Did your curly hair go straight?

[Caryliz]

All my life I've had corkscrew-curly hair, and since High School I've worn it long -- well past my shoulders. (I'm now 38.) Somewhere around the end of my second trimester, it seemed to me that my hair was coming in straight. I sort of watched this development for a month or so, then mentioned it to DH. He immediately denied that anything was changing, said it looked the same as always. Hmmm.

Fast forward to August, DS is 3 months old, and I go in for my first haircut since the birth. I tell the guy who cuts my hair that I think my hair is coming in straight. He says something noncommital, then after spending an hour fussing with my hair concedes that in fact I do have a couple of inches of straight hair up top. Also tells me he's never seen this before, so he can't tell me if this change is permanent or not.

Now in late October, I have a visible few inches of straight hair on top with the same old corkscrews at the bottom, and all kinds of people have started commenting on how hard it must be to grow out such a tight perm!

So my question is: Did this happen to anyone else? Has your hair stayed straight ever since? What did you do while the curls were growing out? Why does this happen?!

It sort of seems shallow to obsess about this, but it's very weird. New mama-hood has turned my whole life upside down -- I just didn't think it was going to have such an impact on my appearance!

[alegna]

how odd. My hair is wavy and stayed the same.

I will add though, that my sister's hair turned curly at puberty...

-Angela

[Sagesgirl]

My hair has gotten progressively wavier throughout my three pregnancies, to the extent that it's been called curly a couple of times (not that it really is curly; it's just really wavy). I guess it stands to reason if it can go one way it can go the other. Both my girls have curly hair; I have to wonder if it wasn't whatever makes their hair curly affecting me in some small way?

[~*~MamaJava~*~]

My hairdresser has told me that my hair is getting wavier, and he says it's because of having kids. I haven't really noticed it, but he's the expert :LOL

[KiwiZ]

I am curious about this too, is it the pregnancy hormones and why doesn't it happen to everyone?

My hair was straight before and now after 2 pregnancies its pretty wavy. My girls are now 4.5 and 2.5, so I think its permanent?

[momtokay]

My hair wasn't as curly as yours, but it went almost completely straight while I was pg with my first. It stayed straight the whole time I was nursing then gradually went curly again after DD1 weaned. I was pg with my second when my first weaned so I was surprised to see it curling again. Glad to have the curls back though.

[momto l&a]

My hair get a bit straight while preggo then comes back straight. I noticed it most with my first. Others noticed it also.

I have 3 kiddos

I have odd hair If its short as in 4 or so inches long its straight but when it gets long its loose ringlets/curls. People think I am nuts when I tell them that

[cuqui]

I didn't think I could be the only one. My curly hair went pin straight during my 1st pregnancy, #2 came 23 months later, still straight. I even got perm whem dd#2 was 2 ys old, thought I could remind my hair what it was supposed to do. I hated the perm and it is so bad for your hair, mine was so healthy and i fried it, but my very curly haired blonde dd loved it b/c she finaly felt like we had something in common (she is blonde, green eyed, very curly hair and very fair skin, my other dd & I are olive skinned, brown eyed aand straight haired). When the perm grew out, my hair was still straight, I just gave birth to #3, 5 yrs after #2, and my hair is super straight! Good thing the current hairstyles are straight hair. It is more work & DH calls it flat hair but at least I still have hair, lol!

BTW, my sister who has the same hair as me, had no change during her pregnancy, she was 28. I was 33/34 with #1, 35/36 w #2, and 40/41 with #3.

[USAmma]

My straight hair got curly in the back with both kids, but it didn't last. One of my friend's hair got straight when it was curly before.

[yequanamama]

I'm one of those whose hair has gone from stick-straight to slightly wavy, and very wavy in a couple of spots. But it didn't happen until my second pregnancy.

[sunnylady303]

Glad to see that I'm not the only one. After my first baby my corkscrew curls went totally straight. When I got pregnant again, it went half curly, hlaf straight. I swear, the weirdest thing you have ever seen. I am hoping after I give birth to this baby (our last one!) that it will at least make up its mind. I can handle straight or curly but this both thing is weird.

[eilonwy]

My hair has always been curly, and it did seem to come in straighter when I got pregnant, but I don't think it was necessarily growing differently. My hair is very fine, and when it gets past a certain length the weight of it pulls the tops of the strands straight. During both pregnancies, my hair was/got pretty long. I noticed that my hair grew faster while I was pregnant, and that it seemed to come in a bit more finely than it had before, so the new hair was more prone to the weight-straightening effect.

My mom had stick straight hair as a young woman. It got progressively wavier with each pregnancy, until (after baby #5) she had big, fat, "roller" curls. She's still got them, more than 20 years after her child was born.

[sapphire_chan]

Hmm, if Caryliz's hair follows the pattern some other people are seeing her hair will be
ooooooo------oooo-----oooo----
ooooooo------oooo-----oooo----
ooooooo------oooo-----oooo----

[The Lucky One]

My hair went from being STICK straight to being VERY wavy (especially the underneath layers) after having my second child. Actually, I have a habit of playing with my hair and I have come across very coarse corkscrew hairs too. It is very weird. If I want straight hair now, I have to use my straightening iron.

[rosie29]

Great thread! I have wondered about this too. About 6 mos. after Ds was born, I noticed that my hair, which previously had only a bit of wave, was getting wavier. At the crown, it's rather tight curls/waves. I still haven't figured out what to do with it... My hairstylist said some people spend a lifetime figuring out what to do with curly hair!

[peypeymama]

There seems to be a whole bunch more mamas getting curly hair than the other way around!

My hair was curly through most of my pg, but seemed to get straight after (I think as each hair fell out it was replaced by a straight, grey one ).

I'm hoping with this next pg, I'll get my curly hair back... I miss it!

[melamama]

me too. I had wavy corkscrew curls, and over the last 6 years have had clear cycles of straight and wavy. For me it is definitely hormonal. I actually noticed it first when I was younger and on bc pills.
Now being pg again I've got thick wavy hair that I know will turn straight after bebe is born. The power of hormones.

[lpg]

Culrly hair gone straight

Just saw the posts from other moms re: curly hair going straight - IT IS HAPPENING TO ME! I've always had nice bouncy curls and now 3 months after my baby was borne whatever hair I still have left ( which is not much! ) is practically straight! I can see that it's been a few years since the last posts - please tell me that your hair is back to being curly!

[philomom]

My straight hair went wavy postpartum. It went flatter as the years have gone by... but it has never again been rod-straight like it was before.