Some Milestones

Not So much with hearing, but Savannah has finally sat up on her own! We never pushed her & she has done it when she was completely ready! Yesterday she was trying to pull her legs up to get moving too which was exciting! This girl definitely wants to move to keep up with her brothers, but shes not quite their yet.

She has been super verbal the last few days as well. She is starting to mimick me & her brothers. She finds it quite funny lol

Trying to look for some additional speech therapy classes for her atm, i think she will benefit from that greatly.

I count myself lucky we have government medical & everything for Savannah so far has been free, Taralye is AMAZING

high expectations

I think i have always had high expectations of Savannah & how she is hearing, mostly because she was doing so well. Don't get me wrong of course she is, but today i woke up & felt like i had been doing something wrong...even worse that her hearing was really showing. I know you cannot compare babies what so ever because they ALL develop differently, but this morning three of my friends babies all whom are within days of Savannah have all said "Dada".

This is probably something i would have never have thought about before, but now i am forever wishing that day when she starts talking. I never thought i could possibly get jealous over this either. Is it right to be jealous of something my baby who already has a challenge cannot do? Of course it isn't. I feel terrible that i can even think like this. I really think that i need to be more realistic about it all. She is hearing impaired & of course perfect the way she is, but things may just take her longer because she needs to listen harder to understand.

I have never been bothered by Savannahs loss, its become the "norm" in our house now & the boys even tell mama when she doesn't have her "earing aides" in..lol

I guess sometimes all i need is "something" small just to know its all working well.

I guess all i can do is just continue what we are doing & pray she starts saying some things.

It would be amazing just to hear those few little words.

Hearing Test

The first thing today made me realize was, NEVER EVER under any circumstances take Savannah to Australian Hearing without having a nap! Oh boy it was NOT fun!!!! lol

We only got through one test today (which was better than nothing) she did the Left ear (mod/sev) unaided. Here are here results:

125hz - 50db

250hz - 55db

500hz - 55db

1000hz - 55db

2000hz- 65db

4000hz -70db

8000hz - 75db

AMAZING results for an unaided test with a GRUMPY baby! lol this is what she got when she was first diagnosed in the Left ear just so you can compare (also when diagnosed she had fluid in her ears):

125hz- 70db

250hz - 70db

500hz - 70db

1000hz- 70db

4000hz- 70db

8000hz- 80db

So obviously the fluid made a massive difference to her test results. Im so happy that she got some really great results today, even though it was only one ear i will take it anyways..lol

We have more tests on the 29th November because we wont go back in again till after Christmas.

Our Audiologist also is considering Savannah for a new trial of hearing aides that have just come out. They dont require ear moulds (YAY) not sure how they will work but they will contact us withing the next 5 weeks if they want Savannah in the test phase.

Also our Audiologist has sent of a referral to the Cochlear Implant clinic & for Genetic Testing.

So in the next few months we should have lots of updates.

Life After Taralye

Last night my husband & I where privileged enough to hear 4 previous students of Savannahs deaf school speak about their life living with their hearing impairment.
I don't know what i truly expected from all of this, but i have come home with more confidence & so much more Hope for Savannah.
Of course i had hope before, but i really had not experienced hearing impairment with kids older than 2, so how could i truly understand what it was going to be like.
This was an eye opening experience for me & One i keep with me for the future.
Four Students spoke 2 girls & 2 boys all different ages & all different hearing losses.
They had all achieved an AMAZING amount in their life & all where well adjusted & Happy kids.
The only learning barrier they all say they had avoided was learning a different language. Which would be hard when your being challenged to hear your own language daily.
One Girl she was 19 had bi-lat Mod/Sev loss & wore hearing aides & was currently in University studying. The other girl 16 had bi-lat CI's & was in high school doing amazing. One of the boys nick was 18 & in his last year of high school & doing amazing in sports he had a CI & wore a hearing aid. Then last but not least the boy that amazed me & truly left an impression on me. He was 13, had a CI & didn't wear a hearing aid in his sev/profound ear by choice. He was simply AMAZING! was a competitive swimming champ & was very into sports programs. He in my husband & my view spoke the best. Not one fault in his vocabulary or speech & if i didn't know he was deaf i wouldn't have given it a second glance.
I noticed from that night the older they where the more they didn't speak that well. Maybe this comes from being almost 20 years ago & not having the technology we do today?
I wonder if they had the same hearing aides as Savannah does now? Yes they went to her deaf school but technology was most likely nowhere near what it is today.
I also came out with much more understanding of how the CI works & how we may need to give Savannah this option not too far down the road. The two boys with the CI both had hearing aides with their sev/prof loss untill they where 2 years old. Their loss carried them that far & then they needed the implant.
All this imformation was what we needed to hear & what we need to witness from those that have been there. We have been tossing the idea of the implant for Savannah for a long time now, but have never wanted to truly say yes or no.
Now we have made the decision that we will carry Savannah as far as she can go with her hearing aides as long or as short as that may be & then when needed we will not hesitate to get her the CI.

I just feel very overall satisfied at where we are right now with Savannah & truly believe whatever lies ahead for our little girl was meant to be.

A Great Day...

Today was just what i needed after a few weeks of being disheartened about how Savannah was hearing.
We saw Julia (our amazing speechy) this morning & Savannah has improved out of sight! The fluid must have drained itself. I had noticed the last week was a major improvement & she was turning to me after i called her name & the noises where coming back in full strength & the girl was using those powerful lungs god gave her! lol
She is doing amazing. Listening really well & starting to become extremely interested in what we are doing with her.

Julia spoke, Savannah stopped & listened & then chimed in with her outrageous noises..lol

We are playing with a duck, fish, car, cow & boat at the moment & making the noises that go along with them. She is really listening & starting to understand.

We pulled a cow out & she smiled from ear to ear after we said "moooo"

She noticed Savannah looks up when u sing the twinkle twinkle song (we use our fingers for the stars) even without having used the fingers! She is learning!

She LOVES row row row your boat! she thinks rocking back & forth is hilarious! lol

We did some "UP" sounds with the blocks & we thought we heard her say "up" lol which I'm sure was just a baby noise...lol but it excited me anyhow.

She really is coming along now. Surprises me after having been sick & having the fluid she was completely unresponsive with the aides in.

NOW....different child..the child i had before the cold struck! YAY!

Back to working on "MAMA!" im gonna crack this one before she is 8mths old!

Anyway that's our update for today's appt..

on the 26th Savannah has hearing tests & will update then & another speech appt.

Frustrated!!!!!!!!!

So Savannah is nearly 7mths old & she still pulls the hearing aides out! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH i am soooo sick of her having to wear the pilot cap, but at the moment its the only thing that stops her from taking them out & putting them in her mouth! we have already have one choking the mould incident but shesssh when will this stop! i hate having to cover all the beautiful hair :(
Frustrated is not even the word for it!!!!!!!

Such a Happy baby

I look at Savannah everyday & wonder what goes through her head & what does she really hear? I cant begin to imagine what not hearing would be like, but savannah doesnt either. I just look at that Lil princess with her smile everyday & her fascination with her older brothers & i know it is all going to be ok! She has come along way & we know she will be just fine!
This past week has been much better with Savannahs hearing, I don't need to raise my voice to call her name & she has been really talking up a storm again. Praying that the fluid is draining on its own...looks like it from her rapid responses to my voice & noises again this week. We will know for sure when we revisit the Audiologist on the 26th Oct. Still havent heard about the Genetic testing for Savannah which is making me angry, its been nearly a month since we saw the ENT...
anyways here are some recent pics of Savannah :)

Bad day

Today was our fortnightly speech therapy appt. She came over & Savannah just bombed out today. Her good ear looks to be still full of fluid, she just isnt doing what she was before she got sick...the noises arnt the same & she doesnt talk as much...Im worried, how on earth can we move forward when we are getting pushed back...
I dont know what is going to happen now, not much they can really do when its the fluid thats stopping her from hearing like she was...Just ennoyed, angry & sad that its been almost a mth of this..grr