Accommodative Esotropia

In one short day, that's a term we came to know well.  It's great that Gabs inherited dad's gorgeous blue eyes and all, but it would have been nice for her to get my vision instead.  We found out our Gabrielle's eyes are not so good.  About six weeks ago I started to notice that Gabi would go cross-eyed or lazy-eyed once in a while.  We kept an eye on it and then mentioned it at her two year well check.  Her pedi didn't really say anything about it, just referred us to and optometrist if we wanted her vision to be checked out.  Her eye issues had been getting worse so we made the appointment.

The first little test they did they knew there definitely was a problem.  The eye doc did several more tests, and then dilated her eyes and did the tests again.  She came out very far-sighted with a +7 in her right eye and +5 in her left.  Specifically, it is Accommodative Esotropia.  Everything I've researched about it says that it usually presents between 2-3 years of age.  Her doctor said that a two year old has about 20x the focusing power of a 40 year old, and right now she is using her maximum focusing power to see anything at all.

Gabi is getting glasses, though her prescription is only half of her actual deficit.  Since she is so young, they are hoping that her eyes and brain can heal themselves a bit over time but they aren't sure what will happen.  Most likely she will have some sort of corrective lenses forever.  There is a possibility that she may need bifocals and/or an eye patch for a few hours per day if these glasses aren't as effective as they need to be, but hopefully we won't have to go there. 

We picked out Gabs' glasses and I think she is getting a bit more comfortable with the idea.  She did SO incredibly well for the whole eye exam, and even the stinging dilation drop she got (didn't even cry!) but when it came to trying on glasses she lost it.  We came back the next day and got a pair, though.  They wanted to put her in these rubber ones with a tight band all the way around her head and I said no......there is no way she would EVER wear them with a band like that. 

We were able to get some little wire frames and I added the extra ear pieces, so it wraps more securely around her ears.  I hope that once she gets her glasses and she can actually see, she will want to wear them.  I'm sure it will be rough the first couple of weeks, but I'm hoping for her to adapt quickly :/  We will be back for another eye check in three months, and most likely every three months for quite a while.  Gab's glasses should be in next week, so wish us luck!  I just can't wait for my baby to be able to see.