Thursday, April 14, 2011

New Glasses

Nolan needs a bigger nose. And ears.

We picked up the new glasses today. We put them on in Walmart, then I tried to get some shopping done: I had to put Nolan in the cart, because he kept walking along v-e-r-y slowly, looking at everything. He was quite pleased with how clear things were, and was really taking everything in.

I took the boys to the playground immediately after Walmart, and Nolan seemed to do well with the new spectacles. Right now, we only have two problems: one is his flat nasal bridge, which makes glasses very hard to fit. We have to have the saddle nose bridge piece and the cable arms to keep them in place.

They still slide down a lot, which leads to the second problem: Nolan keeps looking over the top of the lenses. The amblyopic eye needs to look through the lenses to help his brain recognize that vision is now possible in that eye. The glasses slip a little, and Nolan peeks.

Hey, NO PEEKING!

Otherwise, things are going really well. He's keeping them on, though there is quite a bit of peeking. The online pair I purchased are going to be way too big: they had a 130mm temple piece, and the straight-arm glasses at Walmart were WAY too big with this length. He really needs a 122mm-125mm temple length, so I'll go back online and try to find a smaller frame. Luckily I only spent $12 (with shipping) for the pair I bought!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG! He is so cute!

WE had the tech bend the nose piece inwards and upwards to prevent Kate from doing the "Grandma llance" over the tops of her lenses. She, too, has a teeny tiny nose and it worked!

Love it how you said he walked slowly, taking it all in!

Charlotte said...

I needed some glasses too (3 weeks ago) after 33 years of 6/6 vision, it came to shock, I never thought I needed one. So when my opticans ordered, 2 new pairs (not cheap at all!!), they had to be specially ordered since I need Prism for my double vision and I have far sightness. I thought i read small prints fine. When I got the glasses, it was like WHOA, I CAN SEE!!!! the print of books was much clearer and black, I guess with double vision it looks greyish. With them on, I had to peek over my glasses to see people at distance, with CI scar it takes quite a rubbing when I take them on and off alot! When i tried the glasses, it took nearly 4 shops/approx 5 hours in total as I have smallish ears plus the CI and HA, one ear lower than other and HUGE nose bridge!!!! settled for Red or dead designer ones..... I hope I won't lose them (lose one of the case already)....

Nolan looks absolutely adorable.

spherescamp said...

I picked up my new glasses today, too!

When I went to the optometrist last week, he asked me what style I wanted and then started pulling down pairs that were mostly plastic and thick on the ears. I looked at them all and said, readjusting my hair so it wasn't covering my ears, "it's precious real estate back there. I need ones with slim arms". He looked very confused for a moment.

I'd already told him that I'm deaf and that he couldn't have my glasses to check the prescription until I was done talking with the receptionist. He was good about talking slow, but seemed to think I had unlimited space behind my little ears!

He's a total cutie!

Sarah said...

Leah,

I'm a fellow JTC summer session mom (June 2010 with Michelle and X, whom I believe you know) and have been enjoying your blog for awhile. Reading about your experience has been wonderfully helpful to me. :)

Our Isabella, age 3, has been wearing glasses since 15 months and hearing aids since 23 months. She never tolerated the cable temples, so we used a strap to keep them in place. We could adjust the strap perfectly so they didn't slide down on her nose at all. You might try it. For the second pair, you might have them bend the temples to fit and use a strap with that too.

Good luck to you! I'm thrilled that Nolan can see better and he sure looks cute!

Sarah

leah said...

Thanks for the input! Noah's mom (Adventures in Preemie Sitting) told me about the straps, too. She said they really help keep the glasses up, so I think we will be getting one.

He's doing pretty well with leaving his glasses on, but it does take some bribery. He's tolerating the cable temples, but they are a bit of a pain. When I try to take his glasses off to clean them (with a puppy, smudgy fingers, etc. this happens often), the cable temples want to take the hearing aids with them! Straight arms would be much easier to remove!

Megan said...

So are Nolan and Luca on the same path or what! Glasses are way easier than hearing aids. It took Luca a few weeks to get used to them, but now, no problem. I would really recommend getting a strap just for extra protection in case the fall off when he's running or something. I took a little bottle of glass cleaner to Luca's preschool so she can clean them periodically.

Oh, I wish Nolan and Luca were closer as they would have so much in common and be wild boys together, too.

Herding Grasshoppers said...

He is SO CUTE!!!

I'm glad you've got other moms "in the know"... I was thinking about the old-style sports strap to keep them snug.

Oh, I REMEMBER getting my first glasses, um.... more than 30 years ago. AMAZING. I could see individual leaves on trees. I could read signs. I could see the baseball and where it was going.

It's a brand new world for Mr. Nolan!

Julie

leah said...

Julie, it is so funny - we always attributed his "clumsiness" to other factors, but now we think it might have been his vision all along! Go figure! He is definitely taking it all in!

Megan, I wish we were closer, too. Nolan and Luca have a lot in common!

Julia said...

Just like Julie, I started thinking about when I got my first pair of glasses at age 13 -- I remember looking down the hallway at the optometrist's office, at a window with venetian blinds, about 30 feet away, and being startled to realize that you're *supposed* to be able to see the individual blinds. It was almost overwhelming for awhile, all the visual detail that I'd never realized was there. It's so cool to think of Nolan going through the same process of discovery. And yeah, he does look pretty cute!

Rena said...

how exciting for him to see things clearer, like the whole world is new. He looks adorable.