Her Eyes

There is so much we don't know about Avery.  I try not to think about it because it makes me sad.  I don't know who her biological  parents are, where she was born, when she was born, or any of the medical information that goes along with her birth.  She was abandoned.  Sadly this is the reality for many children in China because of the one child policy and because many parents can't afford medical treatment for their children they just abandon them; however, because it is illegal to abandon your child these children are left in secret with no information in regards to their birth.  When we got Avery she came to us with an eye condition called Stabismus or otherwise known as cross-eyed.  This condition can be present at birth or can occur from lack of brain stimulation like being left in a crib for extended periods of time.  The later is probably the case for Avery, but we will never really know.  When we brought her home we took her to an eye doctor who determined that she would need to wear an eye patch for 2 months and then she would need to have her eyes surgically repaired.  Yesterday was the day.  We arrived at the clinic at 6:30 a.m. and she was the first patient of the day.  The procedure lasted 45 minutes in which they cut the muscle in the eye and re-align the eyes. Sometimes just one eye is effected, but in her case both eyes needed to be repaired.  Poor thing was so sad when we held her again.  She spent most of yesterday in my arms either sleeping or crying as her eyes were sore.  We will be laying low the next couple of days in order to give her eyes time to heal.  We also have to put eye drops in her eyes 4 times a day.  She hates the drops as they sting, but are necessary in order to prevent infection.  While I know this was the best thing for her and her development, I am going to miss her silly eyes that at times were kind of freaky; especially, when she would turn the left eye all the way in.  I have heard mothers say after having their cleft lip-cleft palate children lips repaired that they mourn the loss of the smile they grew to love and this is the case for me with Avery, and at the same time I am so grateful she has the opportunity to have this repaired.  This would have never been the case in China.