Post-op continued...
You know that moment when you're holding your newborn baby and they open their eyes for the first time and you swear you can see them smile? That moment happened for me again, 2 weeks ago, only I know for sure she was smiling and I even managed to capture the moment with a quick snapshot.
I previously mentioned that the Opthalmologist wanted to see us right after surgery. She gave us the standard debrief and followed up with some tips and tricks to help us through recovery. One of which was to be aware that our LO may be afraid to open her eyes, due to pain and/or light sensitivity, and that some children keep them closed for days. Had she not told us this I would have been worried, because that's exactly what she did for about 24 hours straight, and continued to do intermittently afterwards.
The ride home from the hospital was quiet; unusual for our little girl. She had a cup of ice chips by her side and a tight grip on her little plastic spoon. Eyes shut tight, she would reach down and pick up the cup with one hand while trying to coordinate her other hand with the spoon. She refused all help, even when I suggested she just use her hands to pick up the pieces, and struggled through with determination even I don't have.
Once home, we set up some pillows on the sofa and she asked for one of her favorite TV shows. She watched with her eyes still closed, participating with each call to action the characters shouted out. It was simultaneously sad and cute. The rest of the evening was much of the same. Once dinner was on the table, she did not want to be spoon fed like a baby and she ate all by herself. Brushing her teeth, putting on her pajamas, you name it. The only time we had no choice but to overpower her stubbornness was to apply the drops and ointment prescribed.
The night was uneventful and she slept right through to our surprise. The next morning, she still refused to open her eyes. Not so much in pain it seemed, but because of light sensitivity. So, I closed all the blinds while she ate her cereal, and blindly watched TV. I reminded myself not to be nervous and that it will just take time. The only problem was that while she self-imposed blindness, she was also being hard headed and insisted on doing everything without help; putting dishes in the sink, throwing out a yogurt container, finding and playing with her toy cars, etc. It was manageable, as I secretly shadowed her around the house, until I went to make a phone call and I heard her little feet thumping up the stairs a few minutes later! My heart was pounding! We live in a split level home, so right next to the stairs going up are the stairs going down! Had she misjudged, that could have been a horrible accident!
I got off the phone immediately and decided that I needed her to be safe. This was when I encouraged her to open her eyes. I told her that we would keep all of the lights off, but that she had to try. And, with a tiny flutter of her eyelids, she opened them wide... and she smiled. A big, happy, red-eyed smile! I snapped a picture as fast as I could and I will always remember that moment.
For the next few days she frequently wore her darkest sunglasses, but she kept her eyes open more often than not. We went to playgroup, ran errands, went window shopping and baked a little bit too. Anything to keep her from running, jumping and getting hurt! Not easy when someone recovers so quickly!
She went back to daycare the following week, with mild restrictions, and is pretty much back to normal now. The full healing takes 6-8 weeks, so no banging her head or dirt in the eyes, but all is good! Bubble parenting sucks! It's exhausting! But I will continue to do so as long as necessary...
I previously mentioned that the Opthalmologist wanted to see us right after surgery. She gave us the standard debrief and followed up with some tips and tricks to help us through recovery. One of which was to be aware that our LO may be afraid to open her eyes, due to pain and/or light sensitivity, and that some children keep them closed for days. Had she not told us this I would have been worried, because that's exactly what she did for about 24 hours straight, and continued to do intermittently afterwards.
The ride home from the hospital was quiet; unusual for our little girl. She had a cup of ice chips by her side and a tight grip on her little plastic spoon. Eyes shut tight, she would reach down and pick up the cup with one hand while trying to coordinate her other hand with the spoon. She refused all help, even when I suggested she just use her hands to pick up the pieces, and struggled through with determination even I don't have.
Once home, we set up some pillows on the sofa and she asked for one of her favorite TV shows. She watched with her eyes still closed, participating with each call to action the characters shouted out. It was simultaneously sad and cute. The rest of the evening was much of the same. Once dinner was on the table, she did not want to be spoon fed like a baby and she ate all by herself. Brushing her teeth, putting on her pajamas, you name it. The only time we had no choice but to overpower her stubbornness was to apply the drops and ointment prescribed.
The night was uneventful and she slept right through to our surprise. The next morning, she still refused to open her eyes. Not so much in pain it seemed, but because of light sensitivity. So, I closed all the blinds while she ate her cereal, and blindly watched TV. I reminded myself not to be nervous and that it will just take time. The only problem was that while she self-imposed blindness, she was also being hard headed and insisted on doing everything without help; putting dishes in the sink, throwing out a yogurt container, finding and playing with her toy cars, etc. It was manageable, as I secretly shadowed her around the house, until I went to make a phone call and I heard her little feet thumping up the stairs a few minutes later! My heart was pounding! We live in a split level home, so right next to the stairs going up are the stairs going down! Had she misjudged, that could have been a horrible accident!
I got off the phone immediately and decided that I needed her to be safe. This was when I encouraged her to open her eyes. I told her that we would keep all of the lights off, but that she had to try. And, with a tiny flutter of her eyelids, she opened them wide... and she smiled. A big, happy, red-eyed smile! I snapped a picture as fast as I could and I will always remember that moment.
For the next few days she frequently wore her darkest sunglasses, but she kept her eyes open more often than not. We went to playgroup, ran errands, went window shopping and baked a little bit too. Anything to keep her from running, jumping and getting hurt! Not easy when someone recovers so quickly!
She went back to daycare the following week, with mild restrictions, and is pretty much back to normal now. The full healing takes 6-8 weeks, so no banging her head or dirt in the eyes, but all is good! Bubble parenting sucks! It's exhausting! But I will continue to do so as long as necessary...
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