A Speed Bump On My Journey

I have been on a special journey since 1985. This journey has brought many highs and lows but through it all, I have learned a lot about myself and the importance of having patience.

This journey is not about finding the formula for world peace…

It's not about my journey becoming an adult…

And it's a little more vain than fighting for racial equality…


*Wait for it*


It's my hair journey. (Yes I'm serious)

All women, especially African-American women, have been on this journey whether they recognize it or not. For me, this journey got serious in 2006. This is when I made the conscious decision to really take care of my hair. I said goodbye to my beloved perm, aka the creamy crack, and hello to the hair texture God blessed me with. This decision, though tough at times, has proven to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. The health of my hair has done a complete 180 and has grown by leaps and bounds.

Now after all that work, although I'm not quite where I want to be length wise, I had finally begun to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Well that was up until my actual labor on May 21, 2010…

At about 3 1/2 months postpartum (August 2010), my hair began to shed during a process so creatively called POSTPARTUM SHEDDING.

*cue the dramatic music*

Even typing those words makes me want to curl up into the fetal position in a corner and pray. Needless to say, I ain't (yeah I said ain't) taking this phase of my hair and motherhood journey with a coke and a smile. It's actually more like a mirror and a ugly cry frown.

While I was pregnant, I read EVERYTHING I could get my hands on about pregnancy and parenting….Books, Blogs, Forums, Articles…EVERYTHING….and for some reason I do not recall seeing anything about Postpartum Shedding

Can I sue for this?

So imagine my dismay when I brushed my hair one morning and what looked like thousands close to 30 strands of hair came out in  my hair brush. While I am completely and utterly distraught over this, the silver lining is that the few gray hairs I had have come out too.

God is good! :)

I've read all kinds of things that are supposed to help the shedding end…garlic, prenatal vitamins, etc., but it all seems to boil down to the fact that there is nothing anyone can do to help save my beloved hair. While I'm no where near bald, my hair isn't as thick as it once was.

The shedding does seem to be slowing. This is good news, especially since I have heard one of my mommy friends say that her shedding lasted well past her child's 1st birthday. (Funny how she spills her guts after my hair starts to come out.)

Which each strand I lose, a little piece of my joy goes with it…

I'm totally kidding but I think you get the point!

The Mrs.