Christmas

Christmas was awesome.  I love the holidays and giving gifts.  Both kids were super excited with their presents and had a great time.  The only hard part was that things were VERY busy.  I worked through Friday and then Saturday Julia had appointments with her OT and vision specialist (she gets vision services now - I'll have to update on that soon).  And I had to finish wrapping.  James was off hunting all day Saturday, so I was at it alone with both kids.  The good news is that he got a buck so we have more meat in the freezer.

Sunday was church and getting food for Christmas.

Monday I had to do some last minute shopping.   I don't recommend going to Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve.  Not a great idea, but I had to get some drinks and things for Christmas.

Christmas eve we always go to church.  I usually sing with the Christmas choir.  We have candles and sing Silent Night and everything is beautiful.  James got stuck in the nursery with the kids since they wouldn't sit through service.  Maybe next year.

Jed before church.

Julia before church.  I think she is trying to eat her hair bow.  And it has become almost impossible to get pics of them together.

 

After church we have dinner out with my family.  We went to a Japanese restaurant and it was awesome.  My family is very supportive and we do a lot of things together.  We all go to the same church every Sunday and have lunch together every Sunday.  It was wonderful seeing everyone dressed up and the little ones were so excited for Santa.

 

Jed trying to use chopsticks.

Julia trying to use chopsticks!

 

After dinner we went home and put the kids to bed.  Santa came and filled the tree with presents!

 

 

Christmas morning was wonderful.  Jed really understood Christmas this year and loved opening all his presents.  He was so excited.  Julia had fun too.  I think I had the most fun watching them open and be excited!

 

One of Jed's favorite gifts was his fishing pole.

Julia got a music set.  We are definitely gluttons for punishment.

Learning to fish!

Sibling love.

 

After presents, both the kids took a nap.  I snuggled with Jed before we had to go to my parent's for more presents and brunch.

 

 

 

We had brunch at my parent's house and got even more presents. Again, it was so fun watching the kids get so excited about everything.

 

Yes!

 

That evening we had James' family over for more presents.  I guess I was too busy with food and things because I didn't even snap any pictures.  Which is a bummer because the kids had fun with their cousins.

 

Now we are trying to get back to "normal."  We still have to patch and take naps and clean our rooms!  Unfortunately, Jed developed some sort of eye infection on Wednesday.  He got some antibiotic drops and so far (knock on wood) Julia hasn't caught it.  It actually cleared up pretty quickly.

 

Jed had to deal with drops for a change!

Still using the pedi wraps.  But she can still play with toys!

What's missing?  She is obviously a mini Houdini.

Drawing on the new easel.

Sharing!  See the new tool bench in the background?

Hold me Mommy!

 

 

Such a more relaxing Christmas this year.  Last year Julia had surgery on Dec. 22nd so the entire holiday was spent worrying about drops and going to follow up appointments and stressing out about having to wait to put in a contact.  Much better experience this year.

 

We have two more Christmas parties to go to and a New Year's Eve party.  Julia has an IFSP meeting in January to look at her early intervention goals.  And surgery is still scheduled for Feb. 5th.  It's back to work on January 2nd.  Merry Christmas everyone!

 

 

 

 





 



 

 

 





 



 

What a difference a year makes.

Exactly one year ago, on this day, I was sitting at my very first appointment at the pediatric opthamologist.  I knew something was terribly wrong with Julia's eye.  I could tell in the way the pediatrician had talked to us at her well-baby visit the evening before.

This is the day of the appointment.  I immediately noticed the cataract in the picture.

That day is pretty blurry, yet some things are crystal clear.  I remember what I was wearing (black pants/purple sweater) and what Julia was wearing (turquoise flower outfit).  Julia was amazing all day.  We were there for several hours doing several tests.  I was terrified that she would scream, because she had been screaming most of her short life.  But she didn't.  I think she just knew, in her baby wisdom, that this was a rough day for mommy and she was quiet the whole day.

I remember hearing the words "cataract, surgery, contact lens."  I know I asked what would happen if we didn't have surgery.  Getting the answer, "She will be blind in that eye," was not reassuring.  I remember the fellow explaining that the lens is shaped like an M&M and they were going to "suck" the chocolate out (that is the cataract) and I remember being told about a stalk.

Waiting for first surgery.

I actually didn't freak out until the next day.  Once I got on google and started doing some research, I realized that my daughter probably had phpv.  I realized we would be patching.  And I was terrified that this wouldn't work.  That my baby wouldn't see.  That her eye wouldn't grow and wouldn't develop.

And then we waited for surgery.

Which is ironic, because here we are again.  One year later, and we are again waiting for surgery.

We have been through 3 surgeries, countless patches, at least 10 contact lenses, 3 sets of glasses and probably 15 eye doctor appointments.  I've endured the stares, the comments, the snickers and laughs from strangers.  I've also experienced the support of wonderful imoms, friends and family. 

After second surgery.

Other imom's told me, "One day your life won't be consumed by the EYE."  I don't think I believed them.  But it has happened.  Her day is more about being an active toddler and less about the EYE.  Yes, she wears glasses.  And yes, she still patches.  But she also walks, climbs, plays with toys, and throws food off her highchair.  Don't get me wrong - the EYE is always there, in the back of my mind.  But I am learning to trust my mommy instinct and trust the doctors.

We lost a lot of these.

I can't believe it has been an entire year since we first learned about the EYE. 

This year was long, painful, wonderful and momentous.  It inched along like a turtle, yet flew by in an instant.

I never imagined this day would come.  A day where I finally feel like we are normal.  Just a little family, living life, enjoying one another, and sticking patches on an eye.

My little man.

My beautiful doll.

LOVE

 

 

Another appointment...another surgery

Yes folks, it is true.  Julia is having another surgery.  This is her third eye surgery and her fourth time under anesthetic.  One time under anesthetic was an EUA (exam under anesthesia) and ear tubes.  That doesn't count as surgery, or does it?  Heck, I am counting it.  My brave girl has been through too much.  She deserves every badge of honor she can get.

So here is what happened.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that her right eye was starting to turn in again.  I would stare and stare and try to get her to look straight at me to see if it would turn.  I convinced myself that I was just being a neurotic imom.  Then when our daycare provider mentioned that she had seen her eye turn, I knew I wasn't being neurotic.

So I called her normal eye doc.  The call I got back from the nurse was that he would feel more comfortable if I saw the doc that did her surgeries.  That makes you feel good, doesn't it?

So we went.  We saw an eye muscle specialist and then the surgeon.  The consensus was that it was time for eye muscle surgery (strabismus surgery). 

Insert imom freak out right here.

I have this bad habit of not panicking until I leave the doctor's office and stew on the info for about 24 hours.  I think in the office I am just shell shocked at hearing she needs surgery and can't even think of what questions to ask.  So I followed up with an email to her regular eye doc (who assured me that her surgeon is awesome and talented and he trusts him) and then called the nurse to ask a few more questions.

Now I am satisfied that she needs the surgery and it is the right time, just nervous about my baby going through this again.

You see, the other surgeries she was 9 weeks, 5 1/2 months and 9 months.  So I just handed her over.  She wasn't really clingy yet.  Don't get me wrong.  It is still amazingly hard to hand over your baby knowing that she is going under anesthetic.  But, I know this time she will freak out.  Hopefully I can walk her back so she isn't traumatized by being carried away by a nurse.

I am also happy that the recovery for this surgery doesn't require an eye shield or intense drops.  That is a relief.

So she is scheduled for Feb. 5th.  We will go the week before for new measurements (they measure the degree of turn to know how much to adjust the eye muscles).

I have already decided that she needs new pj's and a new lovey for surgery day.  She deserves something for going through all this craziness.  She may not understand presents, but I know she will like a new, soft lovey.

After surgery she will get checked for a new prescription and probably get new glasses.  And we will keep patching and patching.  (hopefully we will leave patching hell soon)

So mark your calendars and say a prayer for us on Feb. 5th.  And afterwards she will look straight at me with both eyes!

Can you tell I am trying to be the "positive, I'm not scared at all" Mom?  I may be keeping it together outside, but inside I am terrified.