Interesting Video Demonstration Hearing Loss

Hello!

Our parent adviser from the State of Arizona gave us a very interesting video clip that simulates hearing loss. It's a Flintstone cartoon that starts at normal volume, and then simulates what people with mild, moderate and severe hearing loss would hear.

To watch the clip, make sure to turn your computer's volume on. The cartoon's initial volume is normal. You'll then notice the words above graph on the right change from mild to moderate to severe. Owen's hearing loss is mild in low frequencies, but moderate in high frequencies.

Hopefully this helps you understand what Owen hears without his hearing aids on. His hearing is close to normal volume when he wears his aids, but he still loses some degree of clarity that the hearing aids cannot replace.

Two Under Two, No More!

It’s official, Drew is now two. He has been acting the part for a couple of months now, amping up the temper tantrums and asserting himself as the new head of household. While he is definitely crankier than his former self, his tantrums are relatively mild and brief. I have had to use the “naughty rug” method of discipline on a few occasions, and Drew has become rather fond of it because it always ends with a cuddle. He will purposely do something naughty, look at me and say, “Noddy rok?” I ask him to sit on it maybe once a week, but he tells me to make him sit on it about 5 to 10 times per day. What’s wrong with this picture?

We had a fun birthday party for Drew at our house yesterday, and he loved being the center of attention for his “Happy Day.” I made him some allergy-safe cupcakes again this year, but I’m really hoping he has outgrown his egg allergy. We’re pretty sure his dairy allergy is still hanging around, but we’ll find out for sure about both when his allergist retests him this summer.

His transition to the toddler bed is still a struggle, but it is slowly improving. Naps are actually easier than bed time these days. After a couple of bed time escape attempts, we just put up the baby gate on his bedroom door and let him crash out wherever he wants. He has fallen asleep in some pretty interesting places lately! Fortunately he’s easy to move back into bed once he is asleep.

And then there is Owen… sweet, precious, mellow Owen. I could just cuddle and kiss him all day long, if only I didn’t have so many other things to do with my time. He is now four months old, and we are getting the hang of keeping his hearing aids on during all waking hours. We have him enrolled in an early intervention program at a local school for hearing impaired children called Desert Voices. While Owen’s hearing loss is mild-to-moderate, there are profoundly deaf children there who still learn to speak with the help of amplification. Modern technology is truly fascinating. Owen now has speech therapy once per week, and by the time he turns two, he will graduate to a toddler class and therapy three days per week. The teachers there are so professional and great with the kids, we feel fortunate to have their expert advice. And the school’s fundraising efforts cover most of our costs, so we pay only $2 an hour for their services. Amazing!

Owen still struggles to eat. His prescription antacid has really improved the reflux, but he was still frequently choking and aspirating his milk while nursing and bottle feeding. Our pediatrician said this could cause pneumonia, so we reluctantly took him to our home-away-from-home, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, for a barium swallow procedure. He drank bottles of barium in various consistencies while being X-rayed, and was diagnosed with laryngeal penetration. That means that milk pools in his larynx (space right above your vocal chords and trachea), causing him to choke when he tries to breathe. Interestingly, we think Drew probably had this same problem, which caused his texture aversions when starting on table foods last year. Fortunately there is a light at the end of this tunnel, and Owen will eventually outgrow the condition just like Drew. Until he does, I have to bottle feed Owen (no more nursing) and thicken his milk with a special flavorless gel. It’s a royal pain in the neck, but at least Owen seems more comfortable during feeds. He’s a solid little guy, but I wouldn’t mind some extra chub on those thighs!

It’s baffling to me how two such healthy kids can be so high maintenance. I’m thinking of picking up a side job as a tour guide at PCH, since between Drew and Owen we regularly visit radiology, audiology, pulmonology and gastroenterology. As long as we never learn where the oncology floor is, I will continue to count my blessings!

All the better to hear you my dear!

Well, the biggest news at our house is Owen's new hearing aids. He was fitted for pediatric hearing aids by our audiologist in early February, and Tim and I are still trying to figure them out...they are complicated little gadgets. That said, we are so grateful for them, because Owen is already showing more personality. He doesn't wear them when he sleeps, nurses or rides in the car, so really that only leaves a few hours per day that he wears them. But while he does, he is more alert, more social, and more talkative (coos and gurgles). He seems to really enjoy Daddy's guitar music, as well as some of his crinkly baby toys.

Drew chose the most inopportune time (as in, the day after Owen got his hearing aids) to climb out of his crib during nap time. I was in total shock when it happened. I was on the phone with one of Owen's doctors when I heard Drew's bedroom door open. "Um, excuse me... I think my son just escaped his crib." I put the phone down to find Drew trotting down the hallway. "Hi!" he said, waving proudly. I put him back in his crib and told him to stay in there until he finished his nap. It took about 3 minutes before he scaled the prison wall again. I found him reading books with no broken bones when I came back to his room to check on him.

Reluctantly, I asked Tim to please convert Drew's crib to the toddler bed, and kissed the baby corral -- er, crib -- good-bye that very evening. I thought I might cry, not because my firstborn is growing up too quickly, but because I was not looking forward to the ensuing power struggle. And there was a struggle, but fortunately it only lasted 3 days. Now Drew is great at staying in his crib and falling to sleep for his naps. But those first 3 days were not so fun.

And Baby Makes Four!

Well, life has been a whirlwind since Owen was born 7 weeks ago. Two under two is tough, what else can I say?

Owen is taking after his hefty brother Drew. He weighs 13.5 pounds, has no neck, and has big, chubby cheeks. Unfortunately, he has acid reflux, and we’re having him tested this month by a GI specialist to see if he has GERD. We just changed his Rx antacid to Prevacid, and it seems to be helping a bit more than his first Rx. Fingers crossed we get the reflux under control soon, because he’s having a very hard time with feeds (although he is somehow still huge). He almost never cries, other than while he’s trying to eat, which just makes me sad for him.

Little man also has partial hearing loss (40 decibels of loss in both ears). A normal speaking volume is 40-50 decibels, so he can hear speech, but not loudly enough to learn how to talk without amplification. So he gets fitted for pediatric hearing aids tomorrow, and I have no idea how I’ll keep them on his tiny little ears. I actually bought toupee tape yesterday, which I have been told is helpful to keep hearing aids on. They will be really important for Owen’s speech and brain development over the next few years, but his hearing loss is moderate enough that he could take them off once in a while as an adult and function just fine. His diagnosis was really good news to us, because he failed his newborn hearing screenings 4 times at the hospital, and we were afraid he could be deaf. I pictured myself going to night school to learn sign language and everything, so in comparison, dealing with moderate hearing loss seems pretty manageable.

We were also afraid Owen’s hearing loss could have been caused by a virus I might have caught while pregnant, called Cytomegalovirus (CMV). I just had my blood tested, and we got the results yesterday – negative! That’s a huge relief, because CMV babies have a host of health problems in addition to hearing loss. Now that we can rule out CMV, we can hopefully rule out all of those other issues, and just focus on hearing.

Drew is at such a funny stage of talking. He is now informing me when he needs a diaper change. Today he said, “Poopies. Diaper. Help. Mama. Stinkies.” He gets a little jealous when I’m nursing Owen, and says “Mama, no-no baby. Down. Books. Lap. Please.” The way he says “please” is so cute, and he is so serious when he says it, like what he’s asking for is a matter of life or death! Especially when he is asking for cookies or juice.

He has slapped Owen before, and is sometimes too rough when he grabs his toes, fingers, etc. Mostly, the problem is he wants to give too much affection. Right now he has a double ear infection, a cough and a drippy nose, and wants to get all up in Owen’s grill with hugs and kisses. So far O is healthy, and I want to keep it that way! So Drew gets his feelings hurt and acts offended when I ask him not to touch. And he TOTALLY has my temper. It’s so funny when he gets frustrated and acts out, because I feel like I’m looking in a mirror!

And of course, we think he’s a genius. He loves learning letters, and can name every letter in the alphabet. He doesn’t know them in order, or anything. But he points out letters on signs and in books all the time. I’m not a flash-card/baby Einstein mom or anything, but I’m glad he has shown so much interest in reading at only 22 mos.

Final Pre-Sequel Blog Entry

Two weeks from tomorrow I will become a mother of two, and Tim will become a father of three.

I'm really feeling the physical strain (had a false labor scare last week) of chasing a toddler while 9 months pregnant. That said, I am relishing every last glorious minute of uninterrupted sleep, including naps. Siestas will be a distant memory on most days, unless the Sequel serendipitously snoozes during Drew's midday nap, which fortunately lasts 2-3 hours.

Since I will have to divide my attention between Drew and his little brother, unevenly in the baby's favor on most days, we've been trying to squeeze in lots of fun outings to the zoo, parks, Christmas lights, etc. Drew is loving the new adventures in our routine, and has no idea they're about to come to a screeching halt.

He loves to pat and kiss my tummy, and lately I have been telling him that his little brother lives in my belly... This has obviously confused him, since he now lifts up his shirt and points to his belly button when I mention his brother.

Drew goes to nursery at church now, which he seems to enjoy until his dad leaves the room. Drew has always been a Daddy's boy, and absolutely loved having Tim home for four days over Thanksgiving. There is nothing - NOTHING - Drew would rather do than go exploring outdoors with Daddy. Which makes perfect sense to me, since there is nobody I'd rather spend time with, myself. We just celebrated our 3rd anniversary (dinner at Chelsea's Kitchen... delishuss) last month, and I feel so lucky to be married to Tim.

We are looking forward to having Sandy and Keeley down for a visit next weekend. We just decorated the house for Christmas, which we're so excited about. Should be lots of fun!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We dressed Drew as Elmo, which he absolutely loved. It was a little warm for his costume, so we took him out of it a couple of times throughout the evening to let him cool off.

He was a total celebrity while he had it on. All the big kids would yell, "It's Elmo!" and the little kids fully believed that Elmo had made a cameo appearance at their Halloween party. A few of them followed him around all evening, stroking his furry costume, which Drew thought was pretty cool. He just kept waving and smiling at all of them.

Drew was not such a big fan of carving pumpkins, however. Tim let him help, and he wasn't too eager to get his hands slimy. He did point out the pumpkin's eyes, nose, teeth, etc., but thought it was sort of scary when all was said and done.

He also has a bit of a fever, and we hope he is not getting sick. He had some vaccines (not the flu vaccines, which he unfortunately cannot receive because of his allergies) on the 29th, and we thought the fever was a result of those. But now we're not so sure. Hopefully the fever goes away without him showing too many other symptoms. Poor baby!

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

A Year and a Half Already!

I know I have neglected this poor blog for about 6 months now... Does anybody still remember it's here?

Drew officially turns 18 months this Saturday. He's such an active kid, running around the house, climbing furniture (he hasn't made it onto the dining room table... yet), digging in the yard, and talking up a storm.

It's hard to keep track of the new words he randomly blurts out, like "tractor," and most of them can only be understood by his adoring parents. But we understand, and that's what counts! It's fun to have little conversations with him as we go on walks or drive in the car, and he points out cars, trucks and birds. He is also still signing quite a bit, so combined with his verbal words, he can really express himself these days. He can also be prone to meltdowns when he expresses his desires and they are not promptly accommodated. It's hard out there for a baby.

I love going to the Phoenix Zoo with him now that he is old enough to recognize the animals. He thinks the elephants, giraffes, rhinos, tortoises, warthogs and tiger are way cool, and he loves to pet the goats. I'm trying to get as many zoo visits in as I can before I have to lug two chunky kids around in a stroller. Tim and I are anticipating the Sequel will be just as rolly-poly as Heavy D.

Still no names for the Sequel. Tim and I are at a loss! We have a long list of possibilities, but nothing is jumping off the page. Right now our c-section delivery is scheduled for Dec. 18, but that could change because it's possible that we will be delivering at a different hospital.