Getting to D-Day (Diagnosis Day)

After a good solid two weeks in the house cuddling up on our baby bear and blueberry and eachother, Michael and I were ready to start facing the trek back to the hospital for this 'uneccessary' follow up hearing tests. Because of course, it was only due to the c-section and wouldn't really present a problem. But both Michael and I were noticing that Shiloh wasn't responding to sounds the way we remember Mikayla doing. So we had a follow up OAE hearing test at the hospital. He received a 'retest' again (which means, failed). They rescheduled us a couple weeks out for another test called an ABR. This time the ABR would test his brains response to sounds. Unfortunately, for this test Shiloh had to be sleeping - NOT an easy task for a baby that really hates things in his ears. He wasn't even getting close to getting any test results!




We were re-scheduled yet again...and this time we kept him up for hours upon hours! But, again he woke up halfway through. They were able to test one ear - and this is the first near confirmation we received that it was in fact NOT just fluid in his ears due to a C-Section. The audiologist actually did a tempanogram - which basically checks for pressure on the ear drum which would indicate fluid on his ears. No pressure, no fluid, yes hearing loss! It makes my heart drop to my stomach remembering that day. But not confirmation on severity...so we were rescheduled one last time.




November 2008 was a blur and yet went by in slow motion. First, we had the final confirmation ABR at the hospital completed. The audiologist at the hospital said he had moderate to moderately-severe hearing loss in both ears. She made a lot of bold statements, most of which at the time were hurtful and I was sure were not accurate. I was not confident in her assessment and I quickly scheduled an ENT appointment that would re-test the ABR.




We made it to the first ENT appointment, both knowing what the truth was, but neither of us would fully admit it to the other. At that appointment, Shiloh's ENT discussed the process we would go through and possible outcomes, and indicated a re-test would need to be done before proceeding much further. Of course time was not on our side and we had to 'schedule' that test later...right after Thanksgiving. But we didn't make it to that ABR, Shiloh was in the CHOA-Scottish Rite for the week of Thanksgiving. He had RSV which later turned in to Pneumonia. His hearing loss was minimal during that week. I still can't describe him during that week without tearing up. I'll just say - you would never think that they actually make hospital gowns, IV's and breathing machines for little tiny babies, but they do. Michael and I, and then Mikayla after two days, spent that week clinging to his little hands while he fought to breathe. Five days in the hospital, we finally got to take him home, breathing on his own and eating about ONE OUNCE of food a day...but home and on his way to healthy lungs - again!


But because of the hospital visit and the audiologist we had to push back the ABR re-test. They had already discussed the use of hearing aids by this point, and possibly Cochlear Implants. But we couldn't get anything done without the re-test. And after 2 unsuccessful attempts, we finally finished his left ear re-test on December 23rd and then had to schedule his right ear re-test December 30th.