ROP surgery

Oliver had surgery on Friday (March 8, David's birthday) to correct and prevent any further retinapathy.  Using a laser, the ophthalmologist scarred the area of his retina that did not have blood vessels running through it.  This prevents bad blood vessels from forming in those areas.  He believes that Oliver will have 90% of his vision, in comparison to the 40% that he would have had had they done surgery at the beginning instead of using the Avastin injections.  The surgery increases his risk for having near sightedness, so in a couple of months he'll start getting checked for needing glasses. 

Surgery went very well, and we were happy with both the nurses and the anesthesia team working on him.  It took about an hour and a half, and when it was done first Dr Oliver came out to let us know how it went from his standpoint, and then the anesthesiologist came out to let us know that everything went perfect from his point of view, as well.  Of course, everyone just loved Oliver.

We finally got into a hospital room for the night around 3 pm.  David had to leave immediately to go pick up Nathaniel, but we had a surprise visitor, Oliver's NICU nurse, Veronica.  It was great to see her, and she couldn't believe how big he had gotten.  David and Nathaniel came back out to the hospital to have dinner with me in the caf, but Nathaniel wasn't allowed up on the floor.  Oliver and I had a very long night in the hospital, and first thing the next morning a winter storm swept through.  David had a hard time getting back out to pick us up, and I had to tell the nurse and doctor to get on with it and get his discharged, we were leaving before the roads got any worse!

Nathaniel just loves the snow.  "NO!" as he likes to call it.  We've let him play out in it a few times now, and there's always a meltdown when it's time to come back in.  He cracks us up daily.  When he wants me to pick him up, but I'm busy with something else, David always asks him, "will you come see me?"  So now when Nathaniel wants to be picked up at all, instead of saying "up" he says "come see me."  It's so cute.  Milk is "munk," puzzles are "puz," and Oliver is "Ober."  I just love it.  His vocabulary continues to grow, and he's starting to repeat everything we say.  Time to reel in the road rage!

Nathaniel thinks that Oliver needs to be covered by every blanket in the house, and can't stand for him to not have a paci in his mouth at all times.  We have to really watch him, but he sure loves being a big brother.