Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

6/52

1 week prior to the cut

After the birth I my oldest, Levi, I lost so much hair that I freaked out. Both my hairdresser and doctor reassured me that the hormonal changes I was experiencing, causing my hair loss, were quite normal. However, because of my post-pregnancy gall stone, it was almost impossible to eat anything for a while, and it only made matters worse. Within a few months you could see my scalp two inches back from my hairline when I put my hair up. This made my beloved, utilitarian ponytail embarrassing and having my long hair down all the time with an infant just wasn't practical. So, I cut it short, donated my long braid and hoped the new growth I was seeing would catch up faster that way. This time around I had hoped that being healthy and able to eat after Autumn was born would be enough to stave of the shedding. Alas, my hopes were dashed.

I don't know if there was a final straw when it came to cutting my hair this time. Maybe it was how many strands I was pulling out of my kids clean clothes. I began to worry I would have to rush one of them to the ER after inadvertently creating a hair tourniquet and amputating a finger or worse, a penis (you laugh, but I've heard of it happening...poor boy). Or maybe it was how much time I spent pulling hair off my hands while washing it. It literally was coming out in hand fulls. I finally started keeping a brush in the shower to collect it all and you couldn't even see he base of the tynes when I was done, even though I cleaned it out every time. I tried really hard to keep what the brush didn't get from going down the drain, using the walls as a canvas for my hair. It actually helped pull the strands off my fingers and it doubled as a tile scrub when I gathered them together at the end of my shower. Despite my efforts, though, my shower is gathering water in the bottom. And I'm now suspicious that my hair is also behind the two days it is taking the downstairs bathtub to drain and the water sitting in the bottom of my dishwasher. I'm pretty sure they collectively drain to one pipe somewhere. Maybe it was the strand that floated off my head and clung to the side of a pot on the stove, which, of course, scorched as soon as the flame from the burner was lit. I mildly panicked, until I was sure it wasn't trailing back up to the rest on my head. And even though I have an obscene amount of hair, my hair line is receding again. Besides, Autumn has a death grip. So, off with my hair.

My hairdresser is great. I've been going to Wade since I was 16 and this is the third time I've had him cut off this length of hair, or more. And it probably won't be the last. I think my cumulative total is around 45 inches now. My hair grows super fast. The first two times I donated it to Locks of Love but this time I'm going to try something different. A friend told me about www.thehairtrader.com (thanks Mel!), a website where you can list your hair for sale. I've been told all my life people pay good money for hair like mine and while I think they meant they pay a lot of money to make their hair look like mine (thank you 1980's perm popularity), now people might actually pay good money FOR my hair. So, I'm going to list it for the month and see what happens. If it doesn't sell in a month, I'll donate it again. But if it does sell, the proceeds will go toward paying off the laser hair removal I'm having done on my bikini line. I thought it fitting and ironic that the blessing/curse of having tons of hair should help pay for removing what I don't want. You can check out my listing at here.

It's weird to think of my hair being implanted onto someone else's head or made into a wig, but I have plenty to share, even after loosing nearly half my volume. And it will grow back, eventually. And eventually I'll vacuum all the hair out of our rug, stop finding it in my food, and maybe I'll even get my drain unclogged. Until then my husband can enjoy 24 hour access to the back of my neck (ok, I will too) and I'll enjoy the longevity of the Costco-sized shampoo and conditioner I just bought. Going from 1/4 cup to 1 tsp of conditioner is going to save me so much money! Hope you all enjoy the pictures from the cut yesterday.

Wade giving my hair one last wash

There it is, coming out in the comb

Here we go!



Four ponytails!

Wade begins sculpting

Autumn came along for the ride

9-16 inches!!

Thanks Wade!

See ya later!


The new me