On a new path with hair

I'm back after having another child and missing my swims dearly! It seems that hair is my main subject of discussion these days. You see, I want to go swimming again and go completely natural with my hair. Early on during my last pregnancy, you know, the very sick and fatigued first trimester, I stopped exercising. My brother was getting married and I wanted my hair styled, but did not want my new growth relaxed so that my hair would not look too thin for the photos. My beautician and I decided to 'press-out' my hair. What is press out styling? Hairstylist do this in different methods, so I will tell you what method my hairstylist used for my coils. My hair was washed, conditioned, and deep conditioned. After the conditioning, my hair was dryed under a dryer for roughly 10 minutes and blown completely dry with a hand dryer. My hairstylist then pressed my hair with flat irons heated in a marcel oven. Afterwards, she stroked the strands several times with a ceramic iron to style it. I loved it and was heavily complemented! My hair and roots were so surprisingly silky that I decided to go chemical free with this method of styling. This was a game changer for me since I have always been able to style my hair at home and was never 100% dependent on a beautician styling my hair. Pressing hair was something that I had never done, therefore, I was in the shop every 1-2 weeks for pressouts. This was fine for pregnancy, because I wasn't working out, but the big question loomed in the not so distant future, how was I going to stay chem-free and return to an active lifestyle after the baby was born? Stay tuned for part 2.