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Preemies
Eye Exams
The twins have their eye exams on Thursday. I'm a little nervous about it. Any words of wisdom on what to expect?
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Re: Eye Exams
If they do a retnal cam on them you really don't want to watch that. It's a little more invasive, In regards to instruments, than the exam.
Both are uncomfortable for the babies....nothing painful as soon as its over they are fine. They might be a little tired after.
Chicken pretty much described the whole process.
Most babies do pretty well with it....my DD was an exception. We dreaded eye exam day because it meant a huge increase in bradies and apneas for the next 24 hours. The nurses said sometimes the stress can cause that or sometimes babies react to the medication used to dialate their eyes. Within 24 hours, she would be back to normal but its something to watch for.
Oh and if you are squeamish, don't watch-its kind of creepy to see your baby's eyes propped open.
Our precious girl, born at 27 weeks.
DD has had this done three times so far. Our next (and hopefully last one is in Aug).
First, they will put three different drops in their eyes. This serves to dialate their pupils and numb the eyes.
About 45 mins later, they will insert a sort of clamp (looks like BBQ tongs) to keep the eye open. The babies will scream like they are being tortured. The dr shines a bright light into their eyes (which will make you rethink all those times you turned your flash off on your camera so you didn't hurt their eyes) and uses a stick type thing to open certain areas around the eyes. They will spend about 1 minute in each eye.
DD stops crying immediately afterwards, which is nice. Her eyes are swollen for about 2 hours afterwards.
BFP #3 via cancelled IUI ~ C (2lb 3oz; HELLP) 5/16/11
BFP #4 via the natural (free!) way ~ E (8lb 11oz) 9/13/12
This is good to know about the apneas and bradies just in case they have an increased amount I can prepare myself and not panic (we seem to do that a lot these days...). Our DD has been having a lot of them lately as it is.
I think I'll pass on being there for the exams. Sounds like it's something that would be difficult to watch.
This word for word. And seriously, just dont look.
FAQ: My Friend Just Had a Preemie, How Can I Help?
My twins hate eye exam day at the NICU. It was the speculum that made them cry.
On eye exam day the NICU nurses and the eye doctor would recommended that the parents go get a cup of coffee and come back after the exam. Of course we could stay if we wanted but they said it was really hard thing for parents to watch. The nurses told us they'd hold and cuddle the babies till we got back. Also, like the other poster the exams really stressed out our babies and caused extra bradys.
Now that they are home we've had to go to the eye doctor twice in the last month. On the last visit I decided to stay in the room since my son was extra fussy. They were right it was really hard to watch, and a little gross. If they needed to go back again I'd wait in the hallway.
Lily born at 27 wks: 2 lbs 4 oz.
Max born at 27 wks: 2 lbs 2 oz.
Glenn born at 31 wks: 3 lbs 9 oz.
My twin's birth story