Friday, February 15, 2013

The rollercoaster of parenthood

I knew that being a Mama wasn't going to be all fun and games 100%  of the time, but I never knew that I could feel so protective of Grey.  Whoever coined the phrase "Having a child is like having your heart walk around outside of your body," knew what they were talking about.
Let me explain...

A few months ago, we noticed that every once in a while Grey would cross his left eye.  We knew that this wasn't normal, but it was pretty rare at first, and he would start laughing like maybe it was on purpose so we sort of blew it off like it was just one of those weird things he tends to do:)  Well, as the weeks went on we noticed that his tendency to do this was increasing.  When our daycare provider, Terri, mentioned it, we knew something was wrong.  Thankfully, she is the one who really urged us to have him checked out by a pediatric opthamologist--the same one actually that her own son had seen. 

Grey and I went to the appointment without Jared because he was working, and I don't know what I expected, but I honestly thought he would tell us that it was just something that would pass or go away on its own--wishful thinking? naivety? Both? First, I should mention that Greyson was so good at the appointment! Our doctor was amazing, and I highly recommend him if you need a pediatric eye doctor.  But, within seconds of the examination, he knew what the problem was.  He told me that Grey has a condition called Accommodative Esotropia and would need to wear glasses to correct it.

Well, I almost immediately wanted to start crying, but I somehow held it together for Grey's sake.  What the diagnosis ultimately means is that he is so far beyond far-sighted that when he tries to focus up close his eyes start to cross because they are working harder than normal.  Apparently this condition can happen anywhere between the ages of 2-6 (nothing like being punctual), and is hereditary.  We have absolutely no idea where this comes from on either sides of our family, but because my Dad is adopted Mom is blaming it on the "mystery genes" to make us feel better:) 

Here he is testing out some different styles:








The good news is that because we caught this condition, and more importantly, actually did something about it, Grey has a great chance of correcting the problem.  I think I was so upset because I just felt so bad that this happened to him, I also don't want him to be made fun of in elementary school for wearing glasses, and not to mention that fact that apparently I am so profanely vain that I can't stand the fact that we can't match his glasses to all of his outfits. (I know, I know, I am really working on this.) 

We decided on the blue rectangular frames.



We have been SO PROUD of him for how well he has done with his glasses.  We were really worried about how he would do with them.  Since he is an especially rambunctious, not to mention stubborn, 2 year old, we were preparing ourselves for the daily battle.  He's been great, and I think he looks pretty cute too! Now, I just need to work on getting some red ones for his Christmas outfits...




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