Hair advice for soon-to-be-mother!

[MrsC2010]

Hi All,

As title says really, I'm due with our first DC in about 7 or 8 wks and am stuck for a stylish but easy hair style.

I have always had shortish hair, from a crop to a long bob with a full fringe. I LOVED having a fringe as I really felt that I had a 'style' as against a cut, if you know what I mean. But everyone keeps telling me that that sort of cut will need too much maintenance and I won't have time once the baby arrives. So I now have slightly layered, fairly long hair with no fringe.

But I feel dull and unkempt! My hair is fairly fine, even though I have lots of it, and it always just looks like it is sitting there.

BUT, my worry is that if I go back to a 'style' it will be hard to maintain and live with, and that as a size 16 I can't pull off sharper/shorter styles any more.
I guess my question is, should I stick with longer hair that can be tied back easily or go for something more adventurous considering our arrival in a few months? I'm tallish (5'8") with an averagely attractive face. Don't know if that helps at all!

Wait a bit. Loads of mine fell out at 4 months post partum, then grew back all scraggy.

As long as you aren't going for anything too sharp and radical, or a full dye-job which needs re-touching every three weeks, then just wear your hair in a way which makes you feel good. It is easy enough to get a quick fringe trim, and there are loads of hairdressers happy to come to your house.

It's hard enough having a baby- don't make it worse by feeling like you look a sight as well, if it's important to you. Becoming a mother is emphatically not synonymous with being frumpy or bedraggled- whoever implied it is is misguided, in my opinion.

Long hair all the way. I am happiest with just below the shoulder and longer hair. In a moment of madness 3 years ago I cut the whole bloody lot off. My face did suit it, but my god I wasn't prepared for the maintenance. I thought short would equal easy, but how wrong was I? With it longer, I am able, if I know I am in a rush in the morning, to just wash it before bed, leave to dry and straighten and style it in the morning. When it was short I had to wash it every morning and it took ages to style.
Having said that, if you are used to short hair, and you don't feel 'you' without it, then by all means get it cut. You will no doubt feel a bit 'lost' after baby is born, I know I certainly felt that way, and if you have identified something making you feel a bit uncertain, then do something about it

yes hair you can tie back. and yes, prepare yourself for the horror that is post natal hair loss!

I never lost any hair- how common is it?

fairly common. i had it both times. lots of friends had it, some just once in two pregnancies though.

I think it's quite common. I didn't lose hair, but I did grow attractive wispy bits at the front of my hairline, like a mini fringe 2 years after second baby, they show no sign of falling out. I wish they bloody would. I think if I have any more dc I would actually turn into a hairy beast of a woman

I've got the mini fringe too!

my mini fringe is bloody gorgeous

Oooooh, hair loss, I hadn't heard that one before! So far I haven't had the glowing skin bit (hmmm, try childhood exzema rearing its pretty head) or swishy hair that everyone talks about. Knowing my luck this one I will get!

Thanks for the advice, I will ponder. Perhaps I'll keep the length for tying back purposes and get a fringe cut back in. I can always clip it if it pees me off too much!

My glowing skin was because of acne. Disappeared immediately after birth though!

I have a few clients who are pregnant and i always recommend the same thing. I would definitely stick to a simple trim and poss a fringe until after the birth.... your hair after pregnancy can be greatly affected by the absence of increased oestrogen which is produced during pregnancy, giving most women thick glossy locks, and sometimes over productive sebum glands on the scalp.

If you go for something too drastically different that suits your hair now, there is a good chance it will not suit your hair after you have given birth, as hair loss and dryness is very common post pregnancy.
So id wait and see what your hair is like after birth before changing it too much.

Plus there is nothing like a trip to the salon and a new style after having a baby to cheer you up!!

P.s Congratulations on the bump!