Retinopathy of Prematurity

Today the babies had their first eye exams and the results could have been better and they could have been worse. First off, the good news is that Slade's eyes looked great. They still aren't fully developed which is expected but their were no signs of any issues. This is especially good because stats show that white males born under 800 grams have about a 80% chance of developing eye issues (darn wimpy white boys). He will continue to be monitored but for now,so far so good!

The girls however did have signs of Retinopathy of Prematurity. ROP is an eye issue that is extremely common with premature babies especially as premature as our babies are. In the most severe of cases, it can cause future vision problems or even blindness. However, this is rare and the "majority" of babies end up with normal vision (some studies say upwards of 90%). Ella and Claire both have Level 1 ROP in one eye and Level 2 in the other. Both levels are classified as "mild". They will check them in a week and we will be hoping for them to get better or stay the same. However, even in cases when they worsen, their is a good chance they will still resolve themselves on their own and cause no further issues. The other 10% that do not resolve on their own still have options that will prevent blindness although I'm not going to go over all that.

So while of course we would of liked to hear that everything was perfect, we understand that this is another "typical" issue that preemies face and it too will pass. In the meantime, we are hopefully for a rapid recovery and no lasting effects. It is tough though after such a nice ride at the top of the roller coaster for the last few weeks to have another dip no matter how expected it is to be...