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As a woman with already thick hair I don’t look forward to those luscious locks bestowed on women during pregnancy. My already thick hair does not look pretty when it gets thicker, it just isn’t a good look for me. Not to mention the crazy growth spurt pregnant hair often goes through. By the end of nine months I has more than my fair share of hair, way more than my fair share. Then the postpartum hair loss started, yikes what a mess.
For women with thin hair, looking to add a little body, the changes that take place with your hair during pregnancy can be a blessing. Those longer, fuller locks can be beautiful. For those with already thick hair, not so much.
So what exactly causes those longer, fuller locks during pregnancy? A normal cycle for hair when you are not pregnant is to grow approximately 1/2 inch a month for 2-6 years at which point it enters the “resting” phase where it doesn’t grow for 2-3 months and then finally it falls out. Everyone loses hair continuously. During pregnancy the rate of hair growth often increases and hair remains in the resting phase longer than normal. The rate at which a pregnant woman loses hair slows causing her hair to become thicker and since it is growing faster it also gets longer.
But, all good things must come to an end. Once the pregnancy is over the hair begins to return to a more normal cycle. The rate of growth slows and all that hair that was in the resting phase begins to fall out. Hence the large quantities of hair that fall out after you deliver the baby. Most women will experience this increased hair loss immediately after giving birth. You will continue to lose hair in large quantities for several months. Most women experience the most significant hair loss during the 3rd month postpartum. Some women do experience some thinning of the hair before their hair returns to it’s normal growth/fall out cycle.
My hair, as I mentioned is extremely thick at the best of times, and grows fairly quickly. However, during pregnancy it goes to a whole new level. My hair grew over 6 inches in 5 months and got so thick I could barely wrap a hair elastic around my ponytail twice! The quantity of hair that gathers in the bathtub when I have a shower is scary. It literally looks like I’ve killed a small animal, gross! I’ll be glad when the hair loss slows, although it can keep falling out all it wants since I still have way too much hair for my liking.
If you are at all concerned about how much hair your are losing or you are getting bald patches be sure to discuss your symptoms with your doctor. Hair loss is normal during postpartum, but if you are losing to much hair it could be sign that something else is going on.
A few weeks ago I was contacted by an OBGYN group from Columbia, Missouri, who was interested in writing a guest post for my blog about nutrition and exercise during pregnancy. I took them up on their offer to provide my readers with some expert advice. Nutrition and exercise during pregnancy are so important. The healthier you are during pregnancy the easier (in most cases) your labor and delivery are as well as your postpartum recovery. Below are some great tips from an actual OBGYN regarding food and exercise you should avoid or continue during your pregnancy. I hope you find their tips and suggestions helpful.
When women are pregnant, they usually take more interest and put more research into what they should eat and how they should exercise, and for good reason…everyone wants mom as healthy as possible over the next nine months. But there are a lot of rumors out there on what a pregnant woman should eat or avoid. Even more rumors persist on the issue of what types of exercise women can do while pregnant, or if they should even exercise at all.
These guidelines from WHA an OBGYN group in Columbia MO, should help dispel some of the notions about exercise and diet during pregnancy, and can hopefully give pregnant women a framework of exercise rules to work with.
Nutrition rules to remember:
Fish is OK to eat, but no more than twice a week. Also, the American Pregnancy Association advises avoiding fish that contain high levels of mercury including shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish. Fish from contaminated lakes and rivers may be exposed to industrial pollutants and should also be avoided, the American Pregnancy Association advises.
Caffeine is actually OK too, but limit that intake to no more than twice daily.
The list of foods to avoid includes unpasteurized cheese, smoked seafood, raw shellfish and raw eggs and Pate.
Exercise guidelines include:
First of all, women should continue exercising while pregnant, as long as they feel up to it. Exercise can keep mother healthy during the pregnancy and can help make the labor and delivery process easier.
While continuing exercise is good, women are not likely to have the same energy level and should pay attention to what their body is telling them. You should make sure to drink plenty of water – more than you would have before you were pregnant.
Also, take some breaks during the exercise routine. Some women use a general rule of thumb while running or walking that they should not maintain a speed that is so intense they could not hold a conversation while doing it.
For women exercising for the first time, low impact cardiovascular routines are encouraged. Many yoga clinics or instructors offer yoga specifically for pregnant women.
Water aerobics are another healthy form of exercise for women.
In terms of exercise to avoid, pregnant moms should avoid activities that are more likely to make them fall down. Contact sports should be included in that list. Also, avoid exercising to the point where you lose your breath. (This is where the rule about being able to talk while exercising can help you.)
Heavy weightlifting that could strain your back should also be avoided.
Last Thursday I was getting ready to post an update on here about my 38 week prenatal appointment but instead I had a baby!
Anna’s birth story really begins on the day of my 38 week appointment. I was still feeling really good, but having random contractions more frequently so I figured my body was probably getting ready for something but didn’t expect anything to happen in the near term.
My doctor and I had discussed the possibility of an induction during my 39th week as a means to have greater control over my delivery and help ensure the baby wasn’t too big given the tearing and related complications I had post-delivery with Maya. We decided at my appointment last week to go ahead and schedule it for July 19th. I was all set for that to be her birthday, I really didn’t think she would come earlier than that since when I was examined I was still only about 1.5 cms dilated and I wasn’t feeling like labor was eminent.
The next day, Wednesday, Maya and I had our regular play date with our best buds Heather and Claire. I was feeling good that day. We took the kiddos to the park and between carrying Maya back and forth to the bathroom and running up a hill to save her from the monkey bars by the time we headed home I was feeling really uncomfortable. My hips and pelvis were killing me. I still didn’t think anything of it because I remembered the pelvic pain and hip pain in the late days of my pregnancy with Maya as well. I figured I had just over done it and I would feel better in the morning.
I went to bed Wednesday night exhausted and very uncomfortable from the hip pain. Luckily the exhaustion won out and I was able to fall asleep easily. A couple of hours later, at midnight, I was awoken by a contraction (a definite real deal contraction). I fell back asleep only to be awoken again 10 minutes later. I dozed on and off for the next couple of hours with contractions steady at 10 mins apart. Then all of a sudden I woke up to a contraction and glanced at the clock only to discover it was only 5 mins since the last contraction. I convinced myself I misread the clock and closed my eyes again. Sure enough 5 mins later I woke up again to another contraction and there was no question the time frame had switched to every 5 mins.
I decided at that point to go ahead and get up and lay on the couch to time my contractions. I tried to doze off but the contractions were consistently coming every 5-6 minutes. After the first hour of that I convinced myself that I needed to keep timing them to make sure. I was trying to avoid waking up Lorne and Maya in the wee hours of the morning. So for another hour I timed my contractions only to find they were getting even closer together with contractions coming every 3-6 minutes.
So, at 4:00 am I decided it was definitely time and woke up Lorne. He figured something was up because he heard me up and walking around so I don’t think he was entirely surprised when I woke him and told him the game was on. I also called my friend Heather, who was going to be watching Maya for us, to give the heads up that I was on my way into the hospital and Lorne would be dropping Maya off with her within an hour or two, assuming I was admitted.
When I woke Maya and told her she had to get up because it was time for Mommy to have the baby she said “No” and rolled over. That happened twice before it dawned on her what I was actually saying. Once the thought settled in she became super excited and was ready to go. We loaded our bags in the car, which I had just hurriedly packed before waking up Maya because my plan was to pack our bags that day in preparation for my induction on Tuesday not thinking the baby would be arriving any earlier than that, and headed into the hospital.
It didn’t take long before they decided to admit me. My contractions were strong and frequent on the monitors and I was about 4 cms dilated. This was definitely the real deal. So, I got settled into a room and Lorne headed out to drop Maya off at Heather’s house.
I spent the hour or so that Lorne was gone bouncing on a birth ball to help get the baby engaged because when they first examined me they told me she was “bouncy” which meant she wasn’t yet well engaged. When Lorne got back my nurse came in and examined me and sure enough the ball had worked, the baby was way down and I had already progressed to 6-7 cms. They decided they would probably break my water shortly to get things moving along instead of hooking me up to Pitocin, so I decided to order my epidural before the contractions got too crazy.
Boy was getting my epidural a fun experience. The first time the anesthesiologist got the catheter into a vein. He worked it a bit hoping to get it out and did his test shot. My heart rate sky rocketed from 63 beats per minutes to 102 beats per minute in about 30 seconds and I was extremely light headed as a result. It was obvious his manipulation hadn’t worked so he pulled it out and had to start again. Lucky me! The second one got into the right spot and the test shot didn’t affect my heart rate so we were good to go. I started to feel some relief immediately.
Shortly after my epidural was in place my nurse examined me and my water broke during the exam. Things progressed quickly from there. Unfortunately I also started to get some feeling back. During the roughest phase of my labor when I was getting double dip contractions every minute or so I could feel EVERYTHING. I was in a lot of pain and the anesthesiologist had to come back in and up the dose along with giving me a booster shot for some immediate pain relief. He told me it was take about 10-15 minutes to kick in and boy were those the longest 15 minutes of my life considering I had at least a dozen or more contractions in that time frame.
Shortly after the epidural started working a bit better I started feeling a lot of pressure. My nurse examined me and sure enough I was completely dilated and the baby was right there. She called my doctor and told me he would be there in about 15 minutes, this was at around 11am. I thought the previous 15 minutes took forever to pass, they had nothing on these 15 minutes. The pressure was so intense. I got to the point where I didn’t think I couldn’t not push and the nurse said she would get the house doc to stand by in case my doctor didn’t show up in the next couple of minutes. About a minute later he walked through the door and we got the show on the road.
I pushed for about 10 minutes and the baby was out. Unfortunately that boost in my epidural was not very effective so I felt a lot of pain and burning during the actual delivery. That was not fun. But the end result was all worth it.
Anna Lily was born on July 14th, 2011 at 11:26am weighing 6lbs 4oz and is 20in long. She has a full head of dark hair, and big gorgeous dark eyes.
Even with her being super tiny I still tore. I tore internally in the exact same spot that I did with Maya as well as a 2nd degree perineum tear. Luckily, this time around my swelling was minimal so my doctor was able to get things stitched up much better and there is no indication that I will have any of the post delivery complications that I had as a result of my tearing with Maya’s delivery.
Anna and I spent the first hour of her life skin to skin. It was an incredible experience and I just stared at her and marveled at how adorable and tiny she is. She looks a lot like her big sister Maya did when she was born with a few of her own individual traits thrown in.
She is a tiny little thing, such a little peanut. She is a calm, relaxed, laid back baby so far. We love her so much and are having so much fun getting to know her. She completes our family perfectly.
Anna Lily was born July 14th, 2011 at 11:26 am. She weighs 6lbs 4oz and is 20 in long. She is one much loved little peanut already.
Big sister meeting little sister for the first time. I think it was love at first sight 
Monday I hit 37 weeks, in just a few days I’ll be 38 weeks. I’m now in the full term pregnancy catergory. Full term! Baby Girl 2.0 could make her appearance at any point now. In fact, Maya was born at 38 weeks 2 days, if this one decided to do the same that would be next Wednesday. Holy crap! Excuse me while I hyperventilate for a moment. After waiting what felt like forever to actual get pregnant and then struggle through the first few months of this pregnancy with morning sickness and exhaustion that made the time drag by, I can hardly wrap me head around the fact that the end is at most a couple of weeks away.
Soon this belly will return a normal size and in its place will be a little bundle of baby.
You may notice something different in the background of this picture. The room behind me has been transformed from an ugly, cluttered, unready room into a beautiful nursery. When Lorne got home last weekend he was under strict instructions to get the nursery done. My usually organized ahead of time self was going more and more insane with every glimpse at the walls filled with patches and primer, the guest room furniture sitting where a crib was supposed to be and boxes of furniture yet to be put together. He was really good about my drill sergeant ways and got the furniture put together, the room painted and helped me put it all into place. It feels so good to have the room finally ready and it turned out just as I imagined in my head. Here is a quick glimpse of the completed nursery (ignore the balloons and the princess pillow in the crib, Maya has decided the nursery is a great place to play!).
I can’t wait to use this cozy corner with my new glider to feed and rock and cuddle with Baby Girl 2.0
And, I can’t wait to fill this “Me and My Big Sister” picture frame that rests on the dresser with an adorable picture of my two girls.
As I near the end of this pregnancy I am still feeling really good. The occasional back ache and an inability to sleep more than a couple of hours at a time between having to pee constantly and being uncomfortable is really all I have to complain about, not too bad. The braxton hicks contractions are a lot more intense now and more frequent. They are being joined by real contractions as well, nothing too severe, just the occasional contraction throughout the day. Last night I was actually woken up twice by contractions. At my last appointment I was 1.5cm, going on 2cm, dilated and about 80% effaced. Things are starting to happen, we’ll just see how long it takes for it to go from my body getting ready to baby time.