Day 115 – Welcome to allergy hell

Yes, I skipped a day of blogging.

No, I’m not sorry.

And I’m going to place full blame on the fact that I haven’t gotten near enough sleep this week because these damn allergies are out of control. Even the usual Claritin-D fix is barely taking the edge off.

Want to get a glimpse of the problem, here ya go:

Beautiful right? Yeah, pretty as a picture, but those damn trees are trying to kill me. My throat is tickling, my nose is running, my eyes are puffy, and I just had a sneezing fit that, for a second, felt as if I’d blown my left eardrum out.

I’m this close to shopping on Amazon for a full Hazmat suit to get me through the next few weeks.

And with that, I’m tapping out. You suck, allergies. I hate you. Good night.

Good news and bad news

Well, the good news is for two years in a row now, I’ve barely been bothered by seasonal allergies at all. Last year, I thought maybe it was just something to do with the fact that I was pregnant (you know, all those crazy hormones and weirdness that happens to your body when you’re growing a human). I skated through allergy season with nary a sniffle or sneeze.

Right up until this week, I thought maybe having Henry flipped some sort of switch on my allergies. I mean, I never had any allergies until I went to college. Then lo and behold, in the spring of 1999, as all the beautiful trees began to bloom and flower in NY, I woke up one morning tasting pollen and feeling like my head was going to explode. So, I thought it just might be possible for my allergies to stop just as suddenly as they’d started.

Then came the sniffling and the sneezing and the congestion and the scratchy throat, and I thought, “Damn, there goes my theory.”

But I was wrong.

So, the good news is–I no longer seem to suffer seasonal allergies.

And the bad news is–I caught some nasty springtime cold.

And even better–I gave it to Henry.

Ugh!

Yeah, it hasn’t been the best week ever. But so far, the two of us have kept it contained. Two out of four ain’t bad. And while we’re both a little crabby and tired and going a little stir crazy from being cooped up in the house for the better part of the week, we’re already feeling a whole lot better.

In spite of the sickness, the week wasn’t all bad. We got to enjoy some beautiful weather at Cadence’s soccer practice…

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And Henry kept up his insatiable appetite. Good thing I stripped the kid down before giving him the pasta…

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And Electra even cracked us both up today showing us she’s learning how to mind her manners and stay in her kennel when it’s time for Henry to eat…

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I even managed to get quite a bit of writing done this week, so that was an extra bonus…

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And now that we’re officially feeling better, it’s time got get back at it, just in time for the weekend. Bring it on.

Allergy hell

Ugh! I don’t know if it’s my allergies kicking in or a rare spring cold, but I feel like my sinuses are about to burst. My ears are muffled, and I blew my nose so hard today that my right ear popped and the room tilted sideways for a minute until my equilibrium returned.

Whatever fresh hell this is needs to go already. Here’s hoping whatever it is, it’s short-lived.

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Everything’s Coming Up Roses

It took several weeks, but my allergies seem to have finally abated. Thank God. I’m not sure how much more I could have taken. Funny thing is, our yard is still in bloom with something new every day. It’s fun to see what sprouts up next, and now that some of the early blooms have died off in tandem with my allergies, I’m starting to narrow down just exactly who is the culprit. As of now, the flowering pear trees are my prime suspect, but I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how the rest of the spring plays out.

In the meantime, it was nice to head outside for a little while today to take pictures of some of the new flowers without my head exploding. There is literally something blooming in just about every inch of our yard, and even though I’ve been too busy to even think about planting a garden this year, it looks as though we just might have a bumper crop of rhubarb, peaches, and grapes.

I can’t even tell you how ridiculously excited I am about the peaches and grapes! 🙂

So, for your viewing pleasure, here are a few of the newest blooms I found today…

Thank God For Rain!

Sweet Jesus, it’s finally raining! And for the first time in almost two weeks, I can actually breathe out of my nose. Both nostrils, big, deep, cleansing breaths. It’s a springtime miracle!

And guess what? It’s been over 27 hours since my last Zyrtec! Woohoo! Maybe the worst of these allergies is finally over. I sure hope so, because I was one violent sneezing fit away from taking a needle and thread and stitching my nostrils shut to keep the pollen out for good.

Luckily, I haven’t had to perform any impromptu home surgeries…yet. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

And now I’m off to get some sleep while I can actually breathe! Good night all!

Dear Allergies, You Suck.

Dear Allergies,

You suck.

There I said it. No more beating around the bush. I’ve spent the last couple weeks trying to be nice, giving you the benefit of the doubt. You know, the whole, “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all” routine.

My parents raised a polite girl, but even I’ve got my limits.

See, here’s the thing. I’m an outdoor girl. Always have been. I’d much rather be hanging outside, enjoying the sun and the wind on my face than stuck indoors any day of the week. Yet here I am, holed up in my living room, afraid to step out the front door if I haven’t taken my daily Zyrtec, and even then I’m still sometimes overcome by a sudden violent sneezing fit, like today, when I nearly blew my left eyeball right out of my skull.

No joke people. It still feels a little bigger than my right one.

Plus, I’m a big fan of breathing, especially breathing through my nose. Yet you have effectively closed my sinuses up so tight that I’m not even sure there’s enough room in my head for my brain anymore.

Told you I wasn’t kidding about that eye.

I’ve taken to doing a saltwater nasal rinse at least three times a day and sleeping with a Breathe Right strip on my nose. (Somebody cue “Sexy and I Know It”. It’s my new theme song).

My 2-year-old thinks it’s hilarious when I start sneezing and can’t stop. She follows me around the house fake sneezing and laughing and requesting her own Kleenex to mock blow her nose while I blow give gallons of mucus out of mine. Let me tell you, it’s real fun when we’re outside and she makes fun of me in public. I’m sure the neighbors are starting to think we’re doing some sort of mother-daughter slapstick comedy routine.

But here’s the thing, I can’t hide away the house, not when the sun is shining and the world is so alive and beautiful right outside my door. We’ve got peonies that will be blooming soon…

And some teeny tiny grapes growing on our vines, which I am ridiculously excited about…

White and purple lilacs blooming in every part of the yard and perfuming the air…

And the beautiful purplish blue carpet of Aubrieta flowers growing at the base of the large tree in our front yard.

So, dear allergies, I just wanted to take a moment to tell you, politely, to go fuck yourself. You might think you’re winning the battle, but believe me, I will win the war.

Sincerely,

Lori Romano

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