Post pregnancy hair loss: xgirl battles with shedding, regrowth and... wings

After baby number one I posted a piece here about post partum hair loss and possibly put half the Beaut.ie audience off the idea of ever having a baby. The cruel phenomenon occurs just when your body is starting to bounce back from pregnancy and you're feeling halfway human again.  But it obviously wasn't enough to put me off another pregnancy, however, and like clockwork the dreaded shedding started again.

THE EMERGENCE OF WINGS
So now, almost 11 months after baby number two arrived, I'm here to tell you about what happens after the fallout - the regrowth that leads to the lovely "wings" of hair I'm now sporting at my temples. The good news for me was that the thinning due to hair loss didn't seem quite as pronounced this time around, nor did that phase seem to last as long. Or maybe I was just more immune to the shock of suddenly having a thinning hairline, having been through it once already.

My joy at the thinning patches starting to fill in again was short lived, however, as I am now the proud owner of an inch or so of regrowth which has given me pronounced tufts of hair (aka The Wings) at my temples. One particularly observant hairstylist even asked if I'd tried to cut my own fringe - I think the look on my face in the mirror was answer enough to that question.

ATTEMPTING TO TAME WINGS
The Wings are not at all cooperative. They stick straight out, giving me a lovely mad professor vibe, and nothing I do seems to tame them. I've blowdried with a small round brush to get right into the roots in an attempt to smooth them and ended up with gently curled wings.

I've risked facial burns to get the straightener right in at them and ended up with wings that stick straight out at a 90 degree angle. And I've used styling products in an attempt to subdue them, only to end up looking as if I'd dipped my head in a bucket of grease as the hair there is so fine.

To add insult to injury, most of the regrowth in these particular areas is grey. If I was a gentleman of a certain age it might be called distinguished. Distinguished is not really the look I'm going for, however.

WEIGHING DOWN WINGS
At this point the best solution I've found is to wear my hair either loose or tied back into a low ponytail or bun, so I can pull the longer hair growth down over the wings to cover them. I'll be wearing my hair like this for a while, I think, until the wings grow out long enough to weigh themselves down and join the rest of my hair in its always semi-controlled state.

If you've been through post partum hair loss, did you also have to suffer the regrowth phase?

And if you haven't been there yet, aren't you glad I warned you about it in advance?