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I’d heard while pregnant the hair that would ordinarily fall out naturally stops doing do and waits until your baby has been born before shedding. It certainly seemed to be the case for me as my usual thin and shoulder length hair became thicker and longer while I was cooking my children and it looked positively luscious; I absolutely loved it! I’m left post birth with hair that is longer than it’s been since I was a teenager and for that I am utterly delighted however I’m not so on board with the level it’s falling out now! Ok, so I expected lots of hair loss, the hair loss from the hair that didn’t fall out while I was pregnant but this is ridiculous! Every day when I brush my once again thin hair I have a brush full to put in the bin. Probably about the amount I would usually expect in a week! I’d started to notice this plus the fact that my hair seemed to be EVERYWHERE but hadn’t really thought too much of it other than it’s quite irritating!

I also noticed that Jimmy is always tugging at the front two sections of my hair that fall down over him when I change him or pick him up and he often has hair in his little fists which means even more is coming out! It had started to remind me of the time I had hair extensions and after a couple of months they started falling out – perhaps I could go for hairpieces for men and women now and save my own hair in the process. All over the house we would find big clumps of hair but back then it didn’t matter because it wasn’t actually MY hair falling out of MY head! I wasn’t even that worried to be honest, I noticed it but didn’t really think about it until one day on holiday when I went to put my hair in a high up pony tail and got a bit of a shock at what I saw in the mirror!

Bald patches! Two of them to be precise. Underneath and on the front two sides where Jimmy pulls. I ran through to my Mum expecting her to be say ‘don’t be silly, it’s not that noticeable’ but her reaction was an ‘Oh my God’! My Mum is usually calm and reassuring which she was afterward but there’s no denying her initial reaction! And there’s no denying the bald patches so I went to see my GP. He initially wasn’t very reassuring until I burst into tears! Do you know what the first thing he said to me was? ‘Women can get male pattern baldness as well’! That’s when I cried! He then became a bit more feeling and told me it was highly unlikely in a woman and especially one under 55. After looking at my hair he said he couldn’t find any more patches and that it was probably because I’d been iron deficient in pregnancy so the likelihood is that I still am. Apparently that’s the biggest cause for excessive hair loss in women and it does seem likely because I stopped taking the supplements without any advice. So I’ve been for a blood test and we shall see… I know it’s only hair loss at the end of the day and in the grand scheme of things that’s not so bad but it is still a little unsettling… I mean, it’s not nice to think about going bald, now I know how my husband feels! One thing that makes me feel better is that I’ve spoken to three other women this week who have said the same. Oh well, if I lose it all I’ll just have to become a wig reviewer! I’ll keep you posted once I know more…

 

See!

DONKEY WATCH

Donkey Coffee Break!

I’m an accessory girl in general so when it came to buying my first Bugaboo (My Bee) it seemed obvious to me to buy all the accessories too. Jonny didn’t really understand and was very skeptical about some of them, the cup holder in particular but even he would say now that it’s the best one (and this is out of a very good bunch FYI)! At just £14.95 from John Lewis this is a real bargain! I have quite literally used mine every day that I’ve used a Bugaboo and I don’t even drink coffee! Obviously it fits bottles of water, Florence’s cup and the coffee cups but it’s been so much more to me than that! If I get handed a banana skin from a toddler hand in the buggy the cup holder becomes a bin,  it’s been a phone holder, umbrella stand, coat hook… It’s even carried a bottle of wine to a party! (I got odd looks when I nipped to the bank on the way with baby Florence in the buggy and a bottle of plonk in the cup holder but hey)! I love the cup holder almost as much as I love my Bugaboos!

Moving on from my Bee to Le Donk and it occurred to me that I’d have to buy a new cup holder but guess what?! As with all the other accessories of this ilk the lovely clever people at Bugaboo have made adaptors (which you get when you buy the cup holder) for all their buggies and I simply had to just transfer the holder from my Bee to my Donkey! We actually have two now, well double trouble in the buggy means double drinks after all! I find and have always found that the cup holder is better on the inside handle. I often see people with it on the outside and that’s fine but you have to take it off when folding it that way or it might get bashed. I can easily just leave mine attached whether up or down and it’s protected. The cup holder is my favorite accessory and I’ve never loved it more than when on my Donkey! I do really like all my accessories but seriously, this inexpensive one is by far the most hand one I have! It’s sturdy and durable and super worth having! I’m just off to have a drink and walk the Donkey now as it happens!

Here’s my Donkey folded up in the boot of my car. Absolutely no reason to detach the cup holder.

And here it is on my Bee being helpful on the way back from the supermarket. I chop and change buggy depending on where I’m off to so to be able to easily interchange accessories is a major plus!

For more information on the ‘Donkey’ and all other ‘Bugaboo’ products please see their website www.bugaboo.com. It’s also worth noting that ‘When you choose a ‘Bugaboo’ product (now available in more than 50 countries) you are choosing a company which is a proud (PRODUCT) RED™ partner. ‘Bugaboo’ contributes a portion of its profits across all products – to the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa, with the goal of ending mother-to-child HIV transmission by 2015.

 

Now… I have no more excuses left… I had Jimmy 5 months ago and my holiday has been and gone… Operation get fit and healthy is here! I might not want to lose my hair but I do want to lose some weight! I want to drop at least a stone before I will feel comfortable with myself again and I intend to do it in the healthiest way possible. No starving myself (my usual way of dropping a few pounds), I’m just going to be sensible and I will exercise! I can’t afford to join a gym mores the pity but even if I could I wouldn’t have the time… When I stay at my Mum’s I get to go if there’s a free day at one which I love because I really do enjoy exercise and I adore the sauna and steam at the end of it but back home in London, with no Mum to babysit and a gym is a no go… It was lucky then that when I went to stay with my Mum last and had a day at a gym near her, I got talking to a really lovely girl in the steam room. She told me her fitness instructor boyfriend runs a vlog giving people who can’t get to the gym a way of working out. He and his friend (and her sometimes) produce videos on-line for people like me to use and the best bit is they are real! No cutting and pasting in the editor’s suite making the end result look like a bunch of beautiful people (not that these guys aren’t beautiful) in full make up barely raising their body temperature. These work outs are sometimes outside, windy, noisy and you can see the three of them really getting a sweat on! I was really pleased to realise that her boyfriend was actually the guy who took the Body Pump class I’d just taken before the sauna as I found him so personable. I love the gym but it does often make me feel self-conscious, he didn’t at all and he comes across on-screen exactly as he did at the gym, really lovely! I love their vlogs and will be following, why don’t you join me? They’re called The Lean Machines.

My children are very lucky and often get to try out new toys for me to review! This week Florence has been enjoying playing with a new Bratz doll called ‘Chic Mystique’ Jimmy’s been chewing on a Stars and Sun Rattle and laughing at a small chime ball both by Sassy Toys and we’ve discovered a wicked new family game called ‘Poppin’ Hoppies’.And while my children get to test out games I get to test out more practical things! Doesn’t mean I don’t love it though, especially when you find a product as good as the Vax Spot on Stain Remover! Click on the links above to read our full reviews on these things.

Don’t forget my competition! I’ve teamed up with the makers of Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom to offer one of my readers the chance to WIN tickets to see the live show! Click HERE to find out how!

MY LIFE WITH 2!

I don’t believe it but this week my period came back! I had 10 months without one when I was breast-feeding Florence and had assumed it would be the same deal this time so I’m a little bit gutted truth be told! Of course I gave Jimmy a bottle of formula in the evenings some nights when we were on holiday so perhaps this has contributed to it? Maybe I won’t have another one for a while? I certainly hope so, it’s one of the perks of pregnancy not having a period and the fact that breast-feeding prolongs that is a total bonus! So, fingers crossed it’s a blip eh… On the bright side, at least I know I’m ovulating again… (Not that I want another one just yet)!

Also this week we have had some serious sleep issues. Jimmy has had a cold which has kept him awake and because he got used to sleeping in a cot on holiday I think he craves more space than the moses basket provides. He’s really too big for it now and it does worry me knowing he rolls over but I can’t bear the thought of him going into his own room so he’s been in with us. I have a few ideas about what I’m going to do but Jonny is adamant he wants him in his own room and has put together the new Clarity video monitor by Lindam in a bid to get me to put Jimmy in with Florence who HAS been sleeping in her own bed and not coming in till morning! Hopefully she’ll keep this up! 4 in our bed is really way too many! One of the things I think has helped Miss F stay in her room is her new Pabobo Night-Light. Find out what we think of it here.

Jonny puts together the monitor… Eeeeek, I’m gonna have to put him in the cot soon…

I think for Jimmy he’s suffering in lots of ways, he’s very windy and his teeth are definitely on their way. Little red cheeks and constant chewing tell me this as well as the fact his sister got her first one about now. Don’t get me wrong, he still sleeps better than lots of babies but he’s been up more than is usual for him. I think having a warm bath and massage is something he likes and it helps him to relax if he has had this routine. We recently tried Organic Babies Body Wash and Shampoo and their soothing Baby Oil which we loved! Read our review to see what we thought! It definitely helps him having that sort of routine.  Now the hair replacement systems for men is more and more popular. Hairbro offer all kinds of hair loss product like hair systems.

We’re off to my best friend’s wedding this weekend coming and Florence is a bridesmaid so I’m very excited. Have a great weekend everyone and see you back here next week!

This is us out and about this week. My children are wrapped up for the winter already…  Hard to believe it was just a couple of weeks ago that we were in the sun!

In the meantime follow me on Twitter @rocknrollerbaby

(All opinions and words, apart from those in green, are my own. I have not been paid for this article although I did receive some products to keep after I had reviewed them.)