Straight From the Bottle

My boobs still squirt too! I heard some women never stop. Like my old manager from a previous job. Her oldest daughter was 10... and if she heard a baby crying she'd lactate. Weird right? I'm scared that's what my future holds...

Well, I was losing LOTS of hair still a year after giving birth. Doc said not normal and tested my thyroid, which was fine. She said time to get back on my anti-anxiety/anti-depression meds. Indeed, the hair stopped falling out after I restarted the meds. So it was stress for me.

my sister had the same thing and it has something to do with her pituitary gland and a little - totally non malignant growth on it. anyhow - she is 4.5 years post breastfeeding and is now on some drug that has stopped her milk.

Lady, you sound like a woman on the edge.  You should take a week off. Go to the beach.  Go camping.  Go somewhere without the internet.  

We'll all be here when you get back.  Promise.

Same here. My baby is 1.5 and my hair is still coming out in handfuls.  I could make a kitten with what I collect after every shower.  How I have any left is beyond me.  I take pictures of the clumps to document...what I really don't know, it just makes me feel better.

I can also still squirt milk, but this I kinda like because at least I know they still work. (breastfeeding never came easy for me)

And blogging?  I stopped that almost two months ago and haven't gone back because I also felt SO much like I was more of a journalist of my life than a participant and how many times was I going to push my kids away while I finished a post?  It felt so self indulgent...so I stopped.  I've been working on  fiction and feel as though this is more  my calling.

If you go away I will surely miss reading your insightful and heartfelt words...but I understand.

And GURRRRRRRRlllllll, how the EFF do you stay up for four days!?!?!  Whatever you're drinking I want some because I can barely make it through one day past 10PM.  

Ugh.  I'm old.

Woah, you sound extremely stressed. Take a break, the world isn't going to end if you do. Stress can lead to major health disasters, and that won't do your lovely kids any good.

I'm 25 and about 3 years ago my hair did the same thing. I I didn't have an IUD in, or kids though, so I didn't really have anything to blame. Instead the hypochondriac in me assumed I had lupis, and freaked the fuck out. Anyhow, my doctor did a bunch of test etc. and basically determined that my body is "just changing". Apperantly your body goes through 3 different hair cycles throughout your lifetime. So mayyyybe thats all it is, your body is just deciding to change it up. Pre hair falling out when I would braid my hair it would be like 2 inces wide, now its half that. Brutal!

Have you had your thyroid hormones tested? Thyroid gland problems are responsible for loooots of stuff - including loss of hair, feeling supertired, no libido, etc.

Hair loss would SUCK. I am so sorry. I have no advice on that one. The sleep deprivation, well, I hear ya. I am always up, just for the fun of it! Oh, the conversations I have with myself at 2, 3, and 4 am!!! Good times. Good times....

I had a friend go through the same thing. She had a major hormonal imbalance. Her hair was falling out like a cancer patients. She was 30, no kids, not on the pill (she said it made her mental). It took over a year to get a diagnosis. I hope you have good luck with getting it sorted. I know how sucky it can be!

until 11th grade i thought when weathermen talked about the wind-chill factor they were talking about the "windshield factor." as in how cold the outside temperature could make the glass of your car. i would get ready to drive to school and reach up and touch the windshield of my car and turn to my brother and say, "man, the windshield factor feels pretty brutal today." wish i knew something about milk and hair to help you with your actual problems. maybe some cold turkey would help?

I'm not a doctor. Not in the least. So, of course I feel compelled to give you medical advice. Girl-you need to get your thyroid and pituitary checked!!  Hair falling out.  Can't sleep.  Squirting milk? Need a vacation, but don't even think that would be enough? It sounds just like me when my thyroid crashed.  And I saw three various doctors before it was diagnosed.  I even had it tested three months postpartum and it was "fine." Six months later it had spiraled completely out of control.  --Like I said, I'm the farthest thing from a doctor.  But you sound very similar.

Just want to offer another note in support of the idea of taking a break. Your writing and storytelling is among the most inspirational in my life and, as such, I will encourage you to do anything you need to refresh yourself so that the inspiration keeps coming. As has been mentioned, we will all be here for you when you get back.

Our bodies are incredible things, and sometimes they have to resort to drastic measures to get the message across that they need something. Hopefully you can do some communing with yours and figure out what is going on.

Be well!

My babe is 5 month - hair falling out in clumps.  It's horrifying.  I have nothing constructive to add, but perhaps we could hug and braid what's left of each other's hair?  i got nothing.

"Make love" = icky.  Makes me feel like I need a shower.

"Make hot monkey love" = RAWR!  Makes me wanna take a shower WITH someone.

Bald Hal = Totally adorable.

Bald GGC = Not so much.  But I hear they are doing WONDERFUL things with wigs nowadays.  So there's that.

so this may be personal but i HAVE TO KNOW!- did taking out your mirena cure your low libido??! (or is it too hard to tell from stress?)

love,

desperate mirena-user

First let me thank you for this "(ED: "Yeast infection" is the second most unattractive word-coupling after "making love.")."  I have FOREVER said that "making love" is really weird and awkward and basically refuse to say it. I don't even like to think the words. It creeps me out, for reals. Now, on to the important things, you really sound like you are on edge and stretched WAY too thin. Take some time off. Spend some time with your awesome kids and husband and collect your brain. You deserve it. You are a hard-working mama. I lost a TON of hair right after having my one-year-old. A TON. I thought I was going to be bald. It has since stopped falling out. But when I was a teenager I was super stressed out (dealing with anxiety issues that were kicking my ass and hardcore depression) I lost my hair too. I also had issues going on at home, but I really lost hair. Stress could contribute to that. The whole milk thing, I have no idea. But I think I'd take the breast-milk-squirting-across-the-room problem over the hair falling out. I wish you luck, relaxation and all those good vibes.

Have you had your thyroid checked? That was the source of my hair loss. Even after having my thyroid ablated and now being treated with replacement synthroid every day for the rest of my life, my hair still falls out...

Zowie.  I lost hair and continued to produce milk for about a year after I stopped nursing.  It was like stopping nursing messed up my hormones just as much as having a baby did, and I turned into this sweaty, balding, edgy, sleepless creature with fried synapses.  Taking an hour by myself away from the house a few times a week really, really helped, as did yoga and swimming.  I hope all this gets better for you soon.

I LOVE this post. You have covered so many things that I am going through. First, I agree with the "making love" yeast infection" comment. Second, I regularly get stressed to the point of killing my libido. Third, I stopped nursing 3 months ago and still have loads of milk. I'm not losing my hair yet but lord I hope that's not on the horizon! Oh ya, and I've been a quinoa addict for almost a decade (love your recipes by the way and you should try this one: http://tinyurl.com/26gys5c). Good luck!

I'm going to join the throngs of comments that might suggest you have your thyroid tested. My sister had all sorts of similar issues after her second baby, and the problems were indeed thyroid related. Thyroid issues can lead to chemical imbalance in all areas of the body (including the mind which = depression), in my very limited understanding.

And PS - thank you again for your beautiful candor.

I love your blog, and therefore I vote you going on vacation (in whatever form that takes) as long as it includes no internet.  Everyone needs a break to stay sane.  And I won't read less, or like your blog less because you took time off.  Hang in there!

get your thyroid checked.  I was diagnosed with thyroid disease after giving birth.  Hair fell out, dry skin, etc.  

Vacation.  Now.  

We will all still be here when you get back.  100% promise.  

Also - I totally know what you mean about falling over the tipping point between living life and documenting it.  Between a family trip, two birthdays, and the start of preschool this month, I feel like it's killing me to properly record everything, and my blog's just a little hobby for friends and family to read, not my livelihood, so I can't imagine the pressure you feel to post.  August has been too much for me.  I think I'm taking September off from blogging.  Surely you could allow yourself a week?  Even Jon Stewart and Colbert do that a couple times a year.  : )

So weird.  I can commiserate with most of what you have experienced (with no Mirena use).  I had a breast reduction and after my son was born I never produced enough milk to actually feed him (props to you for being able to breastfeed at all), but amazingly, I could get drips of milk to come out for OVER A YEAR after I had stopped attempting to breast feed him.  I asked my ob about this and she asked, "does your husband handle your breasts a lot?"  Ummm, yeah, problem solved.  Also, my hair fell out in chunks starting at 3 months after I gave birth, it didn't stop falling out until a year later.  Our bodies are so weird!!

I gave my hair a good wash last week because I was finally going to get a haircut to look like a normal person (not a frazzled mom) and I was shocked at all the hair that I kept pulling from my scalp. The baby will be 1 in a week. WTF? After the first baby, the hair stopped falling out after four months.

I just started blogging this year and I love it, and it's gotten me writing again (there's that thesis I'm supposed to finish someday...I tell myself this is helping). There are days when I would love to call blogging work, but then I do wonder if there's an endpoint. When would it be? When their four and five? Nine and ten? About to leave for college and run screaming out the door because their sick to death about me writing about them? And by that point, shouldn't I write about something else? Okay, now I've gone to tangent-land.

That was a really long way of saying, I can feel your pain and I think you should take a "me" vacation. That is, one away from your current self. With a cocktail in hand. I'd hate for you to stop what you're doing because I love your blog. I haven't read your book, but it's on my list of things to read, once I figure out how to do it again.

For many years I thought Lebanon bologna was actually "lemon and bologna" and couldn't figure out why anyone would want to eat that!

My babe is 8 months and I'm losing a ton of hair in the shower but I haven't noticed any thinning... actually quite the opposite. My hair is crazy thick and out of control, and I have new little pieces growing in at the hairline... as well as some other hair growth which is significantly less flattering and which I will not mention even under the cover of internet anonymity. Oh the joys of motherhood :)

Have you had your thyroid checked? That might be contributing to the grey/hair falling out scenario.

Go see a dermatologist. That's who can diagnose your hair issues. I lost 98 percent of my hair to an autoimmune disease, a severe form of it. There are ways to treat it and it could definitely be stress plus hormones. FYI, I have a full head of hair now. Sending you good vibes.

I was loosing hair like crazy. This supplement helped. Don't understand it all: poor adsorbtion of nutrients... whatever. But it worked.

www.gardenoflife.com/.../Default.aspx

Please take the break because I (we) really really really love you being a naked nudist.  Hugs!

can't completely commiserate over the hair, but I did find my first visible silver hair today (till now, they had the decency to crop up only in the underlayers, but this one is right on my part!)

but everything else? Oh gosh yes. Baby is 2 next month, weaned nearly half a year ago, but the boobs still produce. And my stress levels? Way too high.

let's go rent a beach house somewhere and take a lot of naps. For a week. Fuck the talk I need to prepare for early next month, the thesis committee meeting I need to have mid fall, the ph.d. that I've been working on for 5 years and have another year left for....

/falls asleep

Thank for helping me feel like less of a freak for lactating, even though I haven't breast fed in seven months.  Everyone I've mentioned this too responds as if I just told them I've grown a cow udder and am bottling my milk and distributing it to grocery stores.  

can I add that I am still losing weight...not that I had any to give away from the start! Urgggghhh.

p.s and the hair thing was happening to me too. I just cute it really short.

I lost a lot of hair after I stopped breastfeeding. I could run my hand through and get an entire hand full of hair.  I was totally surprised, worried and no one I knew had any advice or had experienced the same thing.  I was so scared of going bald I bought expensive hair product but it didn't really help. I asked my doctor about it and he said it was common as well. He suggested I keep taking prenatal vitamins and I did and it eventually stopped.

Re: the squirty boobs - When I stopped nursing my first daughter, my breasts didn't get the memo. I could still squeeze out (if not squirt) milk until nearly three years later when my second daughter was born... and then I probably could've supplied an entire dairy. But when I stopped nursing Child #2? One week later, the boobs were dry. I guess they knew I was done procreating and didn't feel the need to udder up anymore. Maybe once your third babe has moved on to greener pastures your milk factories will too.

Oh girl i so hear you on thinning hair. I went through a rough patch in life before my first child and lost tons of hair. I went from needing a large pony/rubberband and wrapping to twice to a small one wrapping it twice. After I had my daughter my hair came back and after the birth of my son it fell out again and its super thin and three years later I have accepted that this is my hair. And stopped worrying I am going to go bald. As a woman its hard to loose our hair. Men look great bald, and its not so shocking. But if you see a woman with a bald patch yamika and people will stare.

I lost SO MUCH HAIR for a year after I quit nursing that I LITERALLY had a spot on the back of my head where I was COMPLETELY BALD. I looked like a middle-aged MAN, with... longer hair.

I started using Nioxin shampoo and conditioner. You can only find it in certain salons, or maybe online- but it stops your hair from falling out and helps it to grow back thicker. It's better than NOTHING!

I don't know if someone has mentioned this already but my kids are starting to bicker so I have to write this really quickly, so (deep breath) thyroid, thyroid, thyroid!  My hair was falling out in clumps and I was perpetually exhausted and could never seem to catch my breath.  My doc suspected a thyroid problem but my tests kept coming back clear, but she sent me to an endocrinologist anyway because she was sure it was my thyroid.  The endocrinologist found it straight away.  So I don't know what your insurance will allow but maybe your doc could refer you to an endocrinologist?  

Have you had your thyroid checked?  My girlfriend is going through the hair loss thing, too.  At first they thought it was the baby but it's been too long.  Then, the Mirena.  They finally tested her thyroid and that seems to be the culprit.  Her pregnancy messed with her hormones, which messed with her thyroid.  Now she is on medication and taking prenatal vitamins to help ther hair grow back.  Just a thought.  That, and you need a vacation.  Take some time for yourself, woman!

I had my first mammogram last year and when the woman squeezed my barely-a-cup boobies, they squirt milk on the far wall. At that point, I hadn't breastfed in over a year and a half. Ahhhhhhhhh

When I was pregnant, my hair grew like crazy from the hormones and pre-natal vitamins. I noticed a lot of fall out post-pregnancy when things returned back to normal. But it sound like bald spots are not normal for you. Talk to a dermatologist. You could have alopecia areata or a skin condition that's treatable. And I agree with having your thyroid checked. I know SO many people who had their thyroid levels go out of whack after having kids. I've also heard of women using Rogaine, but think there's some super-scary stuff in there if you are or plan to get pregnant.

I get it.

Take a break, hon!  Relax, woosaa, and all that.

My second baby is almost 4 months old, and I am on the verge of tears b/c of the handfuls of hair coming out of my brush each day.  I remember this happening after my first baby, and yet, I'm panicked all over again.  

I truly hope all is well with you physically, and that you just need to destress.  Take care of yourself~

ahahaha, the quinoa thing made me laf. In a good way, not in a sarcastic internet way.

I understand the hair thing. Dealing with round 2 just had my 2nd baby. I almost lost my mind the 1st time...praying I dont go that way again. I also had my thyroid checked and that was bad too...so hormones plus thyroid = please god dont let me go bald prayers alot.

I see a lot of people suggesting that you get your thyroid checked.  When you get that checked also have them check your iron.  I was losing my hair in clumps a few months back and it turned out I was anemic.  I started taking iron and not only has the hair loss stopped but new hair is starting to grow in.  

Hang in there, sister!  I love, love, love your blog, and admire the hell out of you, but I've been wondering whether you're superwoman recently.  Seriously with all the moving, looking fabulous, raising two amazing kids, making their clothes (!?!?), collaborating with your mom on all the (delish, amazing...) cooking posts and still having time to write and post pictures - you were really making me wonder if you're some kind of government experiment or something.  I'm relieved to read that you're only human, just like us.  WHEW.

Take a break.  We'll all be here when you get back.  Promise.

Oh, and bald's not so bad.  Free pass to the front of every line!  And now that it's growing back, I'm digging the pixie, that I never would have tried otherwise, in the summer heat!

Ok, so I totally stopped nursing 8 months ago, and also have never stopped producing milk (I can't quite squirt across the room any more, but I'm totally still able to do a little squirt). BUT the last, I'd say 3 weeks or so it's been getting that there's MORE there than there was! (this lead to a minor pregnancy scare which has since then, thankfully (for now), proved to be just a scare). I've heard that stimulation can cause this, but well, my fiancé is living far away with the army, and has been since, actually right when I stopped nursing. So the *stimulation* has been few and far between... ok, well that was all probably TMI just to tell you I'm as confused about it as you!

Woman! Get thee to the doctor and get your thyroid checked. Pregnancy can trigger an autoimmune issue (which a thyroid imbalance would be). So can birth control, so who knows, it might be your Mirena. Don't let the docs tell you your TSH is fine unless it's between a .3 and 3.0. See an endocrinologist if your insurance allows (not a reproductive endo, a regular endo). I have hypothyroidism and it's simple enough to manage, hyperthyroidism is more of a pain in the ass, but get yourself checked! It's a simple blood test.

As for the lactating, I'm still breastfeeding at 14 months, so yes, there's still milk coming out. ;) I've never been able to shoot it across the room, though! Fun talent!

So...can I tell you how much better this (sort of) makes me feel since I am reading your post while killing time before an appointment to have my Mirena put in. (BTW "put in" was the best euphemism I could come up with that wasn't TMI)

On another note - as the mom of a hungry 4 month old whose milk supply has recently taken a nose dive I am very envious of your lactation super powers.

Take a vacation. And don't blog about it! Don't even think about what you WOULD blog about it, if you were going to blog. Also, see a doctor, but don't freak out if he can't find the cause of your hair loss/general not-rightness.

*BIG HUG*

Feel better soon. Take a break. Have lots of sex. Drink a few cocktails. Have more sex. Then, go find a large body of water and sit beside it for a long, long time. Listen to the waves. Relax.

Then have more sex.

First off - thank you all. I am going to take a bit of a break. I need to for my own safety I think. Second - To answer the Mirena/sex drive question = YES. My Mirena came out and my sex drive came instantly back. True story. Also, I will take your advice and see a doctor. I AM anemic and there's a good chance the hair issue is because of that. Ugh. Love to all you beautiful women. Thank you for being my pals.

I had been considering Mirena before, so thank you for helping me to decide that NO, I won't be doing that and hurting my libido even more than having a baby has already done.

Very glad to hear that you'll be taking a break. Hopefully a proper vacation because you deserve it! You know how as moms we're always told to take some time for ourselves because we'll then be better mothers? Perhaps the same applies to bloggers... of course we'll miss you, but mainly we'll just cherish you more than ever!

Have you had your B12 levels checked too? My hair kept getting thinner and thinner and nothing seemed to help. Finally found out my levels were VERY low. Started taking supplements and my hair came back like a weed!

My chest was still squirting milk 18 months after I stopped nursing my son, and he only nursed for 11 months.  If you do the math, that means I lactated for almost 65% longer when I was NOT nursing than when I was.  I did not enjoy that.

Oh my goodness, stop blogging for a while and go watch Mad Men and do some other fun things! And figure out what else you need to do so your hair stops falling out!! We can all live without you for a while, no prob.

I am anemic from my last birth because of a giant hemorrhage during labor. I took those iron supplements faithfully because I felt like caca. Like death. With a newborn.  

Dude, it was over 2 years before my boobs stopped squirting milk.  Maybe not across the room, but still... I was a little weirded out about it too.

maybe a second-week-of-october shopping spree is what you need. you can help me spend my money.

and i'm still lactating after 4 months. yippee!

I lost all this hair about 4 months after Beckett was born. Bald spot city. Then it grew back and I dealt with the most heinous cowlicks for the next year. Now he's 15 months and my hair is falling out again, but I also found out that I have a vitamin B12 deficiency. Ugh. Take a break. This afternoon, I felt like I could actually throw my computer out the window. I totally get it and you deserve it.

Have you had your thyroid checked lately?  Also, I've heard there is a connection between soy intake and hair loss.  But your doc is probably right that it is hormonal changes from giving birth. Or, from breastfeeding.  I am trying to wean my 23 month old and my face is breaking out worse than it ever did in my teens.

As far as what to do with your life?  Well, you of course, need your own lifestyle show.  Nobody has a cool one about life in los Angeles complete with handsome husband, vegetarian badass mom (and I am talking about your mom), cute kids and beautiful home.  You really need a show.

But aside from that if, unlike me, you have just a little cash for a vacay, then TAKE ONE.  You rarely regret a vacation but often regret not taking one.

Hi, I too lost hair.  I have three kids 6-3-1 and lost handfuls of hair with each one.  I am stiiiiillllll losing hair with the 1 year old.  And having 3 kids, each time I lost hair it was different hair, so I have three lenghts of short hair on my head with sad shoulder length hair pretending to still be normal.  It's like 4 bad haircuts on one head!  The only saving grace is that my hair is realllly curly, so I can just wash, wear and try to rearrange curls to hide shorter areas.  Anyway, I am sooo looking forward to about 5 years from now when all my hair can belong to one haircut and I can pull my hair back into a bun without looking like I have an aura around my face!

Can't help you with the boob thing?  PS that's freaking crazy.  However, my hair fell out in huge chunks for about 6 months post-partum.  I know Fable is older than that but maybe since you still have breast milk you still have hair loss caused by baby stuff.  

I concur with some comments above. What you sound like you need? A nice break from the internet.

We'd totally understand if you needed to and we'd still be here when you got back. What you need is a well-deserved vacation. Much rather you be happy and healthy and not blog at all than stressed out and hair loss-y but still blogging.

I can relate to two of the things that you posted about in that first paragraph. But I won't say which two. Hehe. =P Here's to taking some time off, to figure things out and just relax.

Take, care.

Agree with Steph: Take a break from as much as you can ... Wonder if the Red life is adding stress.  Go do something for yourself.  As everyone has said ... Will be right here when you come back!!

TAKE A BREAK, LADY!  Seriously, take like at least a week and DO NOT BLOG.  Do whatever you feel like doing and resolve that you will not write about anything that goes on during your break.  And when you come "back to work" we'll all be here waiting for you because we love you that much.

I'm not sure on the hair loss thing, but I stopped using hormonal birth control at around 25 because A) I started getting crazy mood swings that I couldn't control and B) libido went down the toilet.  Huz and I now use condoms and though it's not nearly as good as pregnancy sex, it's a whole lot better than "I wouldn't want to even if I wasn't considering driving into a tree."

We love you, we love what you write.  We want you to stay, er, get back to sane.  Go away, and have a great time before school starts.  We will be here when you get back.

Oh, and embarrassing misunderstanding for me:  when my dad would watch the news every night and the stock report would come on, there would be the "volume" number printed on the screen (volume of shares traded that day).  I thought by adjusting the volume on the TV, I could make that number change, but never got the courage to actually try it.  sigh...

Now shut off your computer, go do Hal, and drift off to sleep.

I'll start with saying that I love your blog, and I would be sad to see it end. But at the same time, the crux of your post seems to be mad ambivalence and weariness about blogging as a job. And I just wanted to say that I love your blog because I love reading your writing. And I know that I would love your writing whatever the subject matter.  Maybe

you're approaching the end of your blogging

era. Maybe you're just approaching a big ol'

honkin' much needed break. Whatever the

next step is, thanks for giving so much of

yourself to everyone else. It's eased my

transition into parenthood immensely. And I

hope you get the time you need to get some

perspective.

And per

my sister has alopecia and the drs still have no idea why. she lost all of her hair and recently started growing it back by taking oreganol oil. however it is very unpredictable and sad for her since she is so young and hair is a huge part of beauty in our society.

This is kind of awkward, since this is about the second time I've been to the website.  So, uh, hi!  Also, this is medical advice from the faceless internet, which is creepy and usually off-base.  But it's so devastating to lose your hair.  Mine is falling out, too, and I hate it.  But it looks like we've figured out the cause - will probably be PCOS, though I'm normal weight with no other changes besides a light period.  Will know after the endocrine visit.

Your doctor should know what he's doing.  If you're still worried, though, here's a good initial diagnostic workup for diffuse hair loss in women:    

-CBC

-CMP

-TSH

-Hormone panel (including free testosterone and DHEA-S)

-Prolactin (especially since you're having weird lactation)

-Serum ferretin and total iron binding capacity (anemia can cause hair loss.  Iron stores >40 are a good thing.)

-Fasting glucose

Important:  take stock of medications and supplements!  Major potential cause of hair loss!  

You could also check zinc and B12 for deficiencies, though they're pretty rare unless you have a malabsorption syndrome like celiac disease or pernicious anemia.  

If your hair is falling out in actual CLUMPS - meaning that it leaves discrete bald spots - the workup is usually for bacterial/fungal infections and various autoimmune disorders.

Good luck.  May your hair grow long and lush once more.  

Oh God! Now I'm worrying about having eaten that quinoa last night.

I have felt exactly how I imagine you are feeling right now (the frantic stress & hair falling out, mine has been falling out my whole life & is currently being replaced with grays, and I'm only 24. thanks genes.) so I want to give you a virtual internet hug. I never follow this advice when it is given to me, but it's worth a shot: take a break. breathe. don't blog for a week. just take care of yourself, in general.

and if you follow that advice, will you get back to me and tell me how to do it too? heart you.

For whatever it's worth, I also urge you to please take some time for yourself, GGC.  Vacations are important!  Maybe just take a staycation with your Mad Mens.  We will def still be here when you return. <3

You are an inspiration to me.Take care of yourself,please.I dont have children,a husband or lots of money,but your blog inspires me.You are pretty amazing.Take time off and just relax.My prayers are with you.

Have your hormone levels checked, particularly prolactin (I know!  Can you believe that that is the name of the hormone that supports lactation?)

On the hair loss thing - Have your thyroid checked.  About boob squirting - I had it for a surprisingly long time too.  I have a 3 year old now, and squirt-free boobs.

Yes, please have your thyroid checked. Lactation, hair loss, exhaustion, loss of libido are all related to thyroid. Pregnancy can cause you to have a thyroid disorder.. that's what happened to me. My daughter was a year old and I was still lactating, my hair was falling out, and I was so exhausted. When I had my thyroid checked by my primary it was within the "normal" range. I still felt like something was wrong so I went and saw an endocrinologist. Turns out, everyone's "normal" thyroid range is different. She put me on Armour Thyroid and we got my levels down pretty low. All symptoms vanished and I feel so much better.

Anyways, good luck!

I totally agree on the exhaustion as birth control front - my poor husband! we have an 8 month old son and I am TIRED. I am also a reduction mama and that had very low supply. When I did stop nursing it was maybe 2 months before my breasts went back to normal and stopped squirting. Maybe you have more milk because Fable was your second?  My lactation consultant said things will be different if we ever have a second so chalk it up to that?

Have you had your thyroid tested? It sounds alot like hyperthyroidism... this is coming from a young messed up thyroid girl herself....

<3much love to an avid ggc reader

I know everyone and their brother says thyroid and that was the problem for my sister but after having the same symptoms of tiredness and my hair falling out and having my thyroid checked every 3 months for 2 years and being told I was fine I have found that 2 cheap multivitamins a day have really made a difference.  I used to spend a lot on expensive vitamins and nothing but now I'm not shedding all over the bathroom.  Worth a shot!

I Just wanted to say how much i love and admire you...

Just want to say ditto to K. Mills and also you are more readable when you are more real, and also? I totally know what you are talking about, believe it or not, which I guess doesn't put me on your good side, but it's the truth. I totally get this post and it makes me want to read you again and again. Because you are real.

Thanks for keeping it real, but if you ever feel like you can't do that anymore, I get that too. But I love you no matter what. I feel like you are the sister I always wanted and never got to have.

Hugs,

Jael

Oh yea. I had the boob squirting thing for like ever and a day, and I still, five years later get a letdown reflex once in a while. No boob job, in fact, I wear a size A.

Nothing makes your hair fall out in chunks like pregnancy.  Fantastic.  It makes you lose hair, gain pounds, lose your mind, gain a shit load of hormones and turn into a raging bitch.  Fun.  

 Personally, I gave birth about 2 months before turning 30, and neither of these occurences did anything good for my hair (read: aging is a beeyotch).

 Item 2: No, you were right the first time when you stated that Mirena is FOR THE BIRDS!@! My doctor was so quick to sell me on it (well, it was the 3 days of hard labor that sold me on it, really), that my hormones never got the chance to bounce back after pregnancy. Mirena made me realize that my period is a Goood Thing-- an automatic reset every month that allows me to say "Oops, My bad, I was just feeling vengeful and full of rage for a moment, but I'm much better now. I call Do Over!". With Mirena, I was on permanent PMS mode, not to mention sexless and bloated. But, you know, I didn't get pregnant.......

  Lastly, although you may feel over exposed at times, you should know that you do a great service for many moms out there. Not to be  corny, but as a young(ish) mom whose girl friends were all still dancing on tables, I had a rough start at motherhood, feeling isolated and alone. A few blogs, your included, really helped me to find the humor in motherhood, and to realize that it was possible to be a mom without sacrificing your own youth/ style/ ability to rock. So, THANKS! And, don't trip, girl. You're doing a great job, and you should take a well deserved break.

You women crack me up.  My kids are 35 and 34 and I know what it is like to work full time, raise kids alone (husband traveled) clean house, cook, do yard work, try to look good, etc.... You will survive!  The real problems start when you get older, menopause, health issues, body issues.  You will be fine.

Hi Rebecca,

Have you had your thyroid checked? You probably have but just throwing it out there.

Lindsay

our daughters are two months apart....after I had m, my hair fell out, too. get your thyroid checked. pronto.

hey!

How you doing there crazy chick. Hope the time out helped?!

1) Mr C. gets the hair thing with stress. If it continues and its not thyroid or something else get some Nioxin. It's amazing. We have it from the hairdresser in England. Works a treat. Hair regrowth where there was like bald bits for mr. C

2) Randomly i was with like 5 gorlfriends and the milk thing came up. We all have kids, some 2 some 3 each, ages from 18months - 7. AND 3 of them can still squirt! Hilarious! I never had enough milk when i was feeding so i knew i wouldn't have any now...i don't but then i NEVER leaked milk even in the early days. Like NEVER needed pads. That's got to be pretty random too!

Sorry. Forgot to add how we all stood im my bathroom squeezing our boobs to find out!