Congrats on your decision to go natural. I love it. I really recommend Let's Talk Hair by Pamela Ferrell. I cut my hair to about an inch long and wore braids while it grew out. They were medium sized and I did them myself so I didn't put them in extremely tight. I would definitely say do not use too much heat on your new growth to try and blend it with the relaxed parts. I tried this and ended up having to cut off the first
2 inches or so of natural hair I grew because they were damaged.