​​Our daughter, Kate*, was 5 weeks old when I thought that something was not right with one of her eyes. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but one of her eyes didn’t track the same way as the other and appeared to be lazy. I booked a GP appointment the following day only to be told that everything was normal and it was just a developmental thing. I wasn’t convinced so continued to ask questions at her 6 week check with our paediatrician and child health nurse. Both gave me the same feedback as our GP – it was a developmental thing. In the coming weeks I saw another GP and two more child health nurses and kept getting told the same thing. I was beginning to feel like a hypochondriac, but I just knew that something wasn’t right. 

​One Friday afternoon, I was sitting on the couch with my 18-month-old Lola singing songs. I noticed a strange white cloud in her right eye. I had never noticed this before. It was quite dense and took up most of her pupil…. So as any worried mum does I googled it. BAD IDEA! Then in a panic I tried to book an appointment at the doctor to put my mind at ease, but being a Friday afternoon before a long weekend, they were all booked out. So, my next thought was the optometrist. We could go straight in.

​The sonographer zooms in, the sonographer zooms out. Again.

​The ultrasound session feels like it has stalled - we’ve been looking at bub’s eyes for a while now.

This is normal right?

I've sat through a few ultrasounds... what happens next is the bit that keeps an expectant parent awake at night. The sonographer has gone quiet. 

​After a rocky pregnancy, Harriet was born four weeks early weighing a light 2 kg. We thought all our worries were over now she was in the world. On a paed check on day three, they noticed a white reflex in her right eye and on investigation they confirmed that she was born with a cataract. We were told that it could be caused by a plethora of possible reason and tests were done to try and work out why. The all clear was given for any syndrome and metabolic issues and we were referred to the children's hospital with a congenital cataract.