The boys had a big exam day today - head ultrasounds and eye exams. During the last eye exam, both boys' eyes were still too immature to detect the presence or lack of ROP. This time, William's eyes were still too immature to evaluate. Aaron does have stage 1, but this is fairly common and expected with preemies and should resolve with no issues.
William's head ultrasound looked good - his ventricles were enlarged from the bleeding, and have decreased in size in both the last ultrasound and this one. Aaron's was about the same as the last exam. The bleeding in the tissue is still resolving. Even when we are able to see the extent of the damage, we will not know what effect it will have until it is time for him to reach different milestones. Ideally, the doctors would come to us and say "Surprise, there's no damage, just healthy brain tissue!", but unfortunately that's not going to happen. The brain is an amazing thing though, and preemie brains are still plastic - they can rewire so that other areas take over the functions of the damaged area. The doctor shared a story today of a bright, healthy 2 year-old girl whose parents had her examined because she was having some difficulty walking - an MRI showed that she was missing literally half of her brain. The other side had taken over almost all of the functionality. Amazing, really. Don't worry, we're not looking at anything quite that serious, but the story helps strengthen my faith that both boys will be just fine when all is said and done.
Tomorrow is the boys' 2 month birthday! Hopefully the bad weather holds off long enough for us to make it to the hospital in the morning!
Stay dry and safe tomorrow!
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