Why getting pregnant was the best thing I ever did… for my hair.

Have you ever had one of those traumatic hair cut experiences that reduces you to tears and makes you swear you’ll never leave your house again? I have. When I was a sophomore in high school. And until this year my life has never been the same. Okay, maybe I’m being a little dramatic. Maybe it was just my hair that was never the same, but come on, when you hate your own hair for years it affects your life, right? That’s what I thought. This is me when I was younger; Beautiful, blonde, curls that seemed to go on and on. I loved my hair. I still say to this day that if I have a girl I will never cut her hair. Ever. Especially if as she gets older her hair starts to look more like mine did as I got older. The softness in my curls disappeared and I was left with a rat’s nest that only looked somewhat decent when I used about 3 quarters of a bottle of hair gel a day. This picture was taken about a week before the dreaded hair cut took place. Please note how absurdly curly my hair was… like from the root. It made straightening my hair a day-long process that even paid professionals would sometimes not care to participate in. My hair was a disaster, but as long as I kept it long, we were good. Well. Then one fine day as I was preparing for homecoming I thought, I’ll get a haircut and a blowout. The girl who did my hair first straightened it, and then cut. Anyone with curly hair knows that’s a red flag. Hair shrinks when it goes back to its natural, curly, state. And I kept begging my hair stylist to cool it with the scissors because even straight, it was approaching my shoulders. By the time she was finished, my hair, brace yourselves, was above my shoulders. The next day when I washed it and it was curly again, it didn’t even reach my chin. I was devestated. Honestly, I don’t even think that’s the right word. I cried for two straight days and wouldn’t leave my house that weekend. My mom felt so bad for me she paid for me to get my hair relaxed after school that Monday. Although it wasn’t miracle grow, it took a lot of the natural curl out of my hair and helped it reach my chin. I slowly recovered, but sadly, my hair never did. Even years later it never reached the length it was right before it was chopped. I remembered a horror story some girl told me in high school. Apparently her mom had the same kind of hair cut trauma, but it was cut so short that her hair went into shock and never grew again. I had seen her mother and her hair really never passed her shoulders. Now, I mean, I’m older and have enough sense to realize it’s because she bleached the hell out of it so often I’m pretty sure her hair just broke off every time she laid her head on a pillow, but when you’re 14 it’s a horrifying thought. So anyway, long story short. My hair, since that terrible day, had never grown back to where it was before I got it cut. I was religiously against hair cuts from that day forward hoping that not cutting would allow it to just, grow. Then, towards the end of college, I worked at a salon and they kindly explained to me hair cuts were healthy and actually helped hair grow faster. So I finally mustered up the courage to get underneath some scissors. I think it started to help but I still wasn’t satisfied. I heard about the hair, skin, and nails vitamin, biotin, and figured, why not? So I bought a bottle. I took three every day (I have no idea if that was the recommended dose or not). Now, let me tell you, my nails never looked better. They were growing faster and getting stronger, it was fabulous. Unfortunately, I didn’t think I was seeing anything in my hair, at least not the hair on my head. :\ Eventually the vitamins started giving me really bad head aches and I had to stop taking them.

So anyway. I knew prenatal vitamins did amazing things for pregnant women’s hair. Naturally I was excited to start taking them, not only to get my baby all the nutrients and vitamins they need, but for my hair too! Matt and I found out I was pregnant in early October and we went out and bought over the counter vitamins that night. After my first doctor visit in early November they put me on a prescription for this prenatal vitamin called Vitaful-1. And let me tell you, it is doing wonders for my head. My hair is not only back to where it was before, we’ll just call it that haircut, it’s better. It’s thicker, healthier, longer, and growing literally every day. I’ve put together some pictures from each month so you can see the amazing progress. Check it out.

Look at the jump between November and December. I have a jacket on in the November picture so it’s hard to tell, but my hair is just above my boobs basically. I started taking these vitamins in November and I would say my hair is growing an inch for every month. I’m loving it! I’m almost positive Doctor’s will write a prescription for prenatal vitamins even if you’re not pregnant, for the sake of the biotin they contain. The best part about this vitamin is it doesn’t make me sick! Like I said, when I was taking vitamins that only contained biotin I had a head ache every day. I’m sure over the counter prenatal vitamins will have same affect on your hair so give it a shot. It can’t hurt. :]

And now, speaking of my baby, it’s a bell pepper this week! Each week Baby Center (an amazing website for mommies-to-be) sends me an e-mail about the progress my baby is making. They always compare the baby to a food so you know how big it is that week. It’s seriously something I look forward to every Tuesday. I’m at 18 weeks this week and my baby is a bell pepper. I love it! On Tuesday we find out if we’re having a boy or a girl! Super exciting stuff!! I will be sure to keep everyone posted, of course! Now go out and get yourself some vitamins, k thanks love you bye!