That is the KEY WORD, PATIENCE! So many people get sick of doing the upkeep and protective styles, but your progress should be anybody's encouragement to keep it up!
I PM'd you before I saw your question but I'll answer it here as well.
I didn't do anything to thicken my hair up except stop relaxing. I had jumped on the MN and MT bandwagons but didn't stay on very long at all. The only consistent thing I did was protective style 24/7.