Water Babies!

Hi Everyone-

Today we went to see Dr. Epley.

Dr. Epley is the pediatric neuro-opthamologist that is the go to guy here on nystagmus. He did a full exam- Ana was a trooper- just a few tears when they put the drops in her eyes, and the news is mostly good. Her nystagmus is as minor as we hoped. Basically it happens when she is stressed or scared- which we have already figured out. He said that all of the indicators of something worse were not there so that is great news. He also said that her vision seemed okay- she is far sighted but she is okay- probably 20/40. They cant really tell that until she is 4 apparently... So, maybe she will have bad eyes and need some help with that along the way but there is currently no need to plan surgery or give her drugs- he said she is far too mild a case for either of those routes. She doesnt even have a null point and she can actually will the wiggling to stop if you ask her too- which apparently is just a fabulous sign. The only bummer thing we learned is that apaprently if her sight is bad due to the nystagmus glasses actually wont really help, because it is not a focus problem but rather a nerve problem. So if in fact her vision is bad then she will just have bad vision- and maybe have to have a few allowances in school for that. But, my hopes are high that all will be fine and we will continue to monitor it of course. She will go back in 6 months for a check up but right now we are all okay- yes, she has the wiggly eyes when stressed but that is okay and something we can deal with and the dr. thinks it will continue to lessen as she ages.

And then back to the office for Mama and home to play with Jaimie (YAY JAIMIE!) and Sasha for Aaron and Ana. He did super well for his first play time away from Ana since they have been with us- but of course it was with Jaimie so no suprise there.

We also had our first family swimming lesson tonight. I met the kiddos and Aaron at the Ballard pool for our 6pm parent and tot class. It was fun and the kids absolutely love swimming. We were nervous and we arrived early so they could check out the pool, watch other kids in the class before us swim, prance around in their swimmers etc. Well, they were just rarin' to go in. They couldnt wait for it to be our turn. They literally hopped into our arms as soon as we got in the water and we had a great 1/2 hour learning to blow bubbles (Ana is great at this, Sasha decided that he doesnt yet get the difference between breathing in and out underwater but he doesnt seem to mind the taste of pool water....), kicking- both are champs - and basically having a grand time frolicking in the water. i really feel like I bonded with Sasha during this swim- he was in my arms the whole time and we had a ton of fun eye contact etc. Next time i will have to take pics for sure!

Then home where the awesome Jaimie had made us dinner. Sasha is currently sleeping and Aaron is still trying to convince Ana it is a good idea so it will be another long night but we had a great day!

SKB