Eye Exams

The ophthalmologist saw Avi and Deacon today. She did a detailed eye examination of their retina to see if either of them have developed any signs of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). The ophthalmologist gave each of them eye drops to enlarge their pupils, so the back of their eyes were more visible. They use a medical instrument called an indirect ophthalmoscope, to see whether the retina's blood vessels are growing normally. There are 3 Zones that are looked at. Zone 1 is the bottom of the eye, Zone 2 the middle and Zone 3 is the top of the eye. The blood vessels begin in Zone 1 and work their way to the top (Zone 3). Once the vessels make it to Zone 3 and ROP is still not detected, they will no longer need eye exams and shouldn't have problems with their eyes due to her prematurity at birth. Most preemies have some mild ROP that doesn't require treatment. But, if it is more severe the neonatologist will consider changing some basic care that could affect the progression of ROP (most commonly raising or lowering oxygen levels). Also, some severe cases of ROP will require surgery.

Avigail's eyes are still immature (this is a good thing). Her blood vessels aren't fully developed yet, but their are no signs of abnormal growth. The blood vessels have made it to Zone 2. This is very common for a baby of her gestation to still be immature.

Deacon's ROP is classified as a Stage 1 (mild). When ROP is only stage 1, the optometrist sees a white demarcation line separating the normally developed retina near the back of the eye from the undeveloped retina in the front. There are parts of his eye that are Stage 1 ROP and other parts that are Stage 2. His blood vessels have only reached Zone 2. There are two things that can happen, they can either get worse (Stage 3, 4 or 5) or they can begin to develop correctly. At this point, it's not severe enough for there to be concern. The neonatologist said that the stage Deacon is at is completely normal for babies born at the gestation he was.

Avi and Deacon will continue to get eye exams every other week until they are fully mature. The frequency of visits may increase if the ROP begins to get severe. They were both pretty tired after their eye exams and didn't really wake up during their care times, a first for both of them!

Deacon is continuing to gain weight and catch up to sister. Tyler and I were able to give Deacon a bath tonight. They take off all his "attachments" during the bath. It was much needed as he's starting to get rolls and hide stuff in them. My favorite part was wrapping him in the towel to dry him off. This was the first time I got to hold him in my arms with no wires or feeding tubes attached. It was a wonderful moment and we just stared in each others eyes. My heart melted. It is definitely one of the many memories I will have during our stay in the NICU. I can't even describe how incredible the moment felt.

Avigail continues to do well too. She's been tolerating her full feeds. Hopefully she'll get changed over to an 8 care schedule soon! She also pulled out her feeding tube today. Not a major problem as they just put a new one in. Guess she's tired of having a tube down her throat.

Avigail sporting her "little black dress"

Deacon holding Mom's finger