2016, April: Glasses for Declan

Declan and I visited the optometrist today. We've been noticing for a few months now that he has a tendency to cross his eyes. Both eyes occasionally slide to the center, but the right more than the left.

The doc said that this was caused either by overly tight eye muscles, which might require surgery, or by farsightedness. She put some drops into his eyes to relax the muscles, then used a retinoscope to shine a light in his eyes and take a look at the reflection off his retinas. She determined immediately that he is farsighted - severely in his right eye and moderately in his left. Farsightedness results from the eye being too short:

The good news is that as he grows, his eyes will grow too, and the problem will hopefully reduce. However, since the right eye is so much worse than the left, it is unlikely to go away completely (if the right eye grows enough to correct the problem, then his left eye will likely be too big and become nearsighted).

Long story short, the boy has to wear glasses! If we did nothing, then eventually his brain would stop paying attention to the right eye - giving him a permanent lazy eye. She was able to determine the exact prescription for each eye by holding up lenses while using the retinoscope and seeing which one neutralized the refractive error.

We pick up the glasses in a week or so. I'm to try to get him to wear them (ha!) for three days. If I fail, then I can take him back for some "magic drops" that will relax the muscles in his eyes and (I believe) blur his vision so that he has to wear the glasses to see.

Apparently this issue is genetic, though we haven't yet determined whether Goodlanders or Baths are to blame, since both Christian and I have perfect vision and there are no examples of farsightedness on either side that we know of. We wondered if it had anything to do with his torticollis/plagiocephaly, but she said not.

I'm struggling a lot - as I did with the helmet - that my child is not "perfect" (he also failed a hearing test in his right ear the other week, so we go back in for follow up on that soon). I'm particularly unhappy that the glasses may be something that he needs forever. However. I'm trying my very best to count our blessings; He's happy, he's healthy, he's freakin' adorable, and this is an issue that can be easily addressed. Plus, orange glasses are cool.

Comments

2016, March: Survival tips from the first year

Declan is now one year and a bit. He's a ton of fun most of the time (some of the time he's whiny and annoying and picky about food, but the fun times make up for all of that). He still only sleeps through the night occasionally and we're definitely dealing with a nighttime-pacifier-addiction, but whatever. It's handle-able (see #3 below). I received a lot of advice while pregnant and during Declan's first few months. Some advice was annoying, some might have been helpful but I wouldn't know since I wasn't in a place that I could hear it. However, a few tidbits were very valuable and will stick with me if I ever decide to be brave and have another baby, so I wanted to put them down on (virtual) paper and share them with you. So listen up (or don't, see #6 below) - especially if you have not yet had a kid and think that you might in the future. Nothing will ever prepare you adequately for the chaos, but these tips might help. And thank you to the wonde...

2013, December: 22 Days

My last day at the Smithsonian American Art Museum will be Friday, January 24. With the holidays, this means I have only 22 more days in the office. This makes me sad, so it's time to ponder some of the things I will miss after ten years here. In no particular order... Team Luce : Jenni, Katie, Lindsay, Bridget, Ed, Tierney, Mary, and Erin - you have been the best thing about working here. You helped make the Luce Foundation Center and the museum great, you made my job easy and fun, and you rock. A lot. Maria: Coffee & Clyde's, beer & bitching. I buy the same piece of clothing in more than one color just to annoy you. Come with me!! :( My bosses: Eleanor, Claire, Rachel, & Betsy - you let me play in the Luce Center, you trusted me with The Art of Video Games , you gave me the freedom to experiment and do crazy things. Thank you! The rest of you: social media groups at American Art and SI, public affairs & programs people, the video & IT teams, and...

2018, August: Idaho Falls Mom's Blog!

I'm incredibly proud to be a contributor for the new Idaho Falls Mom's Blog , which launched today! I'm hopeful it will be a great motivator for my writing, but also a way to meet local moms. I'm useless at meeting new people and this group should force me to be social - it already has once when we took our headshots (which look amazing, btw). Writing a post or two each month for the mom's blog means I will definitely be neglecting this site - so check out my posts over there. I plan to write about ARTitorium stuff, crafting with a toddler, and general parenting topics (next post - potty training!).

Bathlander

Search This Blog