MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

#1 WILL SHE BE ABLE TO SEE?

I don't think that she will be able to see. She is missing her optic chiasm and has very small optic nerves which they don't think will function. She really doesn't have much of an eye on the right side either. Only time will tell. When she gets a little older we will know more by what she reacts to. When she is much older she will be able to tell us.

#2 IS THERE A BLIND SCHOOL IN LAS VEGAS?

No, there isn't at this time. We will be moving states when she is a little closer to 3 years. There are a lot of states that have schools and we'll just have to do our homework to decide where we want to go. It has to be someplace that is good for the whole family.

#3 WILL SHE READ BRAILLE?

Yes, she will. We will all be learning braille. She needs to be exposed to it now just as a sighted baby is exposed to letters and words. A sighted baby has more of an advantage because he/she can see letters in books, signs, t.v. ect.... We will be getting braille children's books for her now so she gets to feel the braille letters and words and is exposed to it as early as possible. We can also get a braille label maker and label things in our household with braille. The more the better. Only 25% of blind people are employed. Of that employed 90% are able to read braille. This seems to be the key. Just as we would not let Kekoa be illiterate, we will not let Oliana.

#4 WILL SHE BE "NORMAL" OR WILL SHE BE MENTALLY RETARDED?

She will be normal. There is nothing wrong with her brain and nothing suggestive that she will be anything but smart.

#5 WILL SHE WEAR PROSTHETIC EYES?

Yes. We will be seeing an ocularist regularly to fit her eyes with conformers. These conformers will stretch her eye sockets and prepare them for a larger and more normal looking prosthetic eye. Don't call them glass eyes because they are not made out of glass. Most are acrylic. Mainly I just don't like the term "glass eyes". It sounds scary. If you want to see pictures go to the MAPS website that I have a link to and click on the info for conformers and prosthetics.

#6 DID I KNOW THAT ANYTHING WAS WRONG WITH HER WHILE I WAS PREGNANT?

No. Some people that have babies with micropthalmia do find out about it while they are pregnant. I, unfortunately, was not one of them. The ultrasound tech should have measured her eye sockets but failed to do so. If she would have measured them properly I would have known that they were abnormal because they would have measured small. This would not have changed anything however, I would have just been a little more prepared and it wouldn't have been such a shock. It would have made those first 3 days a little easier.

#7 HOW AM I DOING?

I am fine. I will not break down if you ask me questions about her or ask how she is doing. I just had a baby and am very excited about that. She is just fine. She can't see, but she is fine. It's okay to ask questions about her and to be excited for me. I wouldn't trade her for the world. I'm not ashamed of her and I don't like it when people just ignore the fact that I had her. Which some people have been doing. She's a wonderful, peaceful, happy baby and I am proud of her.