Melissa who blogs at Ask Miss Mommy, sent in this story of her daughter, Grace. The story was also published on her blog. – Ann Z
Grace at 6 months
This is the story of Pumpkin (aka Grace). My second born, my baby. Kind, calm, happy baby with a fiery will that explodes with force. Grace came into the world fast, in the middle of the night, giving me only 2 hours to get to the hospital. She was immediately absorbed in nursing with a passion that has yet to diminish.
The focus of my little story, though won’t be on her birth but yet her darling eyes. Back in April 2009 (wow a year ago) I posted about Pseudostrabismus. We continue to monitor her eyes after that just to see what would happen. Would the periodic “real” crossing go away or increase? It increased and in January my baby got glasses.
My wish was granted and we headed back the next week for visit with Dr. M. This time I felt respected, as part of Grace’s team and not just an uninformed bystander. But I was still frustrated. Dr. M couldn’t elicit the crossing either. Finally at the end of the appointment, Grace was sitting on my lap looking at my necklace and she crossed. Never have I been so excited about a somewhat negative thing ever. Dr. M was able to see it in action and validate my concern that, yes it was an issue and true esotropia.
The thing about Grace’s vision is in order to see any crossing she has to be super focused (literally and figuratively) on something close up. Which she frequently is but it’s not the standard way they test vision. The “tests” are done too far away. Grace is also quite young to be given an Accomodative Esotropia diagnosis. It usually appears around 2 years old and she was around 14 months. So I was relieved to have a professional see what I was talking about and note how to test Grace’s vision for the future.
Grace got glasses in January with +200 prescription* (meaning she is farsighted within the mild category). Today we went back for a recheck. Her prescription has increased to +450 (which is now in the high hyperopia range). I’m still a bit confused about the long term outcome for Grace. As far as I know, the best case scenario is to lessen the strain on her eyes (the increase in prescription means her eyes are relaxing so that’s good) and to wean her from glasses as her eyes get stronger and she gets older. I’m trying to stay neutral and just take it one day at a time. We are also patching using a partial occulsion patch for 30 minutes a day.
*Many people post about prescription written as a “+4.5D” number. I was only told a +200 or +450 so that’s what I know. Anyone have words of wisdom on that??
For Little Eyes 
Your blog was both inspirational and informative, not only to moms but to eye doctors as well. We’re also glad that you were able to get the proper diagnosis for your daughter and get her corrective glasses. We know it is very difficult for little ones to have glasses, but she seems to be handling them well. Although your daughter is now familiar with the optometrist office, when she gets older, she will have many more questions. Here are some other ways to prepare children for eye exams: http://bit.ly/Br1tc
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Glad to read your post- somewhat similar to my daughter’s situation! She started crossing at 12 months, and it took a while to confirm it. I was so relieved to get her into glasses and see her focus on things with her eyes aligned. It looks like Pumpkin-pie is doing beautifully with her glasses, though! Hope the transition has been okay. Our first 4-6 weeks were pretty rough, but one day it just clicked and we’ve been fine ever since! Wish I had some insight on the prescription, though- sorry!
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We are still waiting on our little ones first pair of glasses. THey had to send them back due to an unreasonable weight and thickness. My 4yo rx is +5.5 in both eyes. I had no idea. I’m still a little shaken. Your little one is precious.
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