Fun Changes During and After Pregnancy

1. I have thick hair. All my life, hairdressers have commented on how much hair I have. So I didn't really notice when pregnancy hormones made my hair even thicker. They didn't do this by magic, but rather by making less hair fall out. I suppose I should have realized this was happening when Blue stopped complaining about the hair in the drain after I showered.

Within a month of having the babies, however, I realized what had happened, and realized that without the hormones in my body anymore, my scalp was going to shed all that hair it should have lost during the previous nine months. Which pretty much means it looks like Cousin It is circling the drain after every shower. I know it's hair that was on my head only minutes before, but ewww. Three months later, and my hair is showing no signs of slowing down its abandon-ship mentality. I'm hoping it stops soon, or else I won't be worthy of "your hair is so thick!" comments anymore.

2. Another thing that can happen is problems with your vision. This is something I wish I'd known about BEFORE I went off and bought new glasses mid-pregnancy, but, then again, it's probably worth it to have been able to see and not get daily headaches. But be forewarned: Your vision might get blurry, and it might go back to normal after pregnancy. Mine so far seems to be holding steady, so those new glasses were a good purchase. So far. For all I know, a year post-birth my eyes will switch back and my new glasses will be useless. I'll keep you posted.

3. Allergies are a bitch. I didn't have them until I moved to NYC in 2006. I thought I had a cold for six months before finally getting tested. Zyrtec-D saved my life, and my nose. I did end up with a little notch in my nostril from having a runny, irritated nose for six months, but I just tell myself it gives my face character. While pregnant, I could only take regular Zyrtec. How I missed that D! I joked with Blue, saying that within minutes of popping the babies out I wanted a Yuengling beer in a 20oz frosted glass and a Zyrtec-D on a silver platter.

Neither of those happened. And when I did restart Zyrtec-D, it did not bring the blissful relief I'd been hoping for. Four months on, and once again I'm realizing that I likely do not have a never-ending cold. It's allergies, and my go-to meds aren't working. For extra fun, I now have a matching notch in my other nostril. The tip of my nose is sore and god help you if you accidentally knock into it. Which the babies often do with their heads, which OOOOUUUUUCHHHH! I'm hoping to hit up the allergist again once my new insurance kicks in March 1 (tomorrow!) to see about getting allergy shots. I cannot live like this for much longer. I want my nose back. I cannot say if this will happen for anyone else, but it happened for me. And it sucks.

All of this said, I am still grateful for my healthy, relatively easy pregnancy. I really have nothing to complain about.