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Friday, October 1, 2010

Post-Partum Hair Loss?

Is there such a thing, do you know? Because if there is, I HAVE IT.

My Mom is going to think that this post is silly because my whole entire life I have shed hair like a dog. Like enough to make a person sweeping the floors (Mom) ask herself why I’m not bald yet!

I’ve always been a shedder, but this is getting ridiculous.

And blog world, I do love you, truly I do. I went and grabbed my camera with the intent to take a picture to quantify how much hair loss is happening to me right now. But I stopped myself before taking the picture. Why? I already told you – because I love you! Trust me, no one wants to see a picture of a hair ball. Especially if it’s not your OWN hair ball. If you do, you’ve probably got bigger issues than I can address in this post…LOL!

I know that I make a lot of comparisons that start with the phrase “when I had my daughter.” Forgive me - it’s all I have to compare with so I probably overdo it a bit.

With that being said, when I had my daughter my hair changed so I was expecting a change this time around as well. Last time, my hair went from naturally curly (like REALLY curly) to just plain frizzy. There was just enough curl left in my hair to make you wish I had worn a hat before I went out that day. Seriously, it was bad. To fix the problem, I got a perm. For the first time in my life. Although it was a bit too curly at first, and I stunk for the next three weeks when my hair was wet…it did the trick and my hair returned to its normal curliness.

I’m not really sure what to do about hair loss. About losing a Barbie-doll amount of hair each time that I wash my hair. I don’t know about you, but something’s telling me that a perm isn’t going to fix this one! And since this is something that I’ve dealt with my whole life, you’ve got to understand that this is an alarming amount of hair falling out of my head if I think that it’s a lot! My husband of almost a year still isn’t used to the amount of hair that I lose on a monthly basis (since he’s the sweetheart who snakes the drain for me!)…but I look at the glob that had the drain stuck and just sort of shrug it off.

I can’t shrug off this amount.

So here’s what I want to know, if I may be so bold as to ask. Did this happen to you? Or someone that you know of? Or someone that your best friend’s aunt’s neighbor’s cousin's friend knew of someone else experiencing? Because I’d really like to think that this is normal…and will stop soon…you know, before I’m really bald this time, Mom!

(As an aside, I can say that I’m still taking my prenatal vitamins (since I’m nursing Jax) and hopefully my hair is growing at a rate that is equal to the rate that I’m losing it at. My hair doesn’t feel any thinner at any other time during the day. Of COURSE it feels thinner right after I wash it and have to throw large handfuls away…but at no other time does it appear more thin to me. Then again, that could be wishful thinking!! LOL!)

2 comments:

Nikki King said...

Yes! It's totally normal after having a baby. It has to do with the decrease in estrogen after you have a baby. It happened to me and many of my friends. Believe me, I was freaking out when I first noticed it too!

In case you need extra proof...the all-knowing Baby Center did a little article on it. =] You can find it here http://www.babycenter.com/0_postpartum-hair-loss_11721.bc

Good luck keeping the drain unclogged until it slows down a bit!

AmandaW said...

Absolutely normal. I had that with all three of my Monsters. It may take as long as 6 weeks to stop shedding. It has to do with your hormones. You may also experience a change a few months after you stop breastfeeding, so be prepared for that! AJW