Hair

One of my favorite musicals is Hair. Sam and I saw it on our honeymoon while we were in London. The same cast is coming to our town, and we (okay, I) am so excited to go see it again. I think it will bring me back to our honeymoon memories, too. Can't wait!!

However, this post is not about that at all! :)

I'd like to talk about MY hair. I have a thick head of hair, always have. I was born with enough hair to not only make me look like a monkey, but enough that my mom could put a clip in it, a real bow! By the time I was 18 months old, my hair was down to my shoulders. No regular butterfly clip will fit in my hair; I have to get the gigantic ones that will hold all of mine if I want to keep it out of Banner's reach and out of his spit-up. I've always broken clips, rubber bands, barrettes, etc. if they're not big enough to hold all of my very thick, coarse hair. Every time I go to the salon for a trim, I have to ask the hairdresser to thin my hair, and this is a real treat for me!

When I was pregnant, I would read about the benefits of the hormones and prenatal vitamins helping to make my hair shiny and healthier than ever before. Of course, my hair is always opposite of everyone else's - so my hair started breaking easier. I have wispy hairs that frame my face now, sticking out all over the place. These little hairs stick out like Shrek's ears, making me look extremely silly and unkempt. I'd constantly try to hide them during pregnancy, so I could never pull my hair back or the wispy hairs would be more obvious. That particular problem has been difficult in the high heat of the summer when I want my heavy hair off my neck, so I'm thrilled to say that these wispy, broken hairs are finally growing out long enough to mix in with the rest of my hair....

Oh, the rest of my hair. That's the other part of the story. So, pregnancy hormones can also make your hair thicker. Yes, thicker because it's not shedding as often as it normally would since it's in a "resting phase" more than a "shedding phase." Just what I needed. . . thicker hair. I'm not complaining about having thick hair - as I've become very accustomed to dealing with the mounds of it that I have since I was very young, and I realize so many people wish they had thicker hair. Heck, my husband wishes he had hair! So, not complaining about the thick hair. But, there comes a time when you're not pregnant anymore, and think about what happens then. This is the part I DO want to complain about...

Once those hormones leave a no-longer-pregnant-body, your hair pays a price. Well, I guess it's really not my hair, because it's so damn thick that I can afford to shed like crazy. I suppose what pays the price is everything and everyone else in my shedding head's path! My hair is everywhere! I find strands of long, black hair anywhere in the house or car - from my bed, the floor, kitchen counter (eww!), Banner's toys, Banner's crib, on the couch, and don't even get me started on the shower! I leave my DNA everywhere I go - dropping bits of hair on other people's furniture, clothing, etc. It's really disgusting, if you ask me. It's embarrassing, too! Washing my hair takes extra time now, as I have to keep cleaning off my hands full of random strands of hair. Drying my hair leaves mounds of hair on the floor and bathroom counter. Poor Banner has it in his hands a lot of the time, and not from him pulling on it either.

I know I'm not alone in this shedding thing. Most of my postpartum friends are experiencing the same thing these days. It typically begins 12 weeks after birth, and it can last up to about 6 months! So, we're preparing to just see a lot of hair floating around this house and everywhere else I go for a while! I can't help but have these words from Hair singing in my head when I see hairballs around the house or in the shower, when I feel strands tickle down my back or arms, when I run my fingers through it only to pull out several hairs throughout the day, or when Sam reminds me of the shedding by pulling strands off the couch or off of Banner's toys:

"Give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair
Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen
Give me down to there, hair, shoulder length or longer
Here baby, there, momma, everywhere, daddy, daddy!!"