Don't forget sometimes our hair grows "out" so to speak and then down
. Meaning it thickens up first then gravity helps with the down part if that makes any sense. Hang in there. Hopefully your hair is in overall better condition and you have a routine down. The rest is a waiting game.
Prudent1, that theory would not apply if one is pulling the hair down with fingers. Gravity isn't at play here...so whether the hair was growing out (which I believe means puffing out rather than hanging) then if you stretch it out, you're basically doing what gravity would do--in fact more. So both hair that grows out and that grows down when pulled down with fingers is put on an even playground.
daae, I don't know how often you dust or what your protective styling is, but when hair is longer than SL, it is hard to retain if you aren't taking measures to keep ends from breaking off due to age and wear.
The difference in length you have gained is probably half an inch if I assume your nailbed is as long as mine. The thin black line below shows your before length and you can see you've passed it by a tiny amount.
I honestly think checking growth is really a depressing hobby. I never do. I usually let the hair surprise me. My hair grows very slowly so I just forget about it till one day it surprises me.
As you know, we usually use the nape length to gauge where we are in growth. So when my hair at the nape reached my collarbone, I was elated to be a CBL. But now imagine not paying attention to my hair for many months then one day discovering that the area
ABOVE my ear was at CBL! I was so excited I coulda peed on myself! I had never in my life had hair that long. I wasn't fussing with it. I wore twists and just dusted the ends every 8 weeks w/o fail. And then about 14 months later, again while redoing my CBL area above the ear, I thought my arms was lower than I remember as I fingercombed. So I went to look in the mirror and to my surprise
that same area was at APL. Now 14 months is a long time so to many that was such a minor accomplishment, but do you think I was aware of how much time had passed nor did I care? All I knew was my hair was longer than I'd ever seen it in all my life and I was thrilled to bits.
In short, hair will grow regardless and if you're staying on top of your ends, then you will slow down breakage that costs us retention. So quit fussing and checking the pot every blinking month! A watched pot never boils.