Will is getting to be such a big boy, as demonstrated here in his excellent exersaucer pose from yesterday. He's just so serious about having fun!Since he's getting bigger and more active, we had to make a quick decision about getting a procedure done to unblock his tear duct. We mentioned his continuing sticky/crusty eye at his 4-month check up and the pediatrician recommended an eye doctor who specializes in that. Luckily, he was also near our house.
Blocked tear ducts are very common in babies and most grow out of it by their first birthday. In the meantime, some kids get regular infections (Will didn't) or wake up with crusted closed eye lashes after sleeping (Will did). Since it wasn't getting any better, we had to decide whether to wait it out or have the pediatric opthamalogist scope the duct.
We met him almost 2 weeks ago and were impressed with his experience - both with the procedure and with giving an eye exam to a baby! The procedure can be done in the eye clinic until about 5 months of age using numbing drops to the eye. Any older and the baby is too big for the nurse to hold still while the doctor works, so the procedure is done outpatient at the hospital under a general anesthesia (i.e. asleep).
We weren't relishing the idea of 6 more months of baby with his eye glued shut while we waited to see if he would outgrow it, nor were we at all keen on putting him out for an effectively elective procedure. So, we took the first slot for the office procedure in order to get him in before he got too big. That was today. Unfortunately, Jason has been out of town for a week, so I had to take Will myself.
The whole procedure took maybe 4 minutes, but I was still really anxious! The doctor said the duct was successfully opened. In case you're wondering, no I didn't watch. I sat in the adjacent waiting room where I could hear the crying but couldn't see anything. Will was done with the hysterics by the time we got our paperwork to leave. We got home and snuggled on the couch to nap and watch TV for an hour before dinner. He ate, played in his exersaucer, and went to bed at his normal time.
Follow-up care is antibiotic eye drops for 2 days. If his eye is goo free in two weeks, then it was a success and no follow-up is needed.
