491st Friday Blog Roundup
I’ve never really struggled with seasonal allergies. It’s a fact that I’m sort of proud of. I may or may not have put it on my resume. But this spring, the Pollen Vortex (spring’s response to winter’s Polar Vortex) is hitting me hard. I finally gave in at the beginning of the week and got Allegra.
It took a lot for me to put the box of allergy medication in my shopping cart despite feeling like crap. I felt like grabbing the woman stocking medicines at the end of the aisle and shouting in her face, “I don’t have allergies! I don’t need this.” But I didn’t do that because that would be inappropriate and wholly false. My watery eyes, sneezing nose, and itchy throat were all evidence to the contrary.
So I took my first Allegra, and an hour later, I felt like a different person. Everything on my face had dried up. The pressure in my head receded. I felt foolish that I had waited so long to try Allegra; what was the big deal about admitting I had allergies? I marveled at how quickly the medicine acted, and people informed me that it likely wasn’t the medicine at all since it takes days to get up to full strength. I am choosing to ignore this fact.
I am a new woman. A new, much dryer woman.
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Speaking of my watery eyes, did you know that just as you are right handed or left handed, you are also right-eye dominant or left-eye dominant? I didn’t know this until this week. But I discovered during an email exchange that I am right handed but left eye dominant. This explains why I have terrible aim.
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And now the blogs…
But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:
- “A Blast to the Head” (A Crack in Everything)
- “25 Worst Expression to Say to an Infertile Friend” (Waiting for Baby Bird)
Okay, now my choices this week.
It’s NIAW, so obviously, a lot of the posts in the blogosphere either addressed the theme or discussed NIAW in general.
Searching for Our Silver Lining has a post about the emotional impact of infertility. She addresses how isolating an experience infertility can be when you are surrounded by people easily conceiving and delivering babies. She writes, “With each surprise pregnancy announcement from others on the heels of another BFN or miscarriage, stealing ourselves became survival mechanism.” It’s a great post that should be shared near and far.
Where the *Bleep* is Our Stork also has a NIAW post, responding to an insensitive sentiment posted on a blog. She takes us through her anger and doubt and confusion and finally to the peace that comes when she realizes how much love she has known in this world. I absolutely love the final two paragraphs of the post.
The Great Big IF has a post about why she didn’t write a NIAW post this year despite intending to do so. She writes about how infertility drains her emotionally, keeping her from both reaching out to others also experiencing infertility as well as diving into non-IF endeavours. She writes, “So, while I would love to resolve to know more about a lot of things, the truth is, I’m not sure I can make that promise now. Maybe when I’m not so up to my eyeballs in my own trench I might be ready. One day.” A very honest post.
Lastly, Bereaved and Blessed writes about the only picture she has of her whole family on the day that her daughter was born and died. She has always had mixed feelings about this photo, especially the way she looks in it. But a friend tells her how she sees the photograph, changing the lens through which the author views herself, holding her little girl.
The roundup to the Roundup: I may or may not have allergies. I am left-eye dominant. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between April 18th and April 25th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week? Read the original open thread post here.
12 comments
Wow, thank you for picking mt blog, Mel!!
I’m right handed but left eye dominant as well! It was a huge surprise to me.
Thank you Mel! Truly appreciate this.
Though this post is from this week, I really loved the comparison:http://www.themakingofbabyben.com/2014/04/resolve-dont-say-this.html
This post, by Keiko Zoll for Disney Baby, was excellent. Best of all, it has been shared thousands of times, getting the word out to the mainstream. http://www.disneybaby.com/blog/when-i-cant-do-baby-showers-and-6-other-things-your-friend-with-infertility-wants-to-tell-you/
Just say no to phlegm.
I found out I was right-eye dominant whey they were deciding which eye to LASIK.
I wish you an allegra fin de semana.
I know some allergy meds (and other medications) can work very quickly. I can tell when I forget to take my allergy meds and when they start working. 🙂
I did know about eye-dominance. I can’t remember if it is from target practice or some other event that needed sighting from one eye. I’m a lefty all around. Even so with where most of my piercings are (or have been).
I loved Elizabeth’s post from Waltzing in Galoshes. She shared how people assume her pain is gone because she has a child, but I loved how she explained infertility’s continued affect on her family.
http://davidandelizabethadopt.blogspot.com/2014/04/resole-to-know-more-national.html#comment-form
It made me think about your post, Mel. If you’re in even one circle of the ALI venn diagram, then you belong here. Your pain, experiences, and words are valid.
A lot of great stuff this week!
This made me laugh out loud,
“I marveled at how quickly the medicine acted, and people informed me that it likely wasn’t the medicine at all since it takes days to get up to full strength. I am choosing to ignore this fact.”
I have been taking allergy medicine daily for years and I *think* it helps me. 🙂
I have no idea which of my eyes are dominant. How did you figure it out? I do know that I am left handed (sort of), in that I write with my left and sometimes eat with it. But I cut and play sports with my right. Go figure?!
And thank you so much for sharing my post, as well as your kind words in your comment over there. I so appreciate the validation and positive feedback. I also get that we are most critical of ourselves and of course I understand how much easier it is for others to sometimes see things in us that we aren’t able to, at least initially.
FYI, due to the crossover thing going on in the brain, it’s more unusual to have the dominant hand and eye to be on the same side. (Your right side is controlled by the left side of your brain and vice versa…except for your eyes which have a direct connection, due to their location. Or at least, that’s the way I understand it.) I am right handed and right eyed, though. Apparently, that’s about 15% of the population. I can’t remember how you can tell (your eye doctor can tell you), but I know because of my job. I use my right eye all the time, and my left eye rarely.
I never had an issue with seasonal allergies until I moved to southern Ontario for school in my early 20s — and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Back then, the only allergy meds on the market were stuff like ChlorTripolon, which knocked me for a loop. Thank goodness for modern non-drowsy drugs. I used Seldane for awhile — until it got pulled off the market (yikes!), and then I switched to Claritin. Works for me!! I don’t take it every day, just as needed — mostly in May/June (tree/grass pollen) — & it works for me! (And yes, I often do feel better within hours.) Some years are better/worse than others, but as you noted, apparently this year is going to be bad. :p
Late to the party here, as usual. Thanks for the shout out. 🙂 And I am so right dominant (eye, hand, etc) that when I wear high heels, my gait so much favors the right that by the time I’ve worn the right heel down, the left looks like it hasn’t even been worn. True story.
I have to thank Brooke at By the Brooke for pointing me to this great post… it explains so very well what so many of us who opt to leave the infertility treatment treadmill are feeling and why we chose this road less travelled:
http://joannagoddard.blogspot.ca/2014/04/motherhood-mondays-what-if-you-cant.html