Activated!

Since Tuesday Hannah has been hearing the world a bit differently. 

 

She's hearing music from some of her favorite toys. 

 

She's hearing Mawmaw and Poppy's voice differently for the first time. 

 

And she's also talking with her baby sister on her first holiday hearing the world better. 

We are thankful for the technology to increase her sound and enable her to hopefully listen and communicate normally. 

She did a great job on Tuesday getting her CI turned on. When it was first activated she kind of wrinkled her brow and eventually smiled letting us know she was hearing sound in a new way. 

Over the course of the last few days it has been fun to see how she is adapting to her CI and hearing more and more. We still have a long way to go with speech therapy and helping her recognize sound, but she is off to a great start!

Thanks to everyone who have prayed us through this whole journey. I am glad to be on the other side of the surgery and recovery and I'm ready to press forward helping her learn more and more. 

Hannah is doing well for the most part. Sleep is still off and on since surgery, it is usually the first thing to get messed up when her schedule is interrupted, or when she gets sick or something. We are praying she goes back to sleeping well at night soon, for everyone's sake!

I look forward to the days, weeks, months and years ahead as cochlear implants become our new normal and we are amazed by a good God who continues to give good gifts to his children. 

Hannah's New Ear 👂!

On Monday we woke up incredibly early, loaded up 2 adults, two little girls and all their stuff and headed up to Cincinnati for Hannah's implant surgery. 

Thankfully everyone was healthy and the surgery went off without a hiccup!

Her surgery was at 8am, so we arrived at 7 where the nurse took us to a private room, we answered lots of questions and watched Curious George (because, what else would you watch at 7am to distract a toddler?) The surgeon came in and signed off on Hannah's CI surgery and 2 ear tubes instead of one, like we originally thought because fluid was present, and we got down to business. 

Hannah was pretty clingy and I think she knew something was up. 

 

At about 8:15 we walked Hannah back to the OR where she received some sleepy gas and they whisked her away. 

 

After that Mom and Dad got some breakfast and we waited. It was a long wait, probably 3+ hours, which may not sound that long, but it is when it's your child. 

Before we saw Hannah we met with Dr. Choo, her doctor. He showed us pictures of Hannah's surgery, something I had been told about, but wasn't quite ready to see. He showed us how the implant was placed, the coils and where her scar is. The coils are longer than needed so as her head grows they grow with her so no additional surgery is needed when she is an adult. He also encouraged us when he told us the surgery was very "textbook" and the CI worked really well when tested. He had a rep from Cochlear in the surgery who asked if the implant was in demo mode because it seemed to work too perfect. That's really good news!

After another 10 minutes the nurse came back out and told us we could come and see Hannah. 

 

 Such a sweet little patient. 

Since we were out of town and Hannah has additional issues besides hearing loss the doctor decided to admit us for one night. Being our first time doing this it was probably a wise move, but next time I vote for just heading back to Louisville!

So we were wheeled upstairs (Keith got the royal treatment, haha). 

Hannah went through periods of happiness and periods of pain. There was probably more pain the first day than happy, but we are seeing her improve. I think she was, and still is, confused about the pain and this enormous thing on her head. 

Thankfully the head wrap comes off tomorrow and we've heard, from other parents of CI recipients, that by the 3rd day post-surgery their kiddo was back to normal. 

 

As you can see, Hannah's already getting her spunk back. 

She is happy to be back home with her brother and grandparents (Keith's parents are here lending much needed helping hands) and playing with her toys. 

Now we wait two weeks for the incision to heal and then she gets "activated". So that ear should be a hearing ear by Thanksgiving. Thank you God!

Keith was really the champ over the last few days. Since I'm still nursing Suzi, she and I went to a hotel while Keith stayed with Hannah at the hospital. I guess he did deserve the royal treatment after all. ❤️

"The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm."

            Exodus 14:14

And it begins...

After a week of tests, evaluations and discussions the conclusion is to implant Hannah's left ear. This wasn't a huge shock to us and we are thankful everyone involved is basically on the same page, but the unknown is still scary. Especially having the surgery 1.5 hrs from home and everything that entails. 

We are taking everything one step at a time. First of all insurance has to approve the surgery, that can take 3-6 weeks. After it is approved we have to get on the surgery schedule. Best case scenario is 8 weeks, worst case is December. 😁

The reason we are starting with just one ear is because Hannah's left ear has always been her worst and since she has other issues, not just hearing loss, the doctor wants to make sure this is a mechanical issue and not a neurological one. So, doing one ear, then giving Hannah some time to show us what she can hear and do will give us information for a possible right ear implant in the future. 

So Keith and I have been reading up on manufacturers and think we have landed on one (it's a big decision choosing something that will go in your girl's head!)

Of course we want to commit this whole process to the Lord. We do think that He is leading us in this direction but would you pray for a few other things?

Please pray insurance approval would come quickly so that the appointment will be scheduled soon. 

Pray that the surgery would happen at just the right time for everyone involved. (Our family, family that may come in to help out, the doctor, etc). 

Please pray that this surgery will help Hannah hear better and begin to speak. 

There are many other specific requests that will come as the process unfolds and I'll share them with you then. 

Thanks for walking through this with us. It is a huge decision that can make a life-changing difference. 

Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.

Proverbs 16:3

4 weeks in

Suzi is already 4 weeks old. Actually, by this point she's almost 5. Life is flying by and she's fitting in pretty nicely. Of course there is less sleep and most days I'm spinning around from one need to the next, but I know this is a season and one day I won't be this busy with my kiddos. 

                     4 weeks old!

With the extreme heat that's covering the country we haven't been able to get outside like I'd hoped we would, but we are coping. The kids get bored and harass each other most days, but school starts in 2 weeks and I know Hannah (and I) will miss Eli when he's not here everyday. 

            

This week and next we are starting the cochlear implant process. Hannah and Keith went to Cincinnati for speech and aural evaluations on Wednesday and Thursday she had an MRI in Louisville. Next week we'll go back to Cincinnati and meet the surgeon and get his take on Hannah. From there we will know how to proceed. 

I'm hopeful that she needs CI's so that her speech and hearing will improve. Even though I'm not excited about the surgery and recovery, It should greatly improve her communication. At this point we still don't know exactly what she can hear and her speech is limited. Also, when we try to discipline her we wonder if she can't understand us or if she's just 2 and not listening because she doesn't want to. So many things to figure out with a girl like Hannah. ☺️

Keith was able to take off a few days this week to help with Hannah's appointments so we also threw in a little fun and headed to the Newport aquarium. It was so much fun. We saw sharks, walked under and above them and even found Dory-haha! (Eli was most excited about her). It was a fun-filled day and I think everyone had a good time. 

                         Dory!!!

                Can you find Suzi?

So, life as a family of 5 is constant and definitely busier, but I wouldn't change it. 

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

James 1:17