Learned My Lesson

After Savannah's Nap today, just like any other day i put her hearing aids straight in.
Today was not different.

We wandered over to visit Nana & Pa at home & show them Savannah's new stylish shoes. My Mum was on the laptop & Savannah was on her lap playing around with it. My Dad called out to Savannah numerous times & no response. I had to chuckle thinking that she was ignoring him.
He continued to call her name & still no response.
So he clapped his hands really loud & Savannah turned her head, so i didn't think much of it.
I commented on how it was strange she wasn't reacting like she normally would & especially not to her name.
I noticed she had started playing with her mould & digging her finger in, so i decided to take the hearing aide out & check that it wasn't full of wax. I grabbed it & checked it & then put it up to my ear.

Oops. I had just realized that the battery was dead. The hearing aide battery must have died before we had come over.
No wonder she wasnt replying to her name! The wasnt going to be hearing her name from the Profound ear!
I cant even remember the last time i changed it either :/ How bad is that!!
I learned my lesson today! complacency=bad mama!

Happy with the road we are on..

As of today i realized that right at this point in Savannah early intervention I am Happy with the road we are travelling on.
Let me tell you though, it hasn't been an easy one so far. Savannah's Hearing Loss is just so borderline that questioning the CI is only natural.
The decision to step back from the CI clinic for the time being was actually made by me but i decided from their response. My last post made me realize that i wasn't so much focusing on Savannah's learning anymore, but worrying about the what ifs & the things that have no yet even happened.
After speaking with the CI clinic to try to book an appt to be re-evaluated i was pretty much point blank told that their decision has not changed & unless Savannah's hearing loss has dropped they where not going to give me an appt.
You would think after ALL of this i would have been angry, livid almost, but strangely i hung the phone up with ease.
I just felt like at this stage i needed to refocus on Savannah & getting her to listen & speak & not worry just yet about getting an Implant.
After a routine visit with our audiologist, i asked her if the volume & settings on her hearing aid where able to be tweaked to try give her more access in those high frequencies.
She figured it wouldn't hurt so she changed them for us. We are due back for a set of hearing tests & assessments to see if this has given Savannah anything more in those HF sounds & to see if we are able to shift her booth test down to 30db in those frequencies also.
Long shot i thought but hey what did we have to loose? I figured we need to try EVERYTHING before we turned back down the CI road.
So far we are 4 weeks into the new setting changes & let me tell you, i am just BLOWN away by how Savannah has been doing. We really hadn't had many new words or anything exciting to share but this past 4 weeks has just been CRAZY.
How strange to say that my deaf child does not STOP talking! lol All day everyday Savannah whether it be talking to me or pointing her finger & yelling at her brothers she is constantly showing us that she is absorbing EVERYTHING!
to date her new words are:

Apple
Banana
Flower
Shoe
Cheese
shhhh (puts her finger up to her mouth)


She also can sing the old MacDonald song " eee iii eee iii ooooo" LOL
Sings twinkle twinkle in the cutest little voice lol

I'm sure Ive heard a few more in there but we haven't heard them again so ill keep those for when shes really saying them :)

I'm starting to get a little more reassured that right now for us & Savannah we have chosen the right path with the Ha's and are happy with the road we are on.
Its nice to actually say that, to not have to worry about anything other than focusing 100% on teaching Savannah language.
I'm feeling excited, but again keeping our options open for the near future. She has a wonderful team of professionals keeping an eye out on her progress & making sure she is where she should be.
I may not be able to put my feet up just yet, but i can sleep much more soundly at night :)

Water proof Ha's!

How absolutely AMAZING is this! A trial conducted in Australia on the new Siemens Aquarius Ha's! just brilliant! i Hope phonak bring in something like this because I LOVE our phonaks!

Welcoming input & experiences

So basically I'm still sitting on the CI fence. I have been back & forth for weeks now. Last week after looking back over Savannahs Aided Audio gram, i had noticed & realized that her moderate ear (the "good" ear as we like to call it) does hear all speech sounds UNTILL the 4000Hz where she doesn't start hearing until 45db.
To me i had never thought anything of it to be honest until our speech coordinator pointed out that Savannah is clearing missing hearing the "f" & "Th" sounds which sit at 30db on the 4000hz.
How could i have missed this??? How on earth did the implant clinic send me away when my daughter isn't hearing everything
she needs?????
Apparently i was informed that these speech sounds can be made even if a child isn't hearing them?? (would love some clarification here)
I am starting to wonder if I'm actually being pushed aside with bogus information or if this is actually correct?
Can a child that CANNOT hear the "f" & "Th" Sounds truly be able to speak & learn speech??
As i have said before my daughter is deaf regardless of Ha's or not, she was born deaf & will always be deaf BUT why on earth is she not a candidate??
Before i go back to our Audi on Sept 1st I need to get some more info & feedback I would like to welcome ANYONE who is willing to share any experience with both Ha's & Implants that understands what I'm saying, or wears Ha's & is not able to hear some of the speech on the 4000Hz.
Are these as important as i think they are? Will this hinder my child? Remembering that my daughter is profoundly deaf on her right ear.
Thanks :)

Excuse all the background noise. there was quite a few people watching her when it was filmed lol

Is it ever enough.

Yep that's me this last few weeks. Is it ever enough with what I'm doing with Savannah?? Why doesn't she say more for a 16mth old? Are the HA's really working? Would the CI really help her & make a difference? I don't know if it is ever enough what i do :(
The reason i started thinking about this more was because Ive seen first hand children that have CI's are just amazing. Talk normal, hear amazing & are doing wonderfully. In all reality Savannah is profoundly deaf in her Right ear. Yes the hearing aide is helping BUT its not giving her the speech she will need. So to have her rely on her left ear solely is alot to ask.
Your probably asking Why have i started doubting myself & Savannah so much? Well simply because I don't know if shes progressing now like she should be. I was asked by a mother the other day who's daughter has Bilateral CI's why Savannah has not been implanted in her right ear? I kind of looked dumbfounded at her, but in all reality i had asked this question over & over myself. The only answer i could give was that the implant clinic no longer holds her as a candidate because her left ear is "to good." the lady looked at me with this WOW face, then proceeded to tell me that they most likely are not implanting her because it costs too much. Then she proceeded to continue to tell me that having 2 ears that can hear would be better than having 1 decent & 1 not so great ear.
Is she right? Most definitely.
I feel like the road is getting bumpier & bumpier & bumpier. The money is most definitely the main factor as to why the wont implant her. But what upsets me is, am i holding her back from having the best? If she had the 2 ears would this help her more?I know children with hearing loss should not be compared, BUT when you see children that are doing so much better at the same age, it makes you wonder.
Did i do the right thing with the Implant? Should i have fought harder for her to have a CI?
When does this get easier?
The questions, the worry the wonder... I just don't know where I'm at these days.
It could be alot worse..yes i know i need to tell myself this constantly.
But shes my little girl & all i want is the best for her...whatever that may be.......

its been awhile.

I have been meaning to write a blog for i don't even remember how long now. Ive sat down a few times to write, but each time i am disturbed by a baby crying or one of the kids needing something. As Ive said previously blogging is not something I'm terribly "good" at lol, Ive never had the knack for English class or writing. was absolutely terrible at it. So i find it hard to write this. So bare with me whilst i update on how Savannah has been doing.
We have had a pretty amazing/roller coaster few months.
Savannah has been doing exceptional. Her comprehension & language is flourishing & she amazes us everyday with new words & sounds.
So far some of her new words are :

"don't"
"don't do that"
"bad"
"stop"
"sit down"
"down"

I'm pretty impressed with her vocabulary at the moment.
Her comprehension on the other hand is just AMAZING!
She follows commands like:

"go get your shoes from your room for mama"
"feed your baby"
"burp the baby"
"bring mama a book"

We can sit & have a tea party which is so cute now. She understands when i ask her to stir her tea lol or take a drink. She amazes me everyday how much she is grasping & learning.

here is a clip of her saying "don't" its near the end of the video but we had to stage her brother to push her so she would say it for the camera..lol




I have also noticed Savannah recently taking a huge interest in music. She LOVES to dance around the house with the music on. She is so cute when she dances, i need to catch this on camera!

So a few weeks back we had a small fumble along the way which ended up being nothing, BUT for a moment there we thought Savannah's moderate ear had progressed to profound. She has some routine unaided hearing tests & she had a 35db drop in her left ear (mod ear). They checked for fluid & there was nothing, so of course i panic & have a mental breakdown. Our Audi thought she might have a progressive loss but we needed to re-check the results to confirm. So we went back in 5 days later, thankfully to find out the equipment was not working properly & her moderate ear tested back at the normal results..YAY thank goodness!

We also received Savannah first results of her 1 year testing. Not the 12mth testing but the testing they do here once you have seen your speech pathologist for 1 year. Savannah's results came back that she is age equivalent & sitting on the high end of her age. Which is amazing &i couldn't be happier!

I think that's about all the big news in our camp at present. Savannah keeps me on my toes, she is the climber of the family & is continuously climbing anything she can. drives me nuts. Its winter here & touch wood we have stayed germ free for the last 3 months! 1 more month & spring will be here! yay!
here are some recent pics :)