The Time Has Come...

Well...hello everybody! It has been a long time since I last posted anything and I wanted to come on to address my absence. First of all, let me just say that I sincerely appreciate all of you who visit the site, read, comment, and overall support Naturally Leslie. Secondly, I want you to know that if you have sent an email asking a question or making a request of some kind, you were not intentionally ignored! I simply have not been able to devote myself to blogging the way I did in the past.

Over the last few months I have been consumed with work, motherhood, and just life in general. Since the last time I posted we bought a house and moved on top of everything else that was going on. My little baby is now a cruising, babbling, days-away-from-being-a-one-year-old little boy. While it has been a whole year since his birth, to me, time has flown by and I still feel new at this mommy thing. I have found that I simply don't have the time or energy (baby just started sleeping more than 3 hours at a time like a month ago...eek!) it takes to devote to blogging. That sucks for me because I have truly enjoyed the time I spent with all of you in this virtual realm.

I also realized that while deep down I love natural hair and pretty much anything to do with it, I am also a bit bored with the whole thing. I've been natural for 12 years now and honestly I am no longer as fascinated by styles, regimens, products, etc the way I once was. Call me jaded! I totally get how a newbie or even someone a few years in can still enjoy it all but I have to say, I think I've maxed out...for now anyway!

So all in all, I want you to know that while I have not been around, I appreciate you. Your readership, your support, your patience. I am not going to be posting anything else but I wanted to come on a say good bye officially. I am going to put up an away message on my Naturally Leslie gmail account stating more or less this same thing in case people skip reading this and send me an email!

I hope you all have a wonderful journey, both with your hair and in your lives. I bump into readers all the time so please feel free to say hey if we cross paths out in the "real world", lol! I wish you all the best in your personal and/or professional endeavors and it has been a real pleasure sharing this experience with you.

Peace and lots of love!

Leslie

Back At It...Albeit a Few Hairs Short!

Hi everyone! I have to say thank you for your patience in my absence. I had no idea how long I intended to be away but I sincerely appreciate all of you for hanging around! Being a mom is amazing and a LOT of hard work! So many new things to learn and I am finally starting to feel confident in my abilities. I love my baby boy and it is true what they say, EVERYTHING changes once you have a kid. Finally, welcome to all the new folks who have joined the site! I never dreamed when I started that anyone besides my mom would care to read what I had to say, let alone 1000+ followers, and I am humbled and flattered. Thank you all!

Speaking of changes, I am still adjusting to my new schedule, my new body, and my new hairline. Of all the things pregnancy and childbirth did to my physical appearance, hair loss was not one I seriously anticipated. I think we've all heard of post-partum hair shedding but I had no idea I would see clumps of hair literally fall out in my hands! Every time I wash I lose a significant amount of hair and it kinda freaks me out! I have always had so much hair, did not notice any real change during pregnancy, and didn't really expect to lose much after. Around month 3 post-partum, I noticed that things began to change.

I was taking down a set of mini twists that I'd had in for a few weeks. As I got to the ones framing my face, I noticed I was losing clumps of hair. I ran out of the bathroom with my hair in my hands, showing my husband in disbelief. "I'm BALD!", I screamed. Ok, well not really but I do have very short patches where my temples are. It's like a thin layer of peach fuzz is beginning to emerge but still quite see through!

My bday was last Friday and we went out on Saturday with the family to celebrate. Truthfully I had all but forgotten about the hair loss until I saw these pics:

(Pic 1- I got a cookbook! Is that a hint or something???

Pic 2- Blowing out the candle on my cupcake. I still have some pp weight to lose so portion control is my friend, lol)

I don't know if you can see but clearly I am missing some strands. I am not extremely bothered but I do plan on taking special care of these areas so I can increase growth. My plan includes eating healthy and continuing my prenatal vitamin (both are givens due to b'feeding), gentle styling, and massaging castor oil weekly into my scalp.

I perused YouTube to find some inspiration with the castor oil:

Seems like folks are getting good results. Hopefully after a few weeks these patchy parts will fill in! Out are tightly pulled back buns and puffs.

Have any of you ever experienced hair loss due to pregnancy or other causes? If so, what have you done to remedy it?

Taking a Break: UPDATE!

(photo taken in May; Hair: two strand twists done on blown out hair, lasted for about 5 weeks!)

Dear Naturally Leslie readers,

So after 7 lovely weeks with my baby boy, I returned to work today. It was tough. People tell you it is hard but you can't know until you experience it. Luckily, my son was being cared for by my husband who decided to take two weeks off. That made the transition back not so bad and I only called home a half a dozen times.

In terms of blog postings, I hope to get back in the swing of things at some point soon but I must request your patience as I get into this new routine. I am not one of those super bloggers who can have a baby, breastfeed, pump, take care of the little tot, and continue to post frequently without missing a beat. I need some time to adjust to this new phase and I am going to take it.

In the meantime, feel free to continue to comment as you wish as I will be able to moderate comments daily. Or, you can sit back and do nothing and just wait until I get back to posting! Either way, I appreciate your readership and support and I hope to return quickly. Also, you can email me topics you would like to see discussed here on Naturally Leslie in the future. I would rather do more posts about things than interest you but I need to know what those are! Send me an email to naturallyleslie@gmail.com.

Ok, off to bed. Take care and we'll see each other soon!

Love always,

Leslie

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UPDATE:

Hey there everybody! I apologize for being MIA for so long. Thank you for all your emails and comments in my absence. School just got out for the summer and I hope to get back to posting really soon. If you sent an email and it went unanswered, please accept my apologies and know that I did receive it. I have been somewhat "unplugged" if you will and have not done much related to the blog. Baby is almost 4 months ( on July 4) and I can say I feel pretty adjusted. We're still nursing about every 2-3 hrs around the clock so that is tough and part of the reason I have not braved adding anything else to my plate! I hope you continue to stick around and hopefully I can star posting again really soon. I appreciate all your support!