One thing that I was always worried about when I was pregnant with E was whether or not she was going to have bad eyesight when she got older. Let's face it, we knew it was bound to happen because Kyle and I both wore glasses since we were young and had terrible vision.
Thank goodness for LASIK (well PRK for Kyle) because otherwise we would still be wearing glasses and be blind as a bat without them. A few months ago I went in for my yearly eye exam and I noticed that my eye doctor was part of a program called Infantsee that provides a one time free exam for children between 6-12 months old. As soon as I saw that I knew I wanted to make E an appointment as soon as she hit 6 months.
Well the time came and I took her in for her appointment last week. She did so great with the eyedrops and the pre-exam which consisted of them waving paddles in front of her to see if she followed them. She never fussed but did get a little restless in the waiting room.
Once we were called back the doctor started all of the tests. She is the wife of my eye doctor and such a sweetheart. She used a variety of different lenses to look at her optic nerve, the cornea, retina, and the back of her eye. I was trying to gauge her reaction but man she had a really good poker face haha. Well after she finished she confirmed what I had feared, E is farsighted (which is common for most babies but hers is a bit worse than it should be) and has astigmatisms in both eyes.
As of right now it's not bad enough to need glasses but she does want her evaluated again in a year to see if there have been any changes (good or bad) and if there hasn't been any changes for the better then it looks like our little nugget will be getting her first pair of glasses.
I am so glad that I took her and now know what to expect. I know a lot of people wait to take their kids in for an eye exam but it never hurts to start early.
Here is more information about the Infantsee program.
Aww poor thing! Good think you acted quickly! Hope her eye sight does not get worse.
ReplyDeleteThat's so good that you took her in. I never knew when to take my kids to the eye doctor and when I finally did they were both far sighted, Levi wasn't enough yet to need glasses but enough to make his eyes over work. Delylah wears her glasses....sometimes. haha
ReplyDeleteHaha I never wanted to wear my glasses so I can't say that I blame her. :)
DeleteGenetics do that I'm afraid. My dad needed bifocals, my mom sorta needed glasses. I wear contacts. I knew my eyesight was much better as a child but once middle school hit, down the drain.
ReplyDeleteI do think it's really neat that children are a perfect fusion of their parents. You are 50 your mother and 50 your father when it comes to genes. Technically you are more or less when it comes to grandparents.
I completely agree!
DeleteI agree, it is important to take kids to exams. I have TERRIBLE eyesight so both my kids go. So far, they've inherited their daddy's perfect eyesight. I hope it continues. I'm seriously in the negatives.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that they have good eyesight! Yeah mine was pretty bad too, it was terrible as a kid dealing with it.
DeleteSo glad you were able to take her in early to get tested! I have really bad eyes as well, but my mom didn't figure out I needed glasses until I was already in kindergarten. Isaiah has great eyesight, so I'm hoping our baby gets his genes and not mine in that department.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I wish my insurance would cover LASIK...it's something I wish I had just saved up for and done a while back, not sure when I'll be able to now that we're having a baby but it's still one of my goals. It's so dumb it's considered "cosmetic."
So awesome you were able to get her in early!! Its nice to know what they will up against while they are developing, especially at such a young age!
ReplyDeleteI think that's so cool that you took her in early to see if she was going to be like y'all with eyesight problems. Chris and I both need contacts/glasses, so I have a feeling that our future children will need them as well!
ReplyDeleteWow--I had no idea they could do eye exams on babies! But at least you know now, so she won't be struggling to see when she starts trying to read!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea either! I'm definitely glad that I took her in.
DeleteHOW CRAZY that you blogged about this today. Sadie is going for her InfantSee appointment on Thursday! I am a little nervous because I didn't do this with Hadley, so we'll see! I just have no idea what to expect. So glad you took her in to get this check early. Thanks for sharing about your experience!
ReplyDeleteWow, I wish this had been available when I was born. My parents didn't learn until I was in the 3rd grade. It was one of the reasons I was struggling a little in school, especially in Math class when all problems were written on the board. How helpful this would have been back then!
ReplyDeleteI agree! I am so glad it exists, because not many people would think to take their babies that early.
DeleteI've always wondered how they do eye exams on babies/little kids because they obviously can't read the standard numbers and letters that an adult patient would do!
ReplyDeleteThat's amazing that babies can now have eye exams. I"m sure if I ever have kids, they'll have bad eyes too. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteWow I did not know they could examine eyes that young!
ReplyDeleteI was the baby with glasses growing up so I totally get it!
ReplyDeleteThis program is such a great idea! It's amazing to me that they can examine a baby's eyes and determine their vision that young, but how awesome!!
ReplyDeleteIt's so great that you were able to find out so early because now you'll be able to give her all the resources she'll need as she continues growing!
ReplyDeleteI never knew of that program. What a great idea for infants!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I found out about it!
DeleteIt's great you already know she has eye issues before they get worse. Our dentist said often times parents wait until the child has a problem to bring them in and it's harder on everyone since the child is scared. AB's first appoint with him went well because she thought it was fun. This is a good reminder for me to schedule her first eye appointment!
ReplyDeleteWe both wore glasses so I'm just waiting for the day these 4 goofballs need them.
ReplyDeleteI love Vegas, I think it's so cool you grew up there.
ReplyDelete