Monday, March 16, 2009

Postpartum Hair-loss

I have had 4 pregnacies, 4 deliveries and 4 sweet babies.

I have pretty thick, straight hair. Under regular circumstances I loose hair a little. I clean out my hair brush (unlike SOME people...and you know who you are) every few days. But when I'm pregnant I don't loose any hair. I never clean out my hairbrush. Its like the baby causes my hair to stay in tight. For about 3 months or so postpartum its the same. Just thick hair holding on tight. But then SUDDENLY it all starts falling out. By the clumps, by the handfuls...everytime I think I'm going BALD!

One time I seriously thought I was going bald. I ask Jody if he would still like me if I was bald. He assured me he would but that I was not balding. He was right. (Did you read that, Jody?? You were right)

But seriously, its strange. I've never seen so much hair when I wash it coming out...well, that's not true. Its happened several times now, but none the less, it shocks me everytime. Can anyone relate?

10 comments:

The Via Colony said...

Oh yeah, I don't even have thick hair like you. I have thin hair but after a pregnancy it falls out in handfulls while I wonder where it's all coming from, ha!

Stacy said...

I'm glad you have documentation of that one time Jody was right! I'm sure it won't ever happen again!

dawn said...

hi emily! i found your blog from your sister, holly's - my hubby and i go to elevation. my hubby serves on pastor steven's care team on sunday mornings.

i thought i would leave a comment today b/c i know exactly what you are going through. right now, i am in the same situation. fourth baby (5 month old sweet girl!) and fourth postpartum hair loss. it has happened each time to me also. (i have been reassured that it is very normal and is one of those things that happens a few months after giving birth. while you were prego your body made extra hair and now it is releasing it.)

i feel like i am going bald and can't imagine anymore falling out. it is a strange thing. oh and do you get the "baby bangs" (little thin whispy angel hairs around your forehead)? they are a little annoying - esp. if you don't have bangs. i was proactive this time and had some bangs cute so perhaps i can hide them better when they appear!!

on last thing - i found a blog called "baby bangs" the title caught my attention b/c of the meaning to it (www.babybangs.blogspot.com) - it is actually beth moore's daughter's blog.

anyway! i enjoy reading your blog and feeling like i am not the only mom with four kiddos!!

have a great day!!

Anonymous said...

I can totally relate - except this is my first baby and no one told me I was going to lose my hair. Evan turned 3 months old and my hair started falling out. Eric would complain everytime he took a shower! I noticed just last week that it is not falling out anymore, but I wish someone would have told me to expect the sudden hairloss - because my Eric and I thought I WAS going bald!

carrie said...

Girl, I feel your pain. Check out my post http://mylifesongg.blogspot.com/2008/07/mommy-do.html
on the same subject!! I thought for sure I was going to be calling Hair Club for Men before it was all over with!! Now....it's starting to come back and I have all these little spikey hairs everywhere!!!

Stephen and Tara said...

That didn't happen to me. But I don't think my hair got a lot thicker when I was pregnant.

Mylinda said...

So would 4.5 YEARS postpardum count?? lol I have very thick hair and lose it all the time. My brush MUST be cleaned out every few days. Nicky is so used to finding my long red hairs everywhere that he barely even teases me anymore. It's been in his lunch box, our food, his hunting clothes, his truck, and many other not so obvious places. I'm amazed that I have any hair left...seriously. But, even though it is a pain to wash, I'm thankful that I have so much and that I'm not losing it for real! I must say, though, that during pregnancy, my hair rarely fell out, only afterwards. And, I find that if it's longer, more falls out, like now. When it's shorter, not so much. Oh well. At least we have hair, right?? lol

Ang said...

I can totally relate with this post. Once in the shower after having my second son, my hair was coming out in small clumps. I was freaked. I never went bald of course.

Christie said...

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Totally! Phud always says that we could make an awesome wig for someone with the hair that comes out of my head when I wash it! (and when I brush it). I lay it on the shower ledge during my shower and I frequently forget to throw it away when I get out and Phud always tells me to get my wig out of the shower. And this always starts right after I stop nursing until i get pregnant again (which historically is is just a couple months...) I am so happy this happens to someone else! I like knowing I am normal. :-)

Pegsy said...

Oh yeah, baby! I lost TONS of hair after both my pregnancies! After Sara, my hair was absolutely everywhere in the house and I couldn't figure out why I couldn't keep it cleaned up. Then, we discovered that the vacuum cleaner didn't have a bag in it! We forgot to replace it the last time we threw away the bag! I had been trying to vacuum for about 2 months and it wasn't sucking up anything! No wonder my hair was everywhere! lol