Separation and the eye doctor

I took Lindsey to get her eyes checked at the pediatric opthamologist yesterday. A while ago I was noticing that one of her eyes seemed to turn in once in awhile and then she would close it. I kept my eye on it for a week or so to see if it was just a fluke. Then her preschool teacher brought it up and I had just made the appointment. I explained to the teacher about the girl’s history with ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity) and laser eye surgery when they were in the NICU and she apologized to me for not bringing it up sooner. I asked if she had noticed it for awhile, because it had only been about two weeks for me, and that's what she said too.

Here's an example of how after her eye turns in, then she closes it.

It was a pretty traumatic experience for her today. She hadn't been there since 2004, so I don't think she remembered much about the drill. When they got to the point where they dialated her eyes (used a spray), she freaked and started screaming and crying. We went back out into the waiting room for 30 minutes. She calmed down and played a little bit. Then they called us back again, and this is when we saw the opthamologist. She is really good with kids, but Lindsey was not cooperating. She wouldn't open her eyes for her. Granted we had been there for over an hour by now. Dr. S gave her a couple chances/warnings and then she had to call in a helper and we had to lay her down. I had to hold her arms and the helper had hold open her eyelids so Dr. S could look at them. So, then Linds totally went into freak/crying mode. It was horrible. Dr. S kept asking, "Are you doing okay mom?" I said, ”Yes, let's just get this done!” After she was done, then Lindsey went into full blown tantrum, she was so mad at me, swinging her arms and crying so hard I thought she was going to throw up! I could barely hear Dr. S talking.

But in the end, she has to get glasses. Apparently, at the last check both girls were slightly far-sighted which she said many kids are at that age. It usually corrects on its own and doesn't warrant glasses. In Lindsey's case, her right is the same as it was before (+.75), but her left eye +2.5) has gotten significantly worse, which is what is causing her eye to turn in. As for the internal parts of the eye (which is what I always worry about due to the ROP), they look really HEALTHY! Dr. S said that she needs to wear them 100% of the time while she's awake and over time, it should correct.

So, after all that, I took her out, got her some water, made a follow-up appt in 8 weeks and then we walked around a little bit before we went back in to the optician side and picked out some glasses. She's not that excited about wearing them, and I think once we get them it will be a challenge, but she DID warm up when we were looking at them and I said, "Look Lindsey, these are Disney Princess glasses!" So, that's what we got in pink! Oh, and she is SUCH a peanut. We kept trying ones on having to go to smaller and smaller sizes. They'll be ready in about a week and a half.

Then, we proceeded to have the fun part of our day. We went shopping, to McDonald's and to visit a friend at her work where Lindsey loves to go. Of course everyone was asking where the other one was.

Then on the way home before she fell asleep in the car, she said to me, "Momma, I really like our day together, you and me." Awwwwwww...so SWEET!

The BIG test was the separation. I took Sydney to school while Lindsey & I will went to the doctor alone. They do NOT do well separated. I don't know if I told you about all that. We've been trying to just take one or the other on little errands. Recently, Brian ran to get Chinese takeout and took Lindsey with him. OMG! You'd think we cut off an arm!! Sydney cried the entire time (a half an hour) they were gone saying how she missed her sister, I love Lindsey, etc. They called while they were gone and she was still crying and got on the phone to talk to Lindsey. She was saying the same things. I miss you Lindsey. You're the best sister ever. Yada. Yada. Yada. And when they were reunited! Holy smokes, you'd think they hadn't seen each other for a year! That time it was just a spur of the moment thing and with them, I really have to talk about things ahead of time, so we had been talking about Sydney going to school and Lindsey coming with me. This time it was Lindsey who was all upset, but we got it worked out. I really just tried to make it seem like a big adventure with mom, doctor, lunch, etc.

I guess I prepared them well for the day, because they were just fine. It was SO CUTE too. When I dropped Sydney at school, Lindsey says to her, "Bye Sydney, have a good day at school today!" Then Sydney says, "Bye Lindsey, have a good day at the eye doctor!" Followed by the "I'll miss you’s". Their reuniting went well too. Sydney was really happy to see us and the first thing she wanted to see were Lindsey's eyes.

They are really sweet with each other. It warms my heart.