The Story of Nicholas' Early Arrival: Eye Appointment

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Eye Appointment

Nicholas had a good eye doctor appointment yesterday. These appointments are usually horrible because they have to dilate and numb his eye and use a torture device to hold his eyes open. Well they only dilated his eyes and didn't use the torture device. He is a little near sighted and his left eye is a little worse than the right but no need for glasses right now and we don't have to go back for a year. His left eye is the one that had more laser when he had his ROP surgery so that makes sense that it is worse than the right eye. They also looked at the turning in of his right eye and said that it isn't bad and should correct itself. He also has Horizontal Nystagmus, dancing eyes, which should also correct itself. Both the turning in of the right eye and the nystagmus is nothing new. We have noticed both ever since he came home from the NICU. They also checked his optic nerve. The doctor said that they do this for kids with Hydrocephalus because they can check on the shunt. If there is swelling behind the optic nerve it usually means there is something wrong with the shunt and they will call the neurosurgeon. Nicholas didn't have any swelling and it was nice to have a quick shunt check.

1 comment:

Kristin from Couponing to DisneyJanuary 23, 2010 at 11:45 AM
Wow! I am absolutely amazed by your story. That is amazing that Nicholas was born so early. God is truly blessing you and your family. Nicholas is beautiful and he looks like such a joy. I bet he is even teaching you things about yourself that you didn't know (kids have a way of doing that). Thank you for linking up on my blog that I might have an opportunity to visit yours.
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Preemie Experience

The Preemie Experience
The preemie experience is the shattering of all your dreams
For a normal, healthy delivery,
Of the ability to carry home a beautiful squirming bundle
After a short stay in the hospital.
It is lying there in your hospital room listening to
The happy sounds of whole families joined
Together by the birth of a grandchild, cousin, niece,
or nephew, and knowing that your
Child is miles away and may not survive long enough
For you to see or simply touch.
It is that first glimpse of a skinny, scrawny, not much bigger
Than a Barbie doll child
And feeling, fear, awe, and joy for such a fragile soul.
It is sitting by your baby’s “bedside” day after day,
Week after week, month after month,
Alternating between the emotional high of “Look, his eyes are open,” or “he’s crying!”
And the lows of “I’m sorry, something has shown up in the ultrasound,”
Or even “There is nothing we can do…”
It is hearing the alarms go off for the twentieth time in less
Than fifteen minutes because your
Child’s heart rate keeps hitting zero.
It is watching children dying around you, wondering if
Your child will be next.
It is hearing your child’s cry of distress as the nurses
Insert yet another IV and do another
Round of daily blood tests.
It is meeting other parents of children who are doing far better
And wondering, “Why me?”
And meeting parents of children who have just died,
And praising God for His mercy
To your child and feeling guilty because your child is alive
And someone else is grieving for theirs.
It is days of nightmarish testing and coping with less
Than positive results to the tests.
It is days of joy at seeing the first eyelash appear,
The child gain a whole ounce in one day,
And two bright shiny eyes look at you and into your soul,
And knowing that your child now recognizes you as Mama or Dada;
Or perhaps looks at you and does not see you at all…
It is that final hurdle before coming home!
It is the sorrow of waiting for the monitor company Representative to show you what to do
If the alarm sounds when your child is choking,
Gasping for breath, or simply dying.
It is the joy of just being away from all those nurses
And tubes and wires and beeps, and
Walking into the nursery you hastily prepared because,
after all,
The child wasn’t due for another four months!
It is thinking the nightmare is over…only to realize it still Continues in the form of
Such acronyms as PVL, RSV, BPD, CP and numerous others.
It is the final realization that those developmental delays
Have to be dealt with,
That reflux is a normal and unfortunate
occurrence in most preemies,
That the constant fight to gain weight is in direct proportion
To a preemie’s ability to do so.
It is watching a child struggle to pick up his or her head, sit, Crawl, or walk.
It is witnessing only silence when the child should be babbling,
Because the child cannot hear.
It is the mental images of a child running and playing
And communicating with others in a
Perfectly normal manner that are marred when you face years of therapy
In order to simply get the child to eat by himself or herself,
To talk or walk and then run.

The preemie experience is a journey…A journey through your soul in order to find the faith and strength to cope,
A journey of the mind when you face the emotional weariness,
A journey of the heart…to accept that, no matter what,

This child is yours,
And you will love this child no matter what.

The Story of Nicholas' Early Arrival

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Eye Appointment

1 comment:

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