Today was Rhys's 9 month well baby checkup. He's a few weeks late, but Supermom here can't get everything right all the time. :o) All is great and the pedi is still very happy with his weight gain, etc. He weighed 14lbs 14.5oz with his clean diaper and was sporting his huge muffin top belly for the nurses. He is still on the way short end of the adjusted growth chart, but he is also getting really close to landing on the non-adjusted growth chart for his actual age. In between seeing the regular pedi and high risk clinic we apparently never got the last of his 6 months vaccines. This one was on back order the first two times he received it so I am pretty sure that is why we didn't get it at six months.
After the pedi visit we headed over to the see Rhys's opthamologist. This lady is truly one of the best in the country for pediatric eyes and has headed several studies for new medications with the FDA. We are very lucky to have her. She is very big into ROP prevention and implemented the O2 saturation guideline of 85-95% at our hospital. For those who don't know, ROP is basically where the retina detaches itself as a result of the use of supplemental oxygen in preterm babies. By keeping a baby's saturation below the 100% mark, the amount of oxygen "consumed" by the body is reduced thereby reducing the chances of ROP. She is also very big into early treatment for the ROP, which keeps a lot of babies with healthy eyes. So, if you've ever wondered why preemies have so many eye checkups, this is it.
Anyway, back to the appointment. Both of Rhys's eyes were patched separately to see how he tracks with one eye at a time. Everything looked very good with that. Well, I am assuming it all looked good, we didn't hear otherwise and the resident kept nodding and saying "Mmm hmm, mmm hmm". Rhys then had his eyes dilated. The boy fussed significantly more for this than he did his shot. Rhys does not like eye drops.
After waiting for 30+ minutes for the drops to work the exam was over lickety split. The diagnosis? Rhys is farsighted and has a potential lazy left eye. How can they tell this you ask? I have no clue, but if our no nonsense doctor says it is so I believe her. The farsightedness could be either from the O2 use in the NICU, or maybe it would have been that way regardless. I am assuming the lazy eye is genetic, courtesy of Mom. The solution? Our little man is going to be wearing glasses. While I was almost certain Rhys would need glasses to correct the lazy eye, I didn't expect them this soon. I think Cody was quite shocked, but they are somewhat preventative at this point and the prescription is very low. The hope is that if he wears glasses now to support and strengthen his eyes the farsightedness will resolve and he will not need to patch his eye later on. The doctor said a lot of times, with treatment this early, they don't need them anymore after a year so we will be followed closely starting with a checkup in two months.
We went to pick out his glasses today and though the plastic frames would probably have been less maintenance, we couldn't pass up the adorable wire framed pair. The pair we chose had the option of a bendable ear piece that was more compatible with Rhys's needs, whereas the plastic ones did not. Rhys looks like a little professor with them on. They should be ready next week so we will be sure to post some pics.
After the pedi visit we headed over to the see Rhys's opthamologist. This lady is truly one of the best in the country for pediatric eyes and has headed several studies for new medications with the FDA. We are very lucky to have her. She is very big into ROP prevention and implemented the O2 saturation guideline of 85-95% at our hospital. For those who don't know, ROP is basically where the retina detaches itself as a result of the use of supplemental oxygen in preterm babies. By keeping a baby's saturation below the 100% mark, the amount of oxygen "consumed" by the body is reduced thereby reducing the chances of ROP. She is also very big into early treatment for the ROP, which keeps a lot of babies with healthy eyes. So, if you've ever wondered why preemies have so many eye checkups, this is it.
Anyway, back to the appointment. Both of Rhys's eyes were patched separately to see how he tracks with one eye at a time. Everything looked very good with that. Well, I am assuming it all looked good, we didn't hear otherwise and the resident kept nodding and saying "Mmm hmm, mmm hmm". Rhys then had his eyes dilated. The boy fussed significantly more for this than he did his shot. Rhys does not like eye drops.
After waiting for 30+ minutes for the drops to work the exam was over lickety split. The diagnosis? Rhys is farsighted and has a potential lazy left eye. How can they tell this you ask? I have no clue, but if our no nonsense doctor says it is so I believe her. The farsightedness could be either from the O2 use in the NICU, or maybe it would have been that way regardless. I am assuming the lazy eye is genetic, courtesy of Mom. The solution? Our little man is going to be wearing glasses. While I was almost certain Rhys would need glasses to correct the lazy eye, I didn't expect them this soon. I think Cody was quite shocked, but they are somewhat preventative at this point and the prescription is very low. The hope is that if he wears glasses now to support and strengthen his eyes the farsightedness will resolve and he will not need to patch his eye later on. The doctor said a lot of times, with treatment this early, they don't need them anymore after a year so we will be followed closely starting with a checkup in two months.
We went to pick out his glasses today and though the plastic frames would probably have been less maintenance, we couldn't pass up the adorable wire framed pair. The pair we chose had the option of a bendable ear piece that was more compatible with Rhys's needs, whereas the plastic ones did not. Rhys looks like a little professor with them on. They should be ready next week so we will be sure to post some pics.
3 comments:
My son wore glasses at about that age. I really expected him to fight them, but he did well. We also got the wire frames and had them adjusted alot, but they are so much cuter than the plastic ones.
Hi there. We just found out that our twin boy is blind in one eye due to a problem in early development. We want to get a second opinion before we have the surgery that will at best allow him to see some light and shapes. What is the name of your eye doctor? You said she's one of the best in the country and that's what we want. Thanks so much.
If you'd like to email me directly my email is dawnstuvland@gmail.com.
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