I see you!

Last night's eye exam results came back and we could not have asked for better results. She is in Stage 0. This needs an explanation: there are 5 "stages" for her to progress through with respect to the development of the eyes and mainly the retina. She is in Stage 0, which is perfect progress given her gestational age. When they do these tests they look for "retinopathy fibroplasia" (Anna dares you to say that 3 x really fast) or RLF. RLF means that there is an abnormal growth of the blood vessels in the eye which can cause retinal detachment. It is a very dynamic disease and could cause blindness. These are the 5 stages that classify the severity:

• Stage 1 blood vessels not completely developed.
• Stage 2 enhanced grow of blood vessels (more than normal).
• Stage 3 is extraretinal fibrovascular tissue (bleedings, rigid pupil) .
• Stage 4 is sub-total retinal detachment (severe vision loss).
• Stage 5 is total retinal detachment (complete vision loss).

As mentioned, Anna is a stage 0 meaning that they did not find any abnormalities what so ever. These eye exams are fairly intensive. The baby is propped straight up and put under anesthetic. Then the poking and prodding in the eye starts and it is not a pretty sight. She will have another exam in 2 weeks.

As you can see from the picture, they put nose prongs on her. On rounds this morning the doctors have decided to wean her off the SiPAP! This is very exciting and hopefully the beginning of her not needing any support. She will be off the machine 4 hours out of the 24 for the next few days. Then, if she handles that well, 8 out of 24, 12 out of 24 etc. She is doing amazing with her breathing as well as her weight gain.

We will continue to keep you posted.

Arthur & Marta