March 25, 1986 – I was born with Strabismus

I was born, the fourth of five children in March of 1986 in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was two weeks late, but there were no complications that could have contributed to my development of strabismus that we know of. I did suck my thumb, even before I was born, maybe that will turn out to be the missing link, but I highly doubt it.

It’s hard to say if I was born with strabismus, which would be congenital strabismus or if it developed very early on in life. Most newborns, 80%, are born without the ability to focus the eyes together. Many times an infant takes the first few months of life to successfully align their eyes and coordinate their movements.

I never developed that ability. Was it because I had congenital esotropia so I wasn’t able to, or did I develop esotropia because I couldn’t coordinate my eyes? Was it the chicken or the egg? It’s hard to tell.

The picture above was taken the day I was born, March 25, 1986. I feel like my left eye looks straight and my right eye turns in slightly. My left eye has always been the stronger eye, so maybe my esotropia was congenital. It’s really neither here nor there at this point except to satisfy my curiosity.

Either way, my mom always tells me about how I was the most calm, happy, and pleasant baby of her five, so I’ll just focus and dwell on that peace of happiness.

To read about my first encounter with an ophthalmologist, read on.