That Kid with the Droopy Eye

Our baby is perfect! Absolutely perfect. However...

At just moments after Liam's birth (well, maybe not moments since I was "out" and can't really remember much of the first several hours of Liam's life...so let's say hours), I mean, hours after Liam's birth I noticed he had one eye that looked kind of "droopy." This was really no big deal to me - Ben was born with a droopy eye too...it runs in our family.

Liam's, though, was different, his eye was almost closed. He also had some "goo" in his eye. The doctor told us this should resolve over time, as it was just a blocked tear duct and was fairly common.

At Liam's four month check up our pediatrician decided to send us to a Pediatric Opthomologist to have the eye checked out - it seemed to be getting worse, not better.

We were able to get in to see the Ped. Optho doctor pretty quick. I fully expected for him to say "yep - it's a blocked tear duct...let's wait it out." That, however, is not how it went down.

It turns out that Liam has a little more going on than a blocked duct. His right eye lid is very lazy and his pupil is smaller than the other. Liam has Horner's Syndrome. Horner's Syndrome is caused by some type of nerve damage which effects the eye and sometimes one side of the face. In infants it is most often caused by a traumatic birth - yep, that's us! Liam was born via c-section yet they still had to use the vacuum extractor and forceps -multiple times. It took almost 45 minutes to get him out - he was literally stuck in there. Traumatic, to say the least!

There could be other causes for Horner's - some are kind of scary, so Liam is going to have an MRI to investigate the cause and extent of the nerve damage. I am not worried!

From what I have read there is no way to "fix" Horner's syndrome - he just may always be known as "that kid with the droopy eye." It may or may not effect his vision, that will be determined by yearly visits to the Opthomologist...but it will most likely change his eye color in that one eye. His eyes are already blue - but the Horner's eye may fade to a light green...I think that will be kind of cute!! I think a droopy eye will be cute too!

Some people might want to play the "blame game" and blame the doctor who delivered Liam. I, however, think that is ridiculous! Our doctor did what he had to do to get Liam here safely! He had a limited window of time to get Liam out - and considering the circumstances, he did pretty good! (Seriously, it was not your everyday "run-of-the-mill" c-section. My doctor later told me that this was one of the most difficult c-sections he had ever done. It was very scary!)

Liam is healthy. This is no big deal (I'm pretty sure). I have many friends who are dealing with much bigger issues. I can deal with a droopy eye!!!

Liam 4mos (almost 5). Horner's Syndrome - Right eye