Another Update!

Its Been A While Since Iv'e Posted Anything! And I'm Really Not Sure Where To Start! 

So I'll Just Start! :) 

Elias Is Growing SO Fast!  And Getting A Little Hard To Keep Up With! He  Is Definitely A Little Boy! :) 

    When We Found Out About His Cataracts, We Had No Idea What Was In Store...  And We Were Terrified! But As Time Passed, And We Became More And More Accustomed To Contacts, Glasses, And Routine Eye Exams!  ( Our New Norm )  Things Got A Little Less Scary!  And When Elias Started Hitting All Of His Milestones On Time, If Not Early, We Got A Little Less Worried! 

    And We've Learned To Take Things One Day At A Time!  I Still Get Scared! And Sometimes  " 

The Little Thing " Still Worry Me, (I'm A Mother, It's My Nature! ) 

But I Don't Let It Rule Me Anymore! 

And I Can Honestly Say That This " Struggle " 

Has Only Made Us Stronger! 

So Elias Is 21 Months Old!  He Very Recently Had A Prescription Change!

 He Wen't From A +29 To A +23! Which Is Great! 

We Go Into See His Ophthalmologist Next Month, It's Time To Discuss Bifocals! 

Yes, Bifocals! 

Elias's Contacts Are Great! And Help Him Tremendously! 

But They Only Provide Mono focal Vision.. Meaning They Provide Him With A Clear Image

But Only At A Certain Distance. The Bifocals, On Top Of His Contacts, With Provide Him With Clear Vision Up Close And Far Away!  :)

At 20 Months Elias Was  Seen By A Developmental Behaviorist! I Had, Had Some Concerns About His Social Behavior, Which She Clarified For Me, Was His Early Entry Into The Terrible Two Faze!
While We Were In Her Office, She Did Multiple Tests With Elias, And Was Very Impressed!
She Placed Elias At A 25 Month Level As Far As Gross Motor Skills, And A 27 Month Level As Far As His Vocabulary!  Which Was Fantastic News!   ( Definitely One Of Those Days, The Worry Was A Little Less! )

New Glasses!

After A Year And Half, And 3 Pairs Of Dark Grey Oval Frames... 

We Finally Decided To " Switch Things Up! " It Was A Really Hard Decision!
And I Was Really Unsure About It! But We Did It!  And Now We LOOOOVE Them! 

Elias!
20 Months! 

Update!

Elias!
16 Months Old!
Portland, Or

Just Thought Id Give  A Quick Update!

Elias Has Been Back In Contacts For A Little Over A Month Now,

And He's Doing GREAT!  His Depth Perception, And Peripheral Vision

Have Improved SO Much! And He's Getting Around Alot Better!

Thankfully The Process Has Been 100 Times Easier Than I Had Anticipated!

And We've Been Managing Them Quite Well! Elias Is Beginning To Understand

What We're Doing, And Although He Doesn't Much Like Removing Or Inserting

Them, He Is Handling It Much Better Lately!

Not To Mention I Have Become Quite

 Professional At The Entire Process! :)

I Think That We'll Stick With The Contacts For Now!

 And Just Hope That It Continues To Go So Well!

Back In Contacts! Day 1

Elias!
14 Months Old!

Sooo As I Mentioned In One Of My Previous Posts,  After 7 Months In Glasses Elias Is Going Back To Contacts!  And They Came Today!!!!!   I Decided To Put Them In Right After His Nap, While He Was Still Tired.. They Went In GREAT! It Took Me Like 2 Seconds! And In The Aphakic World That's A Record!!! :)  It Took Him A While To Open His Eyes,  And Adjust To Having Them In, But It Wasn't Long Before He Was Off Playing!  We Have Decided To Keep Him In Glasses... Just Plano  Lenses For Now, We Want Him To Stay Accustomed To Having Them On, Seeing As How He Will Be In Bifocals Soon.. Not To Mention The Glasses Will Help Prevent Him From Rubbing The Contacts Out.

The Reason We Stopped Using Contacts Before Was Due To His Astigmatism Causing The Lens To Fit Poorly, And His Right Eye Began To " Fall Behind ".   At Out Last Visit With The Pediatric Opthamologist, The Dr. Mentioned That Eli Had Almost Fully Outgrown His Astigmatism, And It Looks Like He Has! ( Knocking On Wood ) His Contact Fit Perfectly All Day! And I'm Happy To Say That He Didn't Rub It Out Once!
I'm Just Keeping My Fingers Crossed That He Keeps Being The Rock Star He Is!
And Continues To Take To Them Without A Problem!

So The Contacts That We Use ( Silsoft ) Can Supposedly Stay In The Eye For Up To 30 Days Before Needing To Be Cleaned! However, I'm Going To Try And Make Putting Them In, And Taking Them Out, Part Of Our Daily/Nightly Routine... 
Soo Far Day One Has Gone Awesome! Contacts Are Out, And Baby Is Sleeping Soundly!
I Figure We Will Just Take It One Day At A Time! That's Really All One Can Do!

Luck Wishing, And Good Vibe Sending Are Greatly Welcomed!

Our New 4 Eye'd Friend!

Sooo, I'm Totally A Proud Member Of An Online Community Called http://littlefoureyes.com/! It's An Amazing Website! Offering Loads Of Advise, And Resources On Soo Many Different Eye Issues.
You Can Also Find Littlefoureyes On Facebook! It's An Awesome Place To Seek And Offer Advise!
Also A Great Place To Find Other Families In Your Area! 
I Happen To Have Found Another Family In Our Area, Who Also Have A Little Boy Named Scott, Who Not Only Wears Glasses, But Was Also Born With A Cataract!   We Have Already Had Our First Of Many Play Dates! And It Was An Amazing Experience Watching Elias Make Such A Great Friend!
                     This Picture Kills Me! Such A Beautiful Start To A Beautiful Friendship!

Elias, And Scott!

 

 

I Was Recently Interview, ( Via Email ) About The Playdate We Had With Our New Friend!

A Women Named Kristen Ellsworth, The Creator Of Peeps Eye Wear, Asked Me A Few Questions, And Then Posted The Interview On The Great Glasses Play Day Website!

In Hopes That It Will Encourage Other Parents Of Little Ones In Glasses To Do The Same!

It's Important That Your Child Knows They're Not Alone!

If You Wanna Check Out The Interview! Click The Link Below!!!!!!

http://greatglassesplayday.com/2013/03/11/celebrate-little-four-eyes-5th-anniversary-with-a-mini-great-glasses-play-day/ 



 

A Few Months Later!

I Can't Believe How Long It's Been Since I've Sat Down And Blogged!
These Kids Are Keeping Me Busy!  To Be Honest.. I Have NO Idea Where I Left Off.. So I'm Just Going To Start!

Elias Is 14 Months Old Now!!!!  I Can't Believe How Fast The Time Goes!
He Is Doing Fantastic!  A Perfectly Normal Healthy 1 Year Old!  Suuuuure Your Typical
1 Year Old Dosn't Wear Glasses, Let Alone An Rx Of +20! But If You Ask Me, It Makes Him

Wayyyy More Special! I Sometimes Wonder What He'd Be Like If He Had Never Developed Cataracts.... Would He Have Been So Strong, Or As Sweet? Would Be Have Grown So Smart?
I Guess We'll Never Know.....   I Do Know, That He Is The Most Amazing, Strong, Charismatic Little Boy I Have Ever Met! And We Are Soo Blessed To Have Him!

As I Have Mentioned In The Past, We Switched To Glasses Full Time, When Eli Was 8 Months Old, The Astigmatism In His Right Eye Was Causing His Contact To Fit Poorly.. And His Eye Began To " Fall Behind " After Many Months Of Patching, And Glasses Full Time, I'm Glad To Say That Both Of His Eyes Are Being Used Equally, And His Vision Is Great!  ( Well You Know, Considering..... )

We Were At The Eye Dr. Earlier This Week, And We Discussed Going Back To Contacts....
Elias Has Very Poor Depth Perception, And Peripheral Vision... And The Poor Kid Trips Over Everything!!!!! The Dr. And I Both Agree That The Contacts Will Better His Vision, And Better His Mobility!  The Dr. Also Said That Elias Has Grown Out Of His Astigmatism Quite A Bit! And That The Contact Should Fit Much Better This Time!   
Of Course I'm Terrified! It's Been 7 Months Since We've Had To Deal With Them, And He's Much Bigger Now!!!!  I Can't Imaging Re-introducing A 1 Year Old To Contacts Is Going To Go Over Very Well... But My Fingers Are Crossed, In Hopes That He Takes To Them Like A Rockstar!!!!
Luck Wishing, And Good Vibes Welcome! :)
   

 

 

Elias Hayes!
13 Months Old!

No More Patching!!!!

After 6 Months Of Patching, Were Are Done!
Well For Now! There Is Always A Chance That May Need To Patch In The Future..
But For Now, We're DONE!!!
Elias Has Been Wearing His Glasses Full Time For A Little Over 2 Months.. I've Been Hesitant About Using His Contacts, Because Of The Way The Right One Fits.. ( Or Should I Say, Doesn't Fit. )
After Checking His Progress Last Week His Doctor Agrees! The Glasses Are Helping Him Tremendously!!!! Not Only Has His Right Eye, ( The "weak" Eye ) Caught Up, It's Actually Almost Stronger!!! His Doctor Has Recommended That We Stick With Glasses, Which Isn't Something He Would Normally Do... But In Eli's Case, They Are Obviously The Better Choice!  He Said That Elia's Eyes Are Stronger Now Than He Would Have Ever Imagined Them Being, And That His Brain Is Developing Very Quickly!!!

I'm Sooo Glad That We Caught His Problem Early, And We Were Able To Correct It Before It Became To Severe... I Don't Think I Could Live With Myself If I Hadn't Been As Consistent... And Was The Reason His Eye Turned In! 
Patching Is No Fun. But Your Child Will Thank You Later!

I Will Leave You With This Most Adorable Picture, Of The Most Adorable Little 4 Eyes I Know! :)

The Wonderful World Of Patching An Infant!

Oh Patching!!!!

We Entered The World Of Patching, When Elias Was 3 Months Old..  Because Eli's Right Eye Is Slightly Smaller Then The Left, And Also Has An Astigmatism, His Contact Lens Never Properly Fit... Constantly Having To Be Adjusted.. 
At The Same Time His Left Eye, Was Fine, Contact Fit Great, And Had A Clear View At All Times..
His Right Eye Wasn't Quite As Strong As His Left..
So We Began Patching His Left Eye, To Strengthen His Right. Otherwise, His Brain Would Start Ignoring The Poor Images Coming From The " Weak " Eye, And Begin Favoring The Other, Thus Making His "Weak" Eye To Turn In...
At First It Was Easy... He Was Still So Little, He Didn't Really Notice...
But In Time.. He Got Older.. And As He Got Older.. He Got A Little More Resistant..
But I Can Honestly Say ( As I Knock On Wood ) That As Resistant As He Can Be To Putting It On..
He Has Never Pulled One Off!
He's Eight Months Now, And We Currently Patch About 31 Hours A Month!
He's Pretty Doing Pretty Well, And His Vision In His Right Eye Has Improved Almost 100%!!!
His Right Eye Is Almost As Strong As His Left! 

Patching Is NO Fun! But It DOES Work!!! :)

Contacts Vs Glasses!!!

When My Son Had His Lenses Removed, He Immediately Began Wearing Contacts.... They Worked Fine For A While, ( If You Don't Include The Fact That His Right Eye Is To Small For The Contact To Fit Properly).( And Because Of That Fact The Left Eye Became A Little Stronger, And Elias Has To Wear A Patch On That Eye, In Order To Strengthen The Right..)
The Contacts Can Stay In For Up To 3 Weeks With Out Being Taken Out To Be Cleaned, So That's Nice! However, They Can Easily Be Popped Out, When Elias Rubs His Eyes.. Which Is Terrifying! Have You Ever Had To Find A Contacts Lens? Not So Easy!!! Especially When You Realize You Crawling Baby Could Have Rubbed It Out ANYWHERE!!! And You Have No Idea Where To Start!!! 
However Despite All The Scares, They Really Do Come In Handy, They Provide My Son With Great Peripheral Vision! And They Allow Him To See Without Any Barriers! Not To Mention, When He's Wearing Them,  He Looks Like Your Average Baby.. No One Stops Us At The Store, Or At The Park.. No One Pointing Their Stubby Fingers At Him... So I Guess You Could Say They Have Their Pros And Cons!

We Introduced Glasses When He Was About 4 Months Old.. At First They Were Only For When We Were Cleaning His Contacts... However, I Started Feeling Like They Were Helping Him  Little More Then The Contacts, For The Sole Reason That Regardless How Small His Eyes Are, The Glasses Fit! No Sliding Around, And Having TO Be Adjusted Every 5 Minutes... I Was Relieved That I Didn't Have To Poke At His Face All The Time! 

Because There Has Never Been A Study On Contacts Vs Glasses, I Don't Want To Stick To Just One.. I Really Want My Son To Grow Up With The Best Vision Possible! So Until They Can Tell Which Me Which Choice Is The Better Choice, We Switch, Back And Forth... Glasses For A Few Weeks, And Then Contacts... It Seems To Be Working Pretty Good!
Elias Is Growing, Developing, And Hitting All Of His Milestones Before The Average Baby, With No Eye Issues!!! So I Couldn't Be Happier! 

I'd Say That When It Comes Down To Which Option Is Best.. It Completely Depends On Your Child, And His/Her Specific Needs/Situation!

Wouldnt Have Him Any Other Way!

When You Have A Child In Glasses, It's Quite Common To Get Stares, Glares, Comments And Questions.. Most Of Which Are Completely Harmless, I Have No Problems With Answering Peoples Questions! I'd Rather Help Them To Understand, Than Leave Them To Come To They're Own Conclusions, And Raising Awareness Is Important..
However Sometimes, You Get That One Person That Knows No Bounds.. You Know The Ones Filled With To Much Ignorance For They're Own Good?   
So Far I've Had  Miss, " Tell Me Those Aren't Real! "    
Old Lady " Wow! Those Make His Eyes Look Huge! That's Gotta Be Hard For You... "
And Of Course Miss Crosses The Line With Her " So, Can He See As Good As A Normal Baby? "
And Lets Not Forget The Countless Times I Have Wanted To Yell " He's Not Blind!!! He CAN See You! So Put Your Dang Fingers Down! "  As They Bluntly Point And Stare At My Son...

I Mean, Do People Even Think Before They Speak? They Never Consider How They're One Crude Comment Or Action ( Unintentional Or Not ) Can Affect You.... 
I Totally Understand Their Curiosity, Who Wouldn't Be Curious! But I Don't Understand How Some People Can Be So Uncensored...

I'm Sure That As he Gets Older, The Stares, Glares, Comment And Questions Will Die Down, It's Not As Rare To See A 4 Year Old In Glasses! And Until Then, I'm Just Going To Have To Continue Practicing Patience!

I Love My Son! I Love His Glasses, And I Wouldn't Have Him Any Other Way!

He's Almost 8 Months Old!!!

I Can't Believe How Fast The Time Goes! Seems Like Just Yesterday We Were Bringing Our Son Home From The Hospital!! And Tomorrow He Will Be 8 Months Old!

These Last 8 Months Have Been A Very Trying Time! With The Initial Diagnosis, The Surgery, Contacts, Glasses, Patches, Appointments Etc.... Non The Less, We Have Never Been Happier!  We Are Blessed To Have Him! And I Wouldn't Have Him Any Other Way!!
I'm Happy To Say, That Having Been Born With Cataracts Has NEVER Held Elias Back! Despite The Doctors Telling Me He Would Likely Be Behind... He Hasn't!!!!! And Actually, He Is Extremely Advanced For His Age!!! His Doctors Are So Pleased With His Progress And Development.. And I Am SOO Proud!!! 

He Is A Healthy Happy Boy! And Glasses Or Not, He's The Most Handsome Boy I Know!