Eye Exam Day 2/11/13
Melissa
I got to the hospital first thing after shift change this morning to be sure I was there for Hattie during her eye exam. I didn't want to miss a thing! Hattie got three rounds of dilation eye drops every thirty minutes beginning at 8 a.m. While we waited for the eye doctor to arrive, two different nurses and Dr. Palma warned me that Hattie may not handle the exam well. They told me she might desat or brady during the exam and afterward throughout the day. I appreciated the preparation and was feeling quite nervous for my sweet baby. We're happy to report that the exam wasn't as bad as I had imagined and I'm proud of Hattie for being so brave. Hattie's stats stayed up all day and, other than the dilation, she didn't seem to be affected too much by the stress of the exam. We kept her room very dark all day so the light wouldn't bother her.
At around 10 a.m. the neonatal ophthalmologist and his two nurses arrived. I stayed in the room to watch the exam. Wearing a light on his head like a spelunker, the eye doctor inserted the metal contraption into Hattie's left eye first, pried it open and used a probe to push her eye from side to side, then repeated it on her right eye. The whole exam lasted less than four minutes. Hattie cried a cry I've never heard before. It was a "you're hurting me" cry rather than her little "you're annoying me" cries we are used to hearing when we bother her during her hands on time. The eye doctor said Hattie's eyes looked good and were measuring in "zone 2" which is exactly where she should be at her gestational age. She'll have another eye exam in two weeks.
After the exam, April gave Hattie a treat to comfort her. She put a little sugar water on the tip of a pacifier. It's called a "sweetie" and Hattie absolutely loved it. She has never been so happy to have a paci!
Chris and I had a bit of a role reversal this afternoon. I had an event to go to for work with Team Awesome so Chris got to the hospital at around noon to take over for me. We didn't want Hattie to be alone today in case she reacted poorly to her eye exam. He and Hattie kangarooed all afternoon. Hattie took a little longer than usual to settle down but otherwise she was perfect. She did work out a very, very big poop while Chris was holding her which was likely caused by the dilation medicine.
Hattie weighs 1,448 grams. She lost a few grams since yesterday; it's not a big deal and we're attributing it to the dilation medicine and her big poop this afternoon.
Hattie and I nuzzled and then kangarooed tonight. We were both in a dead sleep when an alarm frantically went off. It turns out it was the hospital's fire alarm which oddly sounds very similar to the alarm that dings when Hattie's heart rate or oxygen saturation level decreases. My mommy instinct kicked into high gear! I shot up in the chair and before my eyes ever even opened I started rubbing Hattie's back. (Sometimes when we are kangarooing, Hattie gets into a very deep sleep and can drop her heart rate or desat. When that happens, we've been told to rub her back to stimulate her and wake her up.) It turns out Hattie was perfectly fine, her stats were normal and the fire alarm was all clear about ten minutes later. I hope she enjoyed her spontaneous back rub...
