Setting Things Straight.....

Her eyes that is...

If you are creeped out by medical stuff be careful of these pictures, nothing too graphic at all but you have been warned....

This time last year, Jason and I were in the very early stages of the China adoption process. So hard to believe that just a year later, we have been home with our daughter for almost 2 months!

In the months that followed getting Penelope's file, we spent hours staring at her pictures. Studying every little detail. Getting to know her the only way we could.

One thing we asked each other over and over, "So is she cross eyed???" Every time, the answer was the same, if she is, that's the least of our worries. She was a 2 year old who weighed 14 lbs and 6 oz. Cross eyes was low on our list of worries. 

 
Strabismus was not one of her official special needs, but as you can see from the pictures below, her eyes were certainly crossed.

When we got home we took her to see Dr. Wolf. Adam said Penelope had bilateral intermittent Esotropia. AKA-her eyes turned in. Sometimes.
Adam sent us to St Louis Children's where the specialist confirmed exactly what Adam had told us. Penelope's esotropia was not the type to be fixed with glasses or patching. He recommended we schedule surgery sooner rather than later. Dr. Tychsen pointed out that her double vision wasn't helping her with her developmental delays.

On Tuesday we got up extra early and headed to St. Louis Children's Hospital for Penelope's eye surgery.

Long drive for a baby who could have nothing to eat of drink! She was happy as long as we were touching pointer fingers....

Hello St. Louis!

We went to the surgeon's office for them to do some eye measurements before we went to outpatient surgery

No idea what the mark on her head meant. I called her Penelope Potter :). 

How cute is she in her hospital gown?!?

Everyone was very, very nice but it was a lonnnnnnng wait.  Finally the nurse took pity on us and let us go down to a play room while we waited. Penelope wants this car!!

I was very nervous about Penelope being taken from us awake & her waking up without us. I understand no parents want to have to hand their kids over to a stranger, but for a child who has only had parents for 2 months, it is a very different situation. I worried that Penelope would think she was being taken from us or that we had left her. Fortunately the anesthesia staff was very understanding. They gave her versed and let us carry her back almost all the way. She was quite loopy when I handed her off. No problem!

The Dr talked to us after the surgery-he said it went fine, but it he will be more interested in how she is 3 months from now. He said her brain will have to relearn what it is seeing. 

She woke up REALLY mad!! She swigged down 2 bottles of apple juice and calmed back down.

You can see how puffy her eyes are. We didn't have to stay too long in recovery the we were able to head home. 

Looks like she lost a fight..... 

Just a few short days later, looks so much better! I will be the first to admit, I wanted her to "look normal". Not just for vanity, though that is part of it. I just can not stand the though of her having someone tease her about anything, let alone something within our power to fix. Not only that, but now her vision will be just as accurate as any other child. I'm thrilled for her!