Back At It...Albeit a Few Hairs Short!

Hi everyone! I have to say thank you for your patience in my absence. I had no idea how long I intended to be away but I sincerely appreciate all of you for hanging around! Being a mom is amazing and a LOT of hard work! So many new things to learn and I am finally starting to feel confident in my abilities. I love my baby boy and it is true what they say, EVERYTHING changes once you have a kid. Finally, welcome to all the new folks who have joined the site! I never dreamed when I started that anyone besides my mom would care to read what I had to say, let alone 1000+ followers, and I am humbled and flattered. Thank you all!

Speaking of changes, I am still adjusting to my new schedule, my new body, and my new hairline. Of all the things pregnancy and childbirth did to my physical appearance, hair loss was not one I seriously anticipated. I think we've all heard of post-partum hair shedding but I had no idea I would see clumps of hair literally fall out in my hands! Every time I wash I lose a significant amount of hair and it kinda freaks me out! I have always had so much hair, did not notice any real change during pregnancy, and didn't really expect to lose much after. Around month 3 post-partum, I noticed that things began to change.

I was taking down a set of mini twists that I'd had in for a few weeks. As I got to the ones framing my face, I noticed I was losing clumps of hair. I ran out of the bathroom with my hair in my hands, showing my husband in disbelief. "I'm BALD!", I screamed. Ok, well not really but I do have very short patches where my temples are. It's like a thin layer of peach fuzz is beginning to emerge but still quite see through!

My bday was last Friday and we went out on Saturday with the family to celebrate. Truthfully I had all but forgotten about the hair loss until I saw these pics:

(Pic 1- I got a cookbook! Is that a hint or something???

Pic 2- Blowing out the candle on my cupcake. I still have some pp weight to lose so portion control is my friend, lol)

I don't know if you can see but clearly I am missing some strands. I am not extremely bothered but I do plan on taking special care of these areas so I can increase growth. My plan includes eating healthy and continuing my prenatal vitamin (both are givens due to b'feeding), gentle styling, and massaging castor oil weekly into my scalp.

I perused YouTube to find some inspiration with the castor oil:

Seems like folks are getting good results. Hopefully after a few weeks these patchy parts will fill in! Out are tightly pulled back buns and puffs.

Have any of you ever experienced hair loss due to pregnancy or other causes? If so, what have you done to remedy it?

Update on Baby & Braids

Baby boy chillin in his favorite position!

So today marks 2 weeks since I gave birth. Time flies for real! My baby is growing really well according to his doctors so I feel very blessed. Breastfeeding did not go as I planned but luckily I am able to pump so he is getting my milk anyway. I am not as exhausted as I thought I would be even though little man eats every 3 hours like clockwork. He has the most delightful temperament, only crying when he's wet or hungry, but otherwise not fussy. He is not colicky at all, thank heavens! When he is not eating or sleeping, he loves looking around at his world and from time to time we lock gazes and it makes me melt! I stare at him all day and thank God for this little miracle.

In other news, the braids are now 3 weeks old. The upside has been that I have not had to worry about my hair in the least! I have only had time to wash it once, hopefully tomorrow will lend me some time for wash number two, and every night I sleep on a satin pillow case. The downside is that I miss my hair! Also, they are starting to get a little fuzzy at the crown because I do not tie them up with any kind of scarf so, while the satin pillowcase minimizes rubbing, there is still some friction while I sleep (read: nap intermittently). I don't know how much longer I will keep them in because they are heavy and are hard to put up. I find that the synthetic hair itches my neck and it takes a lot of work to keep the hair out of my face when they're down. All in all, it was money well spent because it got me through the labor and delivery and allowed me to transition into motherhood without worrying about my hair!

So that is the latest with me. I hope all of you are well! Have a great weekend and we'll see you next week. :-)

Updates on Motherhood...

Hello everyone! Over the weekend I officially became a mother! I cannot describe what an amazing journey the last three days have been and I know it will only get better. I am so happy and blessed to have a healthy, beautiful, perfect little boy. He arrived Friday afternoon at 3:48pm, weighing in at 6lbs 10oz, and just at 19 inches long.

I labored from Wednesday night at 7:10pm, making two trips to the hospital over the next day before being admitted on the third trip on Thursday night. I had never heard of prodromal labor before but I was having pretty regular and painful contractions that were not helping me advance through labor. So basically it felt like labor but technically wasn't because it was not helping me dilate. It was not until Thursday night around 11pm that I was considered in actual "real" labor by the doctor. Madness!

Long story short, by the time I was admitted I was exhausted and the pain had increased to a point where I decided to get an epidural. Turned out to be the right decision for me even though I had not originally planned for it. One thing I learned through this whole process was just how quickly the best laid plans can change and you have to adapt to the situation at hand. I don't feel guilty or disappointed at all and I am grateful the option was available. I really think it helped me be present through what turned out to be a somewhat difficult delivery considering baby was turned sunny-side up and endured a bit of stress to his heart.

After the epidural, according to my husband, I became human again! I labored and slept in peace for a few hours until it was time to push. I pushed for about an hour and a half beginning around 2:00pm. Immediately after I began pushing, the doctor commented on all the hair she saw! He had like 3 inches of shiny black hair and it was amazing to see! Unfortunately like I mentioned above, he was in a bit of distress because he was face up and struggling to pass through my pelvis. In the end, I was able to deliver without needing a c-section but I was not able to hold him immediately. Two specialists and a crew of amazing nurses came in and took care of him, watching his heart rate and his head which was squeezed pretty badly. After about fifteen minutes, I was told all was fine with my son. I was able to hold my little bundle and it was the best moment of relief and love. Everybody thinks their kid is perfect and I have proven to be no different!

Hanging with daddy

All the nurses and doctors at my hospital were beyond amazing to me, my husband, and our son. They took such good care of all three of us and helped us adjust to this new life as parents. I left feeling confident and prepared for the next phase and by Saturday evening they told us we could leave the next day when we felt comfortable.

Supplementing with mommy

The ride home!

We got home later the next morning to begin our new lives as a threesome and it has been worth the wait. To all the parents out there, I appreciate your advice so feel free to continue to share. Thank you to all my readers for your continued support and encouragement. I <3>

Baby Is On The Way!

Me and the belly in quieter, gentler moments...

Hi everybody! Just wanted to drop a quick note to say I am officially in labor, contractions began at around 7:30 and are now 6 minutes apart. I am still at home and doing fine. This is definitely not what I expected but I am actually enjoying the experience, as painful as it has been and will surely be in the hours to come. Thanks for all your support and comments. I don't know when I will post again or get to moderate comments so thank you for your patience!

A Birth Story: Afrikan Latina

Image Credit

This image is not from the reader mentioned below. Just a lovely mother-baby bonding moment I found online.

After this post from a few weeks ago, I received the following email and wanted to share with all of you. As I inch near my due date, March 10th, I have been trying to mentally prepare myself for the transformation that lies ahead. I went to the doctor last Friday and I am already 1 centimeter dilated and 60% effaced! So baby boy is well on his way to arrival and I expect him to make his debut within the next few weeks.

In my family there are three kids. It is a tradition that on our birthdays, somewhere after dinner and during the cake and ice cream, my mom tells the birth story. Each year she recounts the day she had us, depending on whose birthday it is. We all know each story by heart but we love hearing it again nonetheless. It is a tradition I hope to pass down to my little one and I hope I capture it as vividly as my mom always does!

This reader's birth story is so beautiful and encourages me as I gear up for the big day. I am so grateful that she shared it with me and has allowed me to share it with all of you. If anybody else has a birth story they would like to share here, please send it to me and I will post. You can also include a pic of your little one if you'd like! Thanks Afrikan Latina!

Enjoy...

Hi Leslie,

I first want to say congratulations on the new baby you and hubby will soon be welcoming into this world.I had a homebirth that was attended by 2 midwives and my husband. There were supposed to be 3 midwives but the 3rd made it right after our son was born. :) Anyway, I am a huge advocate for homebirth, breastfeeding, cloth diapering...lol all that good stuff and love talking about pregnancy (we are currently expecting our 2nd child in May) and birth and all things babies so if there are any questions that you might want to ask please feel free. I'm also seriously thinking about getting certified as a doula. Anyway, here is my birth story. :)


BIRTH STORY

I went to bed on Wednesday not feeling any different than I had felt in previous days. The spotting had stopped and I had reconciled that our little one was on his own time and any superstition that may have applied before went out the window. I woke up at 4:40am with what I thought could’ve just been some cramping but noticed that it was a pain that wasn’t constant. It came and went, came and went, and after a few of these I started to time them. They were about 7 minutes apart. I decide that maybe NOW would be a good time to take a shower because they definitely weren’t cramps and within the next however many hours we would have a baby!! The shower felt heavenly and I figured that I would be able to endure for a while before we needed to call our midwife. After getting out the shower I wake my snoozing hunny and let him know that I am having contractions. He gets up and starts to rub my back which worked wonders. The constant pressure on my lower back was nice. I call my sister and let her know that I am having what I think are contractions because I wanted at least one person in my family to know that our baby would be here soon. My hunny jumped in the shower so he could wash out the tub for me to labor in. Our tub is big enough that I didn’t find it necessary to rent one or buy a pool.

The contractions are still coming and my sister calls back around 6:20am to see how I’m doing. She asked how far apart my contractions were and I tell her 5 minutes. She’s like, “You should probably go ahead and call your midwife.” I hear her husband in the back ground say, “5 minutes!!!!” So my hunny calls one of our midwives who says she’s on the way. While we wait for her to arrive I am laboring both in the bed and on the toilet. That toilet was working wonders!! My babe is rubbing my back constantly. Cortney(one of our midwives) finally arrives and asks me the usual questions. She listens to the babys heartbeat and begins to time several of my contractions to see if they are constant because they began to become irregular going from 7 minutes, to 5 minutes, to 3 minutes. After she timed a few contractions I decided that it was time to get my butt in the water. The contractions instantly felt better after I got in the water. After being in the bathtub for quite some time my hunny comes in with the camcorder and ONLY because the contractions aren’t kicking my butt do I let him film me. So Cortney listens to the babys heartbeat again while I’m in the water and he’s still doing well. She sits on the bathroom floor and times some more contractions. I’ve avoided having her check to see how far dilated I am up until this point because I didn’t want to be disappointed if I was still in the same place an hour later.

After I get out the tub I’m again laboring back and forth between the toilet and our bed. I found that leaning over the side of the bed and having my hunny rub my back felt good. I was starting to feel quite tired and I hadn’t even done much work in the sense that it hadn’t been a hard labor. I wanted to try to lay down in the bed and labor but it didn’t feel comfortable at all. So more time passes and the contractions are getting closer together and more intense. We decide its finally time to check to see how dilated I am. This was pretty damn uncomfortable to say the least and caused the one of the WORST contractions that I had. She says, “You’re 5cm dilated.” I say, “YES!” and raise my hand to the maternal GODDESSES watching over me. I had no way of knowing how fast I would get to 10cm but 5cm sure sounded nice right then.

Within the hour it was time to migrate to the bed in our guest bedroom where all the stuff was setup. Cortney had previously told me to let her know when it felt like I had to poop but couldn’t and I’ll be damned if that’s not exactly what it felt like. I was back in the water when that urge to poop hit me so I lifted my butt up and leaned over the side of the tub. I said, “Baby go tell Cortney I feel like I have to go the bathroom.” She comes in and smiles and tells me I can get out of the tub after the current contraction stops. I get out of the tub and go to our bed where I have another contraction before going to the guest room.

Here is where the magic happens!! Lol I continue to get hit with contractions and still feel like I have to poop. My water has yet to break and I’m pushing. First push, my water bag makes an appearance. Second push, my water bag makes an even bigger appearance and you can see the baby as well. Third push, my water bag bursts (it got on my hunny) and out comes our baby’s head. With one more immediate push my baby is here and his cry was music to my ears. He was born at 11:07 weighing 6lbs 3 oz. and measuring at 19 inches.

I went from 5cm to 10cm within a hour! (Apparently that’s not expected of a first timer) I went through the motions of labor as if I were on my second child according to all 3 of my midwives. The 3rd midwife to arrive who was actually the “main” midwife got to our house as soon as Taj made his appearance. She was in awe. They didn’t expect that I would deliver so quickly. My perineum stayed in tact. YES!! I did have 2 small labia tears but no stitching or anything was necessary. They are healing nicely. Our baby is growing beautifully. Mommy and Daddy are beaming with excitement!!

Sunday Cuteness: Little Lou Sulola Samuel

Heidi Klum was spotted out with her newest addition-baby Lou! She is so cute and we can already see her hair is super curly like her brothers'. Image Credit

I can't wait to see what she will look like as she gets older. Precious!