Eye Test

We took Hannah in for a scheduled eye exam today and learned that her retinas are developing as expected. She may still have vision problems (many preemies do), but she has managed to avoid the more severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) that is common in 24.5-week infants.

The eye test was not a pretty sight. Carla chose not to watch at all. Hannah chose not to be present at the proceedings, but lacked the mobility to act on that decision. While we were still in the waiting room, the assistant came out to put drops in Hannah's eyes to dilate them (open up the pupils). Since infants can't be asked to hold their eyes open and look at the light, a tiny metal retractor was used to hold her eyelids apart, and another to hold the eye still. This took only a few seconds for each eye, while the doctor glimpsed in with a pair of goggles and a handheld magnifier, but Hannah screamed like a banshee throughout, much like any of us would if someone held us down and put things in our eyes.

Fortunately, the attention span of infants is limited, and she forgot all about this experience within seconds of it being over.