Aug/Sept HHJ update

Since I only started my journey at the beginning of this month- I don't have much to report about the state of my hair. Well maybe a few things. I've found that a lot of hair bloggers do a monthly goal and update check, so I think I've decided to incorporate that into my blogging to help me stay on track and remain accountable. Plus, your feedback keeps me motivated.

August

Since I had no true August hair goals to begin with, I'm going to report some positive things I've noticed/accomplished this month.

√ I find my hair to be way more manageable now. Normally after 5 weeks, I have had enough and am begging for a relaxer so my hair is silky straight again. I think the daily moisturization has done the trick.

√ I've continued to learn about healthy hair. I haven't been able to devote as much time as I'd like to research due to my baby's impending arrival but I did find a few new blogs that I think will help.

√ I can't believe I did it but I've stuck to my weekly washes. I truly didn't think I would do it. Actually I almost skipped last week but downtime I had during hurricane Irene 's shut-in gave me no excuses.

√ I distinctly remember two people telling me my hair looks very nice, healthy, and shiny *blushes*. I think a lot of people are attributing it to PNV and pregnancy but quite honestly, I've been taking the same PNV for over a year before I got pregnant. Now I'm sure pregnancy hormones are contributing to my hair health but remember I am trying to keep this up through post-partum shedding and beyond- so we will see.

September

○ Continue my weekly regime (the little regime that I have). It's been working so far but we will see how this continues with a newborn.

○ Add a few more products to my regime plus some basics. As far as basics, I need to pick up some more plastic shower caps (my pre poos are ruining them even after I wash out the product) and a silk bonnet (to protect styles that a scarf doesn't do a good job at). I also want to try some Bee Mine products at the recommendation of my hair shepard Ebony. I haven't decided which ones to try yet (I'm sure she will tell me which ones *hint, hint*) but I am looking for some good ones to enhance my regime. Plus I found a coupon code to help manage my budget (yes!).  Lastly, I need a good moisturizing deep conditioner to keep up my routine.

○ I really, really, really want to add half wigs into my regime. I think this is an essential for get up and go styles. I suck at styling my hair and really need the assistance (and versatility) that the wigs will give me. I currently have one half wig that I've pretty much retired because I feel like it's starting to look like a wig. I have a full wig that I'm thinking of retiring because it definitely looks like a wig. I'd like to try something that blends well with the front of my hair and looks at close to natural as a wig can get. I've been wig shopping several times and I can't find a single darn thing that works for me. The hair is usually too short, too thin, too shiny, etc. If I buy one wig before September is out- I'd be proud.

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Last relaxer: 7/28/11            Last trim: 8/19/11
Next relaxer: 9/15/11
Current stretch: 5 weeks

My HHJ: part 2

Ok so back to my HHJ…

So, a big part of being on a HHJ is having a regime. It's like in the hair bible- to build a regime that's just right for your hair. My regime isn't very specific yet- Wash and deep condition once per week, moisturize everyday. Some girls have very elaborate routines but I can't go there yet as it will just set me up for failure. I know my biggest problem is moisture and right now that's my main focus. Plus I don't have the "right" products to really have a detailed regime. I'm sure ECP would have a fit if she knew that I wasn't currently using a sulfate free shampoo on wash day at home and I have no idea what type of shampoo they use at the salon. I know this is NOT good but I have to take this one step at a time. I've been trying to learn about ingredients and reading products reviews so that next month I'll get an appropriate shampoo. Building a regime is not going to be easy- but with a baby on the way I want to minimize the amount of money I spend on products that isn't compatible with my hair. I get that you can't always tell until you actually try something but I still have to try.

So far, I have been sticking to my regime of washing and deep conditioning once a week and daily moisturization. Here is a picture update from 3 weeks post with {somewhat} straight hair.

Now I know no one does lengths checks this often but I did this to show that my hair is still relatively straight at the roots (although you can't see my roots) and still has a bit of moisture. In the past I feel like my roots would be awful around 3 to 4 weeks after a touch-up but my new found knowledge just lets me know that my hair was lacking moisture but we will see if I'm still singing the same tune in 2 weeks. I also feel like my hair is more manageable. That is definitely a result of increased moisture as I have been drinking more water (but for baby's sake - not mine) and eating more fruits (also due to cravings from baby). Diet really makes a difference. I currently use S-Curl moisturizer as a daily moisturizer. I like it cause it's a spray and I can do it quickly and easily. I normally thought of this as a product for those who had Jheri-curls by clearly I was misguided. I really believe I've seen a huge change in manageability since I began using it.

Okay so far I've covered :
- a bit of my hair background
- hair knowledge resources and
- my journey

So all that's left is my hair future:

Here is my plan. Continue with daily moisturizing making it second nature, continue with weekly shampoos and deep conditioning. Research and expand styling repertoire (I really want to start utilizing half wigs to help with this but I have yet to find a single one that "looks right") Keep building my hair care knowledge. I'll likely dedicate one or two posts a month to my HHJ. One thing that I found that a lot of hair bloggers do is begin each month with a hair goals posts and end the month with goals update. I still have a long way to go but I think what I want to get out of this whole process is

1. Healthier hair- no one wants unhealthy damaged hair, plus I've heard postpartum hair isn't glamorous.
2. Diversity in styling- I'm getting pretty tired of ponytails- I think this is going to be the hardest part. Hair makes a good outfit great!
3. I want the thickness of my hair back- while my hair isn't thin, I feel like it's thinner than it was when I was in college.
4. Longer hair- I think. I'm not sure if I can handle long hair because I feel like I'll just end up putting it in a ponytail.

Now that I've actually posted about this I feel like I've made an even greater commitment to this journey. I know this is going to be very hard being a new mom and working off my babies schedule and not my own- but I'm willing to give it my best shot.

38 weeks!

I can't believe I'm still pregnant. Actually I can- it's everyone else's opinions that had gotten to me. So phooey to all of you who said I was going to deliver early (actually it ain't over yet)! And besides I believe the rate of babies born on their due date is 5% and of the remaining 30% are born before and 70% are born after their due date so- it's likely I'm having a September baby *sticks tongue out*!

Your baby has really plumped up. S/he weighs about 6.8 pounds and s/he's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). S/he has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold his or her hand for the first time! Baby's organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb. Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? If s/he's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time s/he's 9 months old.



Pregnancy: 38 weeks!

Gender: Team Green

Name: Not yet.

Weight Gain: At last week's appointment I lost a pound. So that bring me to 22 pounds total gain. Not bad but I'm hoping it's all baby and baby by-product and not me. I have a maximum of 3 weeks to go (my doctor won't let me go past 41 weeks) so unless I go on some type of eating binge I think I'm good.

Sleep: Not the best but not the worse. Once I get comfy and fall asleep I'm pretty much okay. I also love my afternoon naps after work. It takes a while before I can fall asleep but on Tuesday I woke up in a puddle of drool so clearly that was a good nap!

Feeling: Heavy, sore, tired and I am easily aggravated. I try to keep to myself at work to prevent rubbing people the wrong way and being annoyed to no end. I only have a week left that I want to complete at work (if baby doesn't come) so I'm just hanging on. I think after September 1- I'm going into hibernation because when I say I am easily aggravated- you have no idea and I know people only care about me us the baby and their intentions are well meaning but I can't believe how many people feel the need to ask me when I'm due and interject their opinion about my pregnancy.

Health: Good. Last week's appointment went pretty well. I am super nervous because I am 1 cm dilated and every twinge sends me into a 'is this it' frenzy. I know I can be 1 cm dilated for weeks but it makes me nervous that my pregnancy is about to end and motherhood is about to begin. 

Movement: There is lots more definitive movement. Sometimes I try to note the time to see if it matches wake patterns once baby is born.

Belly: See below. Another 'view from the top'.

Next Appointment: Tomorrow! I'm still excited about my weekly appointments. Unfortunately I'm going at this one alone. Hubby has to work as it is opening weekend and he really can't miss for a doctor's appointment- he would be able to miss for a delivery though.

My Healthy Hair Journey

This post is long over due. I actually have been a little afraid to write it because once you make something public- you make a public commitment. But maybe that's what I need.

August 1, 2011 started my Healthy Hair Journey. Actually, it started on July 28th but August 1 is easier to remember. What exactly is a Healthy Hair Journey? well first, let me start by telling you how I got here. It is a long standing myth that African American women cannot grow long hair. I've been told this many times by different people and I actually believed it to be true- until recently. Last year I happen to be in Tennessee at a work conference where I completely forgot a very good friend of mine is in med school. Luckily, the hotel van broke down on the side of the road on the way back from the mall and I was in such awe of the driver backing down a highway (because the gas petal was not working) that I posted it on facebook. She saw it and called me!

We spent all of the following evening 'catching up'. Literally... from like 7 pm to 3 am. Amidst all of our girl talk, we discussed hair. We've always had some sort of a hair relationship that I felt on she could understand. Being the same age and having similar hair backgrounds and turmoils I found her story intriguing and inspiring all at the same time. But in true 'The Mrs.' fashion I just could not commit to a hair routine. It is so much easier for me to pull my hair back in a ponytail and let it be. This stems from years of felt like hair torture... hours of hair drying, hot pressing, and greasing only for it to be all undone when I go outside to play and "sweat my hair out". I distinctly remember the night before my cousin's 13th birthday party my aunt spent all day washing, drying and pressing me and my 2 cousins hair. She put my hair in about 7 ponytails and I was ready for the party. The next day when the music came on- it was on! I was about 9 years old and getting down in their living with with all of my cousins teen aged friends... until my aunt saw me and snatched me up 'cause of all the work she done, lol! I have way many more stories of how my hair played 'traumatizing' roles in my upbringing but I don't really want to relive that.

*And this my folks it why I am deathly afraid of having a girl*

So anyway amongst one of our catch up sessions earlier this year- I found out that my friend, Ebony, has dedicated years of research and practice to having healthy hair and wrapped it all up in a bow just for me!:) First I started following her vlog. It's actually her YouTube channel filled will lots of helpful info, tips, products reviews, how-to's and more! I was amazed as to how far she's come and where she's headed on her journey. As a healthy hair newbie, I still had a lot to learn and was still very confused about some of the info- I needed her to start a blog. Something that I could reference at anytime and follow step-by-step, plus video watching isn't very conducive to a work environment (I'm just saying!). I'm sure she had been planning a blog before I mentioned it but luckily, she in March she answered my call. If you are at all curious- and you should be- you MUST visit her at www.longing4length.blogspot.com. I also have it booked marked all the way to the right under 'Good Reads'.

I will admit- it will take a while to catch up on some of the lingo and processes- in fact I still don't know exactly how to co-wash but research is key. I didn't started until I felt comfortable knowing and understanding why I would be doing what I was doing and how beneficial it was to my hair. Ebony's blog alone wasn't going cut it so she gave me (her readers) some of the resources she used for her journey. She actually gave me this info way back after our all nighter in Tennessee but once again in true 'The Mrs.' fashion I delayed out of fear of commitment. Her top recommendations from hair forums are KISS (Keep It Simple Sista) and Hairlista. There are countless other forums and blogs that you will come across who can also give you insight. The two listed above are actually social networking sites so you will need to sign up for actual info on what you should/can be doing (which was another part of my reservation- I like to "lurk" before committing). Or you can just read her blog until you feel comfortable enough to move on. Now for the good stuff (and what Eb has been waiting for):

Oh wait! I forgot to tell you that Eb's blog also has fashion and beauty tips (that I really love) and will use for inspiration once I can get back into building my wardrobe. Some of my faves are how she beautifully she does her own nails and the amazing outfits she puts together. I remember her doing my nails back in college and when we were roomies- I totally tried to where her clothes but unfortunately our differences in clothing sizes made this extremely hard. I do have pics of us where matching outfits tho'! She even dressed me for my very first Alicia Keys concert! Ok for real now... the good stuff.

This is my hair 2 days post relaxer- August 1st 2011. I went and had a touch up July 2. My hair was roller set under the dryer and instead of wrapping it after it dries like I normally get done, I had her re pin the curls from the roller set. That night I slept with a satin bonnet on my head and the next morning I took out the pins and just let my hair hang where it layed. This created beautiful shoulder length spiral curls. Of course I don't have any pics (I'm still new to documenting my hair journey and I forget to take pictures) although pics where taken at my baby shower the next day so I may have a useable one once the girl who took the pics share them with me. That night I re-pinned the curls the best I could and by day three my curls were pretty much non existent (as I didn't use any setting lotion).  This picture is the result of day three non existent curls. This is where some of my issues come in- I absolutely suck at styling my hair. I've been wearing my hair pulled into a ponytails for 99.99% of my life (since I was old enough to do my own hair). So I HAD to join these hair networks. I needed easy to maintain healthy styles to do at home.

One style I came across was to pull your hair back into a bum and pin curl the ends. The next morning take it down and let the ponytail out and you will have soft flowing curls for the next day- I rocked that for about another week and a half alternating with days of keeping my hair in a high ponytails with the pin curls. This is called protective styling [:)] and it's done to protect the ends of your hair from the weathering elements.

You can see from this photo (maybe) that I have some breakage in the back towards the nape of my neck. I am sure this comes from years of wearing low ponytails. That is a stress point from the ponytail holders. Also, my shirts/sweaters, blouses do not help as the collars rub against the hair causing it to dry out and break off.

This is my curls after leaving my hair in the high bun with pin curls over night. I added a headband and voila! I love this style. It is very manageable for me because it doesn't take much in the morning after you pull out the pins and I can pin it the  night before while watching TV. This dress allows my hair to hang without rubbing against a shirt- although there is the down side of the halter part rubbing against my nape ( I have to do something about that!)

I feel like this post is getting a bit long and I'm not trying to bore you to death- but rather share so I'll pick this up later. I actually promise to do so because I'm writing the post and scheduling it to post automatically because my memory is bad. To be continued...

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend was amazing!

On Friday, my hubby treated me to my hair appointment for this month. I normally hate getting my hair done. In fact I always have. It stems from getting my hair pressed when I was little- but that's another post for another day. Sitting under a dryer for an hour + is not all that fun at 9 months pregnant. All of that however was overshadowed by my mani/pedi Saturday morning.

Yep! My wonderful hubby treated me to a mani/pedi too! I love being pampered. I was a little disappointed that I never made it to my pre-natal massage treatment at my favorite spa ever during this pregnancy (I had to cancel twice) but I hope to make up for that at some point maybe in December? Then after my mani/pedi my hubby dressed me (yea, he does that sometimes) and whisked me away to my BABY SHOWER!!!!!

Okay, here's a little secret. I knew that it was this weekend but it was still an amazing surprise for me. You see- my family likes to give surprise parties. I think we like for the guest of honor not too be too involved so we don't clue them in on any details... not a single one. I had to do a lot of bargaining to get my family to tell me the date. You see my college graduation party was a surprise, my bridal shower was a surprise, and in between those we gave my parent's a surprise 25th wedding anniversary party, my mom a surprise 50th birthday party, and my brother a semi-surprise graduation party... I was kind of out of surprises. So, our deal was I would know the date so I could get plenty of rest the night before, try to look the best I can, and basically enjoy myself.

However I had no idea what was in store for me. I had no idea that almost 100 of my friends and family would be there! I know this sounds silly but - who knew so many people cared! When I walked in the room and everyone yelled surprise! I was in shock. My guests had come from far and wide to celebrate the birth of our first child. Remember our friends we visited in Chicago?? Well she came out too! I had a few more guests who came from out of state and that mean a lot to me. I am truly overwhelmed (still) and feel blessed to have such amazing people supporting us in this journey. But more on this tomorrow.

Some of the baby's clothes... we're going to need a bigger closet!

The stack of diapers... so far

I didn't sleep much that night so I was up pretty early for church on Sunday. I'm not sure if that will happen again for a long time. Anyway, I'm glad I was there to hear the message. My pastor is on a much needed vacation this week so one of my fellow Elders gave the message entitled "Wait for God ... but pay attention". This message was something I needed to hear. She opened with a story (which you may have read via email forward) about a man who was waiting for God to send him blessings but he missed them (all 3) because he wasn't paying attention to his actual blessings being sent. I'm going to try to Google the story because it truly speaks volumes. The most resonating point was being thankful for all the blessing you have been given despite your current trials - for the unemployed who may not have a paycheck now, be thankful for the paychecks you received and the paychecks that may be waiting for you in the future. For the sick whose bodies are currently afflicted- be thankful for the days you had when you were well and able bodied. The list goes on. I don't really care right now to share some of what I believe to be my current trials but when I look back on my past trials and laugh at myself for thinking those were actual burdens to me (at the time) and seeing how far I've come, I'm looking forward to my future self and laughing now because I know I will be laughing then too.

And now Monday morning, we meet again.