxic products that feed my scalp and scalp massages have increased the rate at which my hair grows. |
|
Reduced Shedding |
There are 4 phases of hair growth: Anagen (Growth phase), Catagen (Transition phase), Telogen (Resting phase) and Exogen (Shedding phase). During pregnancy, higher levels of progesterone keep more hairs in the Growth phase, resulting in less shedding. |
I do a moderate protein treatment once a month and heavy protein hair treatment once a quarter (after clarifying). These treatments have almost completely eliminated my shedding. |
|
Increased Length Retention |
I'm not sure of the science behind it, but my hair was incredibly healthy while I was pregnant. I had no split ends or single-strand knots. This meant that I did not have to trim my hair AT ALL for 10 months solid. |
I dust the ends of my hair once a quarter to prevent hair breakage before it starts! I also keep my natural hair in protective styles 3 weeks out of the month. I can proudly say that the ends of my hair are almost as pristine as they were when I was pregnant. |
So while I no longer have the built-in goods to effortlessly produce gorgeously healthy natural hair, I do have the knowledge and tools to mimic the effects!
The proof is in the pudding
Photo by thepioneerwoman.com
My hair growth rate when pregnant was 1 inch per month. My current hair growth rate is .7 inch per month. Not quite as much growth but not too shabby. Plus, I don't have to stress over it falling out in a few months! I'm still tweaking my hair care routine to get closer to that inch per month growth rate! Who knows, maybe I'll even discover a way to surpass it!
How are you guys going about achieving your hair length goals?
Adria
Will you post about your protective hair styles (mentioned in your chart above)? And do you have them that way 3 out of 4 weeks or 3 days of the month?