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| "Support" by Chuck Baird Art© |
There is an overwhelming joy of learning that you are carrying a baby, a new life to grow and be brought into the world. From that moment, everything changes and you step into gear to make healthier choices to give birth to a healthy beautiful child.
On October 4, 2011, we brought into the world a beautiful baby girl. It felt so great to hold her in my arms after being overdue 9 days. With a natural labor and delivery, everything was so beautiful and such a wonderful experience. She was a healthy 8 lb 14 oz little girl.
As a state requirement, all newborns must have a newborn hearing screening before leaving the hospital. Baby R, failed three different attempts at this exam within a 72 hour period. It was not too alarming as her older sister, Little A, had this same response, but after follow up testing, she was fine.
Baby R went for a follow up exam at 3 1/2 months, with no improvement. A final diagnosis of mild with progressive moderate hearing loss. What does that mean? Check out the speech banana below.
The cause of Baby's R hearing loss is currently unknown. It has been determined at the moment that it is a permanent loss that will not self improve and cannot be surgically corrected, but with a hearing aid, she will be able to hear within a normal range.
Hearing this information is a heartache for any parent. It runs through my head, what did I do to cause this? What could I have done differently? What else could she have that we do not know about? After taking some time to grieve and understand her loss, it was quick to appreciate what she does have.
Our journey is just beginning, but with amazing professional support and family support, we will have a learning journey and will strive to provide quality support to meet Baby R's needs that she may need to meet her max potentials.
My heart is with you and your family, positive thoughts and prayers are being sent your way. While communication may not be the same with Baby R, sign language is a beautiful journey that will foster this. I myself have been learning for the past couple years and like any other language find it challenging, but so rewarding.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kirstie. We have used sign language in our home since Little A was born. We will just be learning and using it more. I love it. :)
ReplyDeleteI personally feel for Baby R. I can't hear when people are mumbling and talking low and have to have people speak up. I am constantly telling Annabelle to do so. I will be getting my first hearing aides at the age of 27 this summer. No one is sure how it runs in families but mine is certainly genetic since I have 3 first cousins who all have hearing loss and are SUPPOSED to wear hearing aides. I also recommend as she gets older having her learn how to read lips. I have gotten pretty good at that as I have grown but it can still be hard to do.
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