Your defol was fine. It will happen, especially with your more leafy strains. The plant designates some of the tinier leaves to bulk up into new big primaries and push long stems. You by no means want to keep your plant naked but sometimes periodic cleanups are needed. You're leafing up again but it's not choked out yet, your airflow is probably still good. I'd let it continue to stretch a bit and maybe reevaluate in a week or two.