The Side Eye Queen

This post is an informational one. Another look into what’s going on with the munchkin. Over the last 3 years Dallas has earned the nickname Side eye queen. She’s been giving that look since she could open her eyes.  Although it complements the attitude she has developed. There is another reason behind it. As a baby she developed an eye disease called Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP).  It is caused by incomplete growth of the blood vessels The smaller a preemie is at birth the more likely he/she is to develop it. While in the NICU she was examined by an Ophthalmologist weekly. I made it a point to always be present for any procedures, pretty much anything. There were times her nurse would tell me it was ok to take a break and that she had her. I believed her 100% and ya’ll know I don’t trust many folks with Dallas.

Those eye exams were always rough to watch. They would take a metal clip and hold her eyes open while the Dr checked everything out. I learned they gave the babies a few drops of sugar water to help with pain before they did a lot of things. I was just as shocked as you probably are. I believe Dallas took all of this way better than I did. Well after about a month she was diagnosed with ROP. The disease has 5 stages with 5 being the worst.It can cause lifelong vision impairment as well as blindness in some children. It progressed over time but only reached Stage 2 before it began to improve. This was one of our many scares throughout her NICU stay. But, we got over that hurdle thankfully. The next one would eventually rear it’s head.

A year and some change ago, Dallas she was diagnosed with an eye condition called Nystagmus. This condition usually stems from a neurological problem. It causes her eyes to make uncontrolled, jerky movements and affects her vision as well as depth perception. I noticed whenever she looked at anything she would tilt her hear or look at it in an awkward position. Learning more about this condition I realized that the reason she tilts her head and looks from the corner of her eyes is because that is the best way for her to focus on what she is looking at to try and see it clearly which is almost impossible. Dallas is such a smart and resilient little one. Over time she has learned how to adapt and figure out what works best to allow her to make what she is looking at more stable. Every 3 months we take that long drive to go to see her Ophthalmologist. This is the same one who has been treating her since she was born. Her next appointment will be in June and this one will more than likely determine if Dallas will have to have surgery to repair the muscles in her eyes. The thought of it alone sucks for me. In these 3 short years she’s already had to deal with so much. But, one thing about having a child with so many different needs is knowing that you may not always like things but,  it’s your responsibility to ensure what’s best for them is always done. I’ve trusted Dr. H with the munchkin’s eyes for 3 years and I know she will do what’s best. The side eye queen just might be losing her crown soon. 

She's Too Smart

Quick post. Over the last 3 years I've noticed just how observant Dallas is. Even when you think she isn't paying attention to something, she proves otherwise. A few days ago, I was laying on the couch relaxing while she was playing with her tablet. I love this particular tablet she has from school. It is preloaded with only educational games, apps and videos. You also can't add anything to it unless it's done by the administrator so I don't have to worry about her going on YouTube or seeing anything inappropriate. So, she's doing her thing and the tablet shuts off. She brings it to me, I look at it and tell her that it's dead and needs to be charged. Right before her meltdown began she noticed I didn't have my glasses on. If you know me you know my vision ain't ish. I've been wearing glasses since elementary school and can't see a thing without them. Well apparently Dallas knows that too. She saw my glasses sitting on the window sill, miss smarty pants picked them up and handed them to me. I guess she figured I needed to see to get her tablet working again. She was wrong and it didn't help. So, her meltdown commenced as I put the tablet on the charger and found something to calm her down.

The Day it got real out in these Streets

September 9, 2013 at 5:36 pm, this tiny 1 pound human being forced her way into the world. Apparently she had some things to do and couldn't wait any longer. I guess she got her impatience from her mother.

I don't think I've ever told Dallas' birth story to the masses. It was a scary and almost ER or Grey's Anatomy like experience. I was 24 weeks pregnant, had no complications or concerns throughout my pregnancy. Saturday, September 7th I went out with some of my Zeta faves for some Mexican. Ended up not eating anything because the service was horrendous that night. Made it home around 11ish and turned in for the night or so I thought. Around 3 am I woke up with these crazy pains in my stomach. I didn't think much of it at first then my years of watching medical shows came in handy. I noticed the pains were coming every few minutes so I knew something was wrong. I called my mom and told her what was happening and she said lets get to the hospital. Well, we made it to good old Rowan Regional Medical Center and once we told them what was going on they took me right up. Thankfully they don't play around with pregnant women and people have chest pains. Got upstairs and my OBGYN came in and asked " why didn't you call the office first?" Why? So I could get a message telling me to call somebody else? Anyway, she did her OBGYN thing and checked me out. I wasn't prepared to hear her say "you're dialated 2 centimeters." Immediately I began to panic. It was way too early for this to be happening.

Once that was discovered, they immediately called a Critical Transport team from Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte to have me taken there. Why? "Because we don't handle premature babies"the nurse. In my head I said "but, this is a hospital. shouldn't you be able to handle everything?" Apparently not. But, I was all for sending me somewhere that could take care of me and the little one. About 7am the transport team arrived and we hit the road to Charlotte. As afraid as I was, my mother was right there with me and the paramedics kept me laughing and in good spirits the entire time. That would change once we made it to the hospital.

At this point I was 24 weeks and 6 days. Without sugarcoating in the doctor told me if I had the baby today her chance of survival was low. That's nothing a first time mother or any mother wants to hear. They decided to give me medication to stop the labor and told me to get comfortable because I was going to have to stay in the hospital for the remainder of my pregnancy. Ain't nobody have time for that! Especially not Dallas. Things went well the rest of the day. Although every couple of hours my nurse came in harassing me to make sure I was ok. Monday rolled around and things got a little interesting.

Now this may be a little too much info for some but just cover your ears if you don't want to hear it LOL. All the poking and prodding was starting to annoy me. If you've never had a catheter put in, be thankful. It was one of the most uncomfortable things ever. I suffered through it all day. That afternoon the medication failed. I started having contractions again. I have a high threshold for pain but that was something rough. Even though I was in pain i was still coherent enough to make sure  I didn't cuss in front of my momma. I held on to the bed rails and suffered through it. I was exactly 25 weeks so babies chance of survival had gone up. It still wasn't the ideal situation.

I told the nurse that I had to go to the bathroom. Her response, are you sure?" Ma'am, I'm 29 years old I'm pretty sure I know when I have to go. She finally said "ok but let me check you out first." Apparently she knew something I didn't know.  As quickly and she put her hand where it was going she said"uh oh, we're about to have a baby!" Commence the tv medical drama moment. The nurse told my mom to run out in the hallway and yell that she needed help. Debo opened the door and I heard her yell out "We need help in here." I was a little under the influence of some good pain meds so I was just chilling. Next thing I know. about 5 or 6 other people including the doctor rushed in.

The entire thing lasted about 2 minutes if that. I couldn't feel anything but the moment I realized what had just happened was when the nurse put Dallas' foot in my hand for a microsecond. It became real,she was real, I felt her. I was afraid because I didn't hear her crying. I looked over and saw them working on her, getting her onto a ventilator and fear took over. Before the first tear fell, I heard a faint little cry.

They whisked her away to take her to the NICU. I was a whole emotional roller coaster at that moment. They came in and told me she weighed a whopping 1 pound and 3 ounces. More fear sat it because in my head that was the smallest thing ever. I had so many questions, comments and concerns but, all I wanted to do was go see my daughter. I was a brand new parent, with no clue what to do but whatever it was, I wanted and needed to be doing it. It was at that moment I realized I had to get my Sugar Honey Iced Tea together because it was about to get real out in these streets. I was somebodies momma now!

 

Step Into Our World

I've always been a pretty intelligent person. I know a little bit about a lot of things but, the one thing I know everything about is Dallas Johnson. Or at least I thought I did. These last 3 years, I've learned something new every day about this little human being I gave birth to. If we're Facebook friends or you follow me on Instagram you see my daily posts about her. There is so much more behind the statuses and pictures that you see. I talk a lot about the funny stuff but there are some tough days as well.So, I decided to bring you all a little deeper into the rabbit hole of shenanigans that is life with Dallas. I decided to write this blog to go along with the series of children's books I'm working on entitled Dallas Does...... From the day she was born our lives have been one interesting event after another. From meltdowns to her infamous side-eye there are no limits to the things that Dallas Does.