Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Gratitude Day 8

We all know that pregnancy does weird things, right? All those crazy hormones can send a whole lot of things out of whack. One of those delightful side effects for me was dry eyes.

Dry eyes was really the least of my worries when I was pregnant. The barfing and the possible heart failure sort of trumped that. But it did mean that I couldn't wear contacts. I had to wear glasses, which I hadn't done on a full-time basis since I was 12. I quietly embraced the frump that was my old pair of back-up glasses and waited the nine months until I could successfully don the contacts again.

Oh wait! I still have dry eyes when I'm nursing! Fast-forward another year, and I could finally wear contacts again. AND THEN, we decided to have another child. More glasses. And I breastfed her, too. More glasses.

But a few months ago, I decided it was high time I banish the frump. (In fact, I was thinking of having a whole series of blog posts on "Banish the Frump," but then I realized that it would be one entry. This one. Not really very inspiring. So I shelved that idea.) I made an appointment with the eye doctor. I went right in and bought myself a new pair of glasses, glasses that weren't 7+ years old and significantly less than beloved by their wearer.

And: new contacts. Soft contacts. I am now the proud wearer of soft contact lenses. They are a big, happy change from my gas permeable ones. And an even happier change from the frump glasses.

I can see better. I can go walking in the rain. I can open the oven door or walk into a warm, humid place without getting foggy. And most importantly, I feel like the old me again. The girl I was before I had kids. It makes me a little bit giddy to look in the mirror and see that face again. Maybe that is vanity, but I think it's important to feel good about the way you look. So that's what I'm thankful for on day 8. My beloved new contact lenses.

4 comments:

Kim said...

Yay for soft contacts! Best change I ever made :) Have you been able to see in the dark better too since the switch?

Shanny said...

I have been able to see better all around (they got me to 20/30 instead of 20/40!), but I haven't noticed a huge change in the dark. Of course, I don't go out much in the dark. And the last few times I have it's been raining, which just makes everything wonky. I'm going to have to pay closer attention and let you know :)

Celeste said...

It's a glorious thing to feel like 'yourself' again. I'm happy for you.

Karen said...

Awesome. I can't wear my glasses more than a couple hours without feeling crappy.(Probably doesn't help that they sit crooked.) New contact are always nice!