Today we had another NICU follow-up for Mel's eyes at Cardinal Glennon. Extreme Premature babies, (I learned today that Melanie was an "extreme" premature baby. Born before 32 weeks.) tend to have problems with their eyes. Not enough time in the womb to develop and often they have problems. While in the NICU an eye doctor from CG came to visit Melanie and do an exam. I'm sure I posted about it. They did a procedure with a speculum that pulls the skin away from the eye and they lift the eye from the socket to examine it. Or at least it looks like it's pulled away from the socket. Not an easy thing for the baby or parent to go through. The descriptive word the first eye doctor we saw today used was "a little barbaric." I thought that was such a good descriptor. Although they numb the area, Melanie screamed while they did this the first time. As she hardly had the energy to cry in the NICU, we knew it wasn't pleasant. I think I ended up with my head in Jarod's chest the entire time. They had warned me at the first follow-up that they would be doing this procedure again at this appointment. So I have been preparing for this for a while. In the grand scheme of life, it's not that big of a deal. However, being a mother I have been stressing about this for a while now. She is much, much more aware of things now. So if it hurt I knew she would realize it much more and I also knew that keeping her still was going to be a true challenge. I brought my mom along for moral support.
Well after all the stressing and worry, I found out half way through the visit that they would not have to do the procedure. I can't even explain how relived I was. My poor girl didn't have to go through all of that. Thank goodness. The hospital visit did take quite a while. We saw two eye doctors. They dilated Mel's eyes and she wasn't a fan. It was kind of funny to see all the black eyed babies in the waiting room. I am happy to report, (I get to say this a lot,) that Melanie's eyes are doing just fine. Other than being a bit near-sided, she has great eyes. We are so unbelievably blessed that things have gone so smoothly for Melanie. Many babies in her same situation aren't as lucky. I thank god everyday for her health and development successes!
Little miss in the waiting room.
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