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
