a family affair...2.6

on friday, the 6th of february all five of us loaded up and headed out for a crazy adventure...
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we were going to the eye doctor...for sarah AND DREW to have eye exams! can you tell how much i was dreading this?!?
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sarah is an ole pro by now...she performs all the tests happily. except the eye drops...those cause a meltdown of epic proportions! happily, this day was NOT a dilation day! i did ask dr. byrd...sarah only has to have her eyes dilated 1x/year at her august appointment. thank goodness!
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so, we get there, and jacob needs to eat. so jacob and i stay in the van while tim and the big kids go inside. drew falls down and scrapes his knee on the way in the door...just a preview of the "fun" to come...
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i figured that tim would get everyone signed in and settled in the waiting room while i fed jacob. of course, today was the one day that they are running on schedule. after drew calmed down (requiring TWO bandaids from the front desk ladies!), they were quickly called back to the exam room.
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drew went first...he was initially excited to finally get to sit in the big chair that previously had been reserved for his big sister only. drew did his vision test for the tech...tim said it was "very interesting". i cannot imagine trying to test vision in an almost 3 year old boy!
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i arrived on the scene at the conclusion of drew's vision test...next sarah "performed" for the tech. after that, the five of us were left alone to enjoy the 3 channels of cartoons available on the television in the exam room...this is when tim filled me in on what i had missed. and told me that i better check the paperwork because he wasn't even sure he filled in drew's birthday correctly! dads--always on top of these things :)
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when dr. byrd came in (oh, 2 or 3 meltdowns later), she examined drew first. she said he had to have his eyes dilated so she could fully assess his vision/eye shape/etc. oh boy! so, she leaves and the tech comes back in.
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i don't think i can accurately express in words how eye drops are administered to a toddler. i sit in the exam chair with drew in my lap with him facing me straddling my legs. then, the tech sits knee to knee with me. then, i lay drew backwards into her lap. i (attempt to) hold drew's legs and arms still while the tech (attempts to) hold drew's head still AND put 3 different drops in each eye! its so much fun :) i KNOW you all wish you could have been there!!!
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after that fun experience, we all 5 (oh, did i mention we also have the stroller and everyone's coats? we looked like a three ring circus!) trek across the hall to the dim dilation room. sarah and drew immediately begin taking every single toy/stuffed animal out of the toy bins. jacob gets upset because he thinks we are trying to get him to go to sleep since the lights are dim.
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the tech comes in the check how drew's eyes are dilating, and THE DROPS ARE NOT WORKING WELL ENOUGH...so we have to repeat traumatic eye drop experience AGAIN. oh the joy in the room was palpable!
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finally, the drops have fully taken effect and we are ready to trek back across the hall to the exam room. sarah and drew settle on the floor comatose in front of the tv. jacob decides that now he really IS sleepy and wants to nap NOW...
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dr. byrd arrives again, and finished drew's eye exam. he got a clean bill of (eye) health! hallelujah! i CANNOT imagine drew having to wear glasses or patch...it would spell T.R.O.U.B.L.E.!!!
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she said that his eyes were the same shape and responded equally to her tests. she said he could still develop problems (as anyone could), but as of now, he was lookin' good! she said he just needs to come back in one year for another routine eye exam (as all of us should do...eh hem...just a little public service announcement!). we are so thankful for all the prayers on drew's behalf!
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by this time, drew was OVER being at the doctor and sweet little baby jacob was REALLY ready for a nap...
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we still have sarah's exam to go...so amid the cries and screams of her two younger brothers, sarah climbs in the chair for her tests. she did great...mom and dad notsomuch! dr. byrd told us that her vision remains stable at 20/30 corrected, so we can further reduce patching time! GREAT NEWS!!!
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so, sarah had been patching 3 hours/day=21 hours a week. dr. byrd said we could go to 2-3/hours a day=14-21 hours a week! being OCD, i arbitrarily chose 18 hours/week for our goal. that way, when we go back, if dr. byrd says we need to up the patching, i know that 21 hours/week SHOULD get us back on track. and if we go back and she says we can back off further, i know that 14 hours/week is less than what we had been doing! does any of that make sense?!?
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we were finally finished! all we had to do was make it out of the exam room and out the front door! i stopped at the desk to schedule sarah's next appointment and pay while tim tried to get all three kids into the van and their seats...i KNOW that office was so glad to see us leaving!!!
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so, great great news all around!!! we are beyond relieved that drew doesn't need any glasses! and we are on cloud nine to be reducing our patching time once again!
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we are going back in 3 months for sarah only to have her routine exam...you better believe drew and jacob will NOT be coming to that appointment!!!
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p.s. thanks for reading the entire saga...i am trying to write some stories of our crazy day-to-day life on this blog so that when i am old and gray, i can look back on these times and laugh!!!
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p.p.s. jacob fell asleep as soon as we started moving in the van...such a good little trooper!!!