One of the worries that I had during my pregnancy was how it was going to affect my hair. I know, I know, it seems so trivial that whilst going through one of the most life changing experiences of my life, I was worried about my hair. Since starting my healthy hair journey, I had read about how pregnancy hormones affect hair growth and the devastating effects of postpartum shedding. That is why I was dreading this change from the beginning. I am currently about 8 weeks post partum, I don’t think that I have gone through the worst bits of postpartum shedding. However, in this post I want to share how my hair was during my pregnancy and how it is currently.

Firstly, you can check out my monthly hair updates during my pregnancy here; from June 2016 to February 2017.

No shedding
One thing I really noticed about my hair during pregnancy was that I did not experience a lot of shedding, actually my hair shedding was almost at 0. I started noticing this as soon as I knew that I was pregnant. This is one of the experiences that many women go through during pregnancy because of the pregnancy hormones. My hair was thicker due to this minimised shedding.

Edges on check
So due to my hair not shedding, this meant that my edges were thicker, which was a welcomed change. You guys know that I have struggle edges and I have lost hope in them, so I was happy to have thicker edges for several months in my pregnancy.

Protective styling for after the birth
I knew that I had to have a protective style for the first few weeks after giving birth, my hair was the last thing that I wanted to worry about during this crazy time. I opted for twists which I crochet braided to my hair. This style worked really well for me because it required minimal maintenance except for spritzing with my moisturising spray – I was quite lazy with this, I think that I only moisturised my hair not more than 5 times in 7 weeks *eek*. I installed this style the weekend before giving birth and I did it myself, lol – I really thought that I was superwoman towards the end of  my pregnancy. I did get a lot of growth during the time I had my protective style, it’s good to know that my growth hasn’t been affected.

First wash day
I had my first day after removing the protective style, it was a long process that took place over a couple of days. For this wash day, I chose products that were going to give my hair slip and also add moisture back into my hair. I took care when detangling my hair because it was not in a good state. Here is what went down on that wash day:

• Detangling Garnier Ultimate Blends Conditioner The Ultimate Repairer – I used this conditioner as a detangler and as a prepoo; it’s a favourite of mine because it gives my hair great slip!
• Shampoo Dark & Lovely Au Naturale Moisture Replenishing Shampoo
• Deep Conditioner ORS Replenishing Conditioner, I used my microwaveable heating cap to add some heat during deep conditioning
• L.O.C. AfriLove Creations Hydrating Mist, Design Essentials Curl Stretching Cream & Sweet Oil

Postpartum shedding
I did experience shedding during my wash day, but I must say that I was expecting way more shedding than I experienced. The amount of hair that I shed was round about the same amount I was shedding pre-pregnancy. I did though experience more shedding around my edges *sob sob*, so my edges are back to where they were before and even worse. I must get back on a ‘get my edges back’ campaign. I did notice that most of the hair that I shed was very thin, wispy like hair – I don’t know what this means yet. I must mention that I am breastfeeding all day, every day – so this might affect my postpartum shedding. I will be monitoring my hair in the months to come.

Current hair state
As I mentioned, I am about 8 weeks postpartum – my hair is currently in flat twists just as an in between protective style because even though I am on maternity leave, I have zero time to attend to my hair on the daily. My hair is quite dry at the moment, as we are moving into winter, the humidity levels have dropped in coastal KZN and thus I have to take care to add moisture to my hair. I will keep on updating you as how my hair is doing during the postpartum period.