In The Clear

Charlotte has had three eye surgeries. Two to stop blood vessels from growing out of control in her eyes and one to reattach the retina in her right eye. For a few days this summer, we worried whether or not she would even be able to keep her retina (It's a rather important part of the vision process). Over 50% of children who have Charlotte's condition lose eye sight completely in at least one eye.

In July, at the time of the surgeries, we were all hoping, praying, that Charlotte would be able to see light and dark. That she might be able to view outlines of objects. We thought at best, she would have severe nearsightedness and minimal peripheral vision. These were our best case scenarios.

As she spent more time at home, we noticed her tracking items, voices, and people. She is fascinated with the TV. We were pretty sure that our best case scenario was true. We were thrilled. Charlotte could see. We knew she would need glasses and that she'd need therapy to help strengthen her vision, but she.could.see. It was more than we could ever imagine.

Today, the eye doctor informed us that not only can Charlotte see, but she is not near sighted at all, and she doesn't have any range of vision problems. He's going to keep watching her, at little more closely than he watches other preemies (because, you know, these kids are never, ever to be trusted) but he is thrilled with her.

We're not even starting vision therapy. She doesn't need glasses.

Miracles continue to happen.