EYES!! & an Epiphany!

Took all 3 kids to the eye doctor today with the help of Grandma GG.
Given their prematurity & Liv's vision issues, I wanted to have the boys screened so that just incase there were any issues, we could get ahead of them before real school starts in a few short years.  They all had follow-up to screen for ROP post NICU & Dr. Troia had peeked at the boys once when they were maybe 8 months old, but otherwise this was their first visit to the eye doctor.

Liv has been seeing Dr. Troia since she was 7 or so months old & while he is fantastic & his knowledge & skills are amazing, Olivia has been very stable in her prescription post-op & our last visit there I was a little put off by the "hugeness" of the opperation.  I hate nothing more than feeling like nothing more than a number.  He had GREAT surgery follow-up & I felt very un-numberish right after surgery.  And I'm really glad we went there early & had surgery done early.  But now that she is over a year out & stable, I wanted to try something new.

Enter...Our small town eye clinic in Gretna that Jeff & I have gone to for years.

I LOVE that place.  LOVE them.  They are just over the top nice.  So friendly.  Now we have been frequent visitors of theirs over the years for new nose pads or screws or allignments for Liv's glasses & we have purchased a pair & some lenses for her from them.  And everytime we walk in the door, they call us by name.  Not something you find "here in the city" if you will. 

They participate in a program called "See to Learn" that offers free vision exams to 3 year olds!  FREE!  So why not go?? 

They did GREAT!  Dr. Chapman said she had to get herself psyched up for three 3 year old visits... but that they were a breeze.  They all sat nice & did what we asked (except talk).  Only Logan told us what pictures he saw when we covered one eye & the other.  It was fun to see what he said!  Called a little birthday cake picture a castle & a circle in a row of shapes he called the letter O.  Which shocked her that he could point out letters (I LOVE our daycare/preschool!)  The other 2 (& really him to) she just did more passive exams based on light reflections, etc, etc which is how Dr. Troia has done all of Liv's exams too.  They all got their eyes dialated & she did a good real eye exam looking at their retinas & all that internal stuff too. 

The boys are both slightly farsighted, but thats normal for this age.  So they are good to go!  See her again in 2 years before Kindergarten, or earlier if anything changes.  She changed Liv's prescription slightly (which Dr. Troia gave us a script for when we saw him this fall & I had not gotten her new lenses yet because I knew I wanted to take her here too.)  We'll take her back to see Dr. Chapman in 6 months. 


While we were there, in random conversation, Dr. Chapman asked if having triplets gets easier or harder with age.  I've been asked that a million times over.  And up until this moment, my answer has always been "it just gets different."  From sleep deprivation, to physical exhaustion keeping 3 moving objects safe, to learning patience with PT & tantrums x3.  And just this past month, with Thanksgiving & their amazing behavior at the dentist & doctors.... I told her... "I think I just had an epiphany that we may have just crossed that bridge out of survival mode.  Or we are at least crossing it."

Don't get me wrong.  They are exhausting.  And they fight.  And they are still 3 busy toddlers.  And we have potty accidents & poop issues.  But, given the fact that I have blow dried my hair 2 times this week... I think maybe, just maybe, we may be crossing to another side. 

PS.  Both boys napped & stayed dry again today!  And they always do at school... so thats 3 days in a row!  We are almost down to just 2 diapers a day!!!