I’m on the brink of having my third daughter. In fact, by the time this issue reaches your mailbox, I will probably be on maternity leave already. The funny thing is, I think I’ve spent more time planning content for the next three issues of CRST Europe than I have planning for the baby’s arrival. Maybe it’s a byproduct of this being my third child—and, more important, my third girl—so I haven’t had to run out and buy all the clothes, the swaddle blankets, the burp cloths, and the little gadgets that you (supposedly) need when you have a newborn. Or maybe it’s due to the fact that we gutted our kitchen and family room down to the studs back in June, and the promised 10-week project is still ongoing—so our house is in complete disarray and I have been unmotivated to attempt to organize anything.
I haven’t frequented mommy blogs or read any new books related to pregnancy or newborns this time around. I haven’t thought much about how my life will change with a newborn in the house again. I haven’t even put much effort into setting up the nursery “just right,” as I did when I was expecting my older two.
But what I have done is shared with my two daughters the excitement that the new baby will bring to our home. I’ve found quiet moments with each of them, letting them feel the baby move around in my tummy and suggesting how they can help take care of the baby and teach her new things as she grows. I have done this as a way to create a foundation of love that we will all build on after her birth. That, to me, has been the most important planning I’ve done during this pregnancy—building that foundation.
In the same vein, many pioneers in ophthalmology have built the foundations that this industry stands on today. This cover focus pays homage to those individuals who have contributed to key developments in cataract and refractive surgery and recaps the history of those developments: phacoemulsification, IOLs, PRK, LASIK, small-incision lenticule extraction, phakic IOLs, and CXL. But this issue also celebrates how far each specialty has come, as some of today’s top practitioners look at the current status of these fields and provide glimpses of what’s to come.
My oldest is now almost 6 years old, and, oh, how the years have flown by already. This will be my last pregnancy, my last baby, my last chance to create life. I’m grateful to have had three unique but equally powerful experiences, and I love watching my babies grow. I know that the ophthalmic pioneers of yesterday loved watching and helping ophthalmology grow, too, just like all of you.
