Jack is proud to announce the arrival of his new sister, Baby E! She arrived on April 30, and besides not wanting to sleep longer than 30 minutes at a time at night, we are over the moon with her arrival! We knew getting into this that there was a chance that she could have cataracts as well, and were prepared to deal with it if we had to. Key words: if we had to. To be honest, it didn't cross my mind much during the pregnancy. I'd start to think about it, and immediately push the thoughts away because there wasn't anything I could do about it. As soon as she was born, though, I found myself peering into her eyes, wondering if there was anything in there. The on-call pediatrician came the night she was born. She was unfamiliar with our particular case, but we gave her the heads up and she did a fairly thourough exam of her eyes. D and I held our breaths for what felt like the longest 10 seconds of our life. Red eye reflex? Check. Aaaaaaaaaaand exhale.....
The day after we came home was our first official check-up with our pediatrician - the doctor who knows everything about our case and actually initially diagnosed Jack. She made sure to check and double check Baby E's eyes, and again, saw that red eye reflex. Aaaaaaaaaaaaand exhale again.
Then came the day I had been dreading since we found out I was pregnant - Baby E's first trip to the opthamologist. The doctor had instructed us to come in as soon as possible once the baby was born. I just kept thinking, "Do we have to?" I was so tempted to push the appointment back so I could just enjoy her little face and not be peering into her eyes looking for the white specs, or think about what she would look like with pink glasses. I just wanted her to be a blank slate and for me to be able to leave it that way. At the end of the day, I knew it had to be done, so off we went. It was a loooooong appointment, but Baby E (and big brother) did great! They even dilated her eyes, which I was shocked at for some reason. Anyways, D and I held our breath until the doctor said,"No cataracts." Holy cow, those are the most joyous words I've ever heard. There were a few other doctors visiting and there seemed to be a discussion (you know, the ones doctors have like you're not still in the room) about whether or not this meant we were off the hook. Our doctor seems to think that Jack's cataracts were there from birth...just not large enough to be spotted by the pediatrician. She was confident that since Baby E was clear, that they wouldn't just develop. The other doctors disagreed somewhat. We know we're not in the clear, but this was a huge step. Baby E will be monitored at all of big brother's appointments, and we know our awesome pediatrician will be keeping an eye on her as well. Until then, we will appreciate clearing this hurdle and move along!
After the stress of that appointment, a glass of wine at lunch was JUST what the doctor ordered!
