Tuesday, July 22, 2008

BIG News!

Some back story before I make the announcement. Matt's graduation ceremony was at Navy Pier. When the ceremony was over, we figured we would hang out and see the sights and watch the fireworks later that night. While me and Caitlyn were standing on the pier looking out at the sail boats, she asked me a strange question. Although, strange questions from Cate are not strange really.

Now, before I tell you the question, here is a picture from google images from right where we were standing.



If you look closely, you can see in the distance that there are some pieces of wood (not the rocks and the lighthouse, the line of objects in front of that). On these pieces of wood, it is not uncommon for birds to be perched. On the day that we were there, there was a large tour boat parked directly behind those pieces of wood. On said boat, there were people standing to look at the incredible view of the city.

So here is the question posed to me by the girl:

"Mom, what are all those people in line for?"

I told her that they were not in fact in line, that they were standing on a boat looking out. Her reply:

"No, not the boat, in front of the boat."

On this particular day, it was quite sunny, not like in the picture. So I gave her my sun glasses and told her to look again. One more time:

"I can see them the same mom. What are they in line for?"

I told her that they were not people and that they were pieces of wood. She insisted that they were people.

I insisted that we would be making a trip to the eye doctor.

Well, we went to the pediatrician this afternoon for her annual checkup and I informed the doc that I wanted a distance acuity test done on her. Lo and behold, my poor baby could not see at a distance with her left eye. The doctor said that we could go to a Pearl Vision or For Eyes, anything like that to have it looked at as she will probably need some glasses. However, she was very clear in stating that if they find anything more upon that examination, that I am to not let them do a thing and she would write me a referral to the ophthalmologist. That's why I love my ped's office :)

We high tailed it up to America's Best and Caitlyn had a full eye exam. And let me just tell you the look of surprise on the optometrist's face when she found out that she was examining a 25 weeker who had ROP!! I do wish I had a camera there with me. She actually couldn't believe that the ROP had resolved itself and there was not further damage to Cate's vision.

The optometrist was spectacular. She explained everything in detail to Cate prior to doing it, which is what the girl needs in order to be comfortable with any procedure. It turns out that her left eye is pretty weak. It does have a tendency to wander every so slightly (I have not noticed this since she was an infant). When she uses both of her eyes together, her vision is pretty good, damn near normal. But when forced to use her left eye alone, she just can't do it. So we were prescribed some glasses with a small prescription. The hope is that the glasses will strengthen her left eye enough that she won't need them in a coulpe of years. However, Matt's entire family wears glasses, so I wouldn't be surprised if that doesn't happen.

The girl is beyond thrilled. She got to pick out 2 pairs, yes I ordered a back up pair cause I am "that" mom. Then she got to pick out what case she wanted. They should be ready in about a week or so. I will post pics of her with them on once we have them.

5 comments:

MMMom said...

Awww... welcome to the glasses world. They will accent those beautiful eyes of hers! WTG mom on being so smart & picking up quickly something amiss. Also, glad to read how her ROP is no more! That is awesome!

crazed lunatic said...

good job on the catch. am sure she'll do great with the specs! :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is quite a story. I really love checking in on your family occasionally, seeing other preemies doing well does my heart good.

Unknown said...

We were also told that Paige's ROP was completely resolved from an optometrist.

For other reasons (long story) we decided to head on over to a pediatric ophthalmologist. He said that, although Paige's ROP was resolved, the scar tissue would prevent her from seeing 20/20. Ever. He prescribed her glasses and she was thrilled to be able to see things in the distance much better than before. He also told us that due to growth and the way that the scar tissue would react, her vision would change often. Sure enough, that has been the case. She almost had an embarrassing event a week ago when she went running up to 2 girls, arms stretched for a hug, only to realize (as she got closer) that they were not her friends. Ooops. Time to head back to the doc for a new script. lol

Also, we were told to get her eyes checked annually due to the higher possibility of retinal detachment in preemies.

crazed lunatic said...

alright, sister....update already!