So the dust has settled and it has been 7 months since baby Ian made his arrival. Hard. To. Believe. So I'm now reflecting back on all that my body has been through in the past year. Anyway, I still can't complain about the actual birth... in fact I'd go so far as to say I'd do it again. (yep, this is why people have more than one child, they forget how horrible it is). However, I can't say pregnancy didn't take it's toll. One of the most notable things is my hair. Prior to pregnancy I was a typical greasy Italian; meaning I had to wash my hair EVERY day or you could literally do a slip and slide off of it. Whenever people would say "you know you're not supposed to wash your hair everyday" I couldn't even fathom it. Once I was pregnant I could go one, two, even three days without shampoo... it was ah-maze-ing. I was able to embrace this whole "don't wash daily" concept I had heard about. Then things got a little funky. The hair by my ears started getting wavy the further along my pregnancy progressed. It seriously had a mind of it's own. So I did what any girl would do and bought products to try to tame it. Honestly though nothing helped. Now that I'm a several months post delivery my hair is taking on a new life... it's Italian grease is slowly but surely coming back...shampooing is once again required much more frequently. I can go a day now, but 2 would be pushing it. The worst is that I am shedding like a St. Bernard on a summer day. It's out of control and frankly concerning that I might be legitimately balding. I've read that this is totally normal but I'm over it. The wad of hair I have to pull from the drain after showering is just absurd. Then, equally annoying the right side of my hair by my ears (where things got wavy during pregnancy) is frizzy and super dry. I can't even explain it, but my hair is not the same texture there. I have again purchased lots of pricey shampoos, deep conditioners, and products with little improvement. I'm crossing my fingers that it will continue to go back to normal. All I know is that my hair is not the same as it was 2 years ago.
The other big "well this sucks" happened after giving birth... Stretch marks. Frankly I thought I was in the clear when up until giving birth I didn't have any. Well instantly after giving birth when my stomach started to go back down stretch marks came out of no where. I guess from the "rapid" decrease? Yeah, right. Or maybe the freaking DRY air here didn't help my cause. I don't know... all I know is that once I realized this was an issue I bought this mederma cream specifically for stretch marks and I have not been that impressed, or maybe I had too high of expectations (hello, if I buy an expensive cream I was expensive results). I've followed the directions to a T and I have seen very little fading. I am trying not to complain, because really what is a couple of stretch marks below my belly button? It isn't like I need that region to look pretty for a living or anything. I'm fine with rocking a bathing suit that covers it (in fact I'd prefer to wear one of those dress things the Mormons wears). And if I had a c-section (which thankfully I didn't)...I'd have a scar there instead. So whatever, it is what it is. It's my marks from "war."
The other notable aftermath (no, I am not going to talk about my boobs this time, but that could be a post unto itself...they will never be the same and I'm convinced my nips will forever be sore, ah I digress...) is the return of Aunt Flow. She goes away during pregnancy and supposedly while you're breast feeding. Lies, lies, lies. Obviously this is different for everyone, but I was shocked when she returned at 4 months postpartum. I'm pretty sure I got the short straw on this (I'd like to think it's my dominate alpha female hormones just taking charge). I tell you this not to enter the world of TMI, but because it was something I was always curious about and I just want to give a head's up to my friends who haven't had kids yet but will someday. This is also why so many idiots out there get pregnant and say "but I was breastfeeding, so it shouldn't of happened." Yes. It. Can.
Long story short... I'm going bald, I have stretch marks, sore nips and a period. How hot am I? Don't answer that.This is what they call motherhood. Cheers.
Ah-maz-ing
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