Yesterday we all awakened at the ridiculously early hour of 5 a.m., not because the alarm clock had gone off, but because Ana had. ;) Ana must have secretly known that it was a big day in her life. We were out the door by 7:00 and to the office just before her 8 o'clock appointment for activation.
It wasn't until we were actually in the office with Dr. Andrea (the audiologist) that I got a HUGE case of butterflies in my stomach. I think my mind has become pretty good over the last couple of years with being able to just go with what's happening in the moment and so it wasn't until we were in the moment of activation that I truly felt like a big bundle of nerves. With five people in the teeny, tiny room, we were packed in like sardines but nobody wanted to miss this event! Ana sat in the high chair playing with all the toys while Dr. Andrea got her all hooked up. (I need to take a picture of the device itself but have thus far forgotten to do so.)
After setting up the program on the computer, Dr. Andrea told us that the first sounds Ana would hear would be more of an internal sound check, rather than "live" right away with our voices and all the other room noise. So there we sat...watching. The room was so quiet and we were all watching Ana when suddenly, she turned her head towards a sound she had heard in her ear and we saw success! Ana began to clap and smile, dance and jive and was excited about what was going on inside her right ear. This happened several times over and it was then that the fullness of the miracle hit me, causing me to shed tears of joy and relief, of weariness and of strength...our baby, could hear.
The next step, as Dr. Andrea told us, was to change the programming from hearing internally to hearing externally - hearing we the people, you might say. : ) As soon as this was done, but just before "flipping the switch", Dr. Andrea told us that this would be very different from what Ana had just heard and so we might not see the same reaction. She was right. And honestly, I was totally shocked when Ana got the most horrible look on her face and then began to cry in earnest. She was scared. Scared, scared, scared. This is a little girl who rarely cries and who has maybe been scared once so I thought she would just take it all in stride. However, after having a sitsy with me, she laid there for just a short time and just kind of listened and soaked in the situation. We were all reassuring her and being so gentle and I think she felt it was ok to return to Ana mode. She returned to her chair and for the most part took up where she left off, playing, listening, clapping and just overall enjoying the experience.
The remainder of the day was much the same, upon our return to the Ronald McDonald House (RMH). One thing Mom and I discussed at the end of the day though, was that we both noticed that when the device fell off (remember, it's held on by a magnet to her head), or when I took it off at nap and bed time, she got very mad. That quickly - in just the few hours that occur in a day - she learned that hearing is a gift and she did NOT wish to return it!
This is the conclusion of day two with newborn ears and it has been a good day. We had another session with Dr. Andrea this morning and the programming instructions she gave to me will carry us through to November 10.
I have more to say this evening but for now we must go. Thank you Jeri, for the wonderful home cooked meal in your home tonight! And now, we need to get back to RMH and get Ana to bed as she is so very tired. She couldn't even eat dinner tonight...just too tired and crabby. Jeri suggested a couple mini cream puffs and sure enough, she chowed them right down. Hey, it's not everyday you get a cochlear implant, right? We decided she was deserving of cream puffs for dinner - HA!
More tomorrow or Sunday. I do want to extend the invitation to any of you who are interested in seeing the video of Ana's activation. I shouldn't say THE video, as I did tape the whole first 45 minute session on our camcorder. Rather, I have a 20 second blip recording her first reaction to sound and I would love to share it with anyone who is able to receive video of that size. It would be under 10 mb and I know gmail and hotmail are capable, but beyond that I do not know. Please e-mail at buzzards2@gmail.com if you would like to receive the video from me. I will respond as I am able to each person but please know that I longer have a computer at my fingertips now that I'm at the RMH.
Thank you for your continued prayers and for the many notes you have written, both via the blog and e-mail. They are an encouragement to our family during this time! Please keep writing. : )
Nighty night,
Lisa
It wasn't until we were actually in the office with Dr. Andrea (the audiologist) that I got a HUGE case of butterflies in my stomach. I think my mind has become pretty good over the last couple of years with being able to just go with what's happening in the moment and so it wasn't until we were in the moment of activation that I truly felt like a big bundle of nerves. With five people in the teeny, tiny room, we were packed in like sardines but nobody wanted to miss this event! Ana sat in the high chair playing with all the toys while Dr. Andrea got her all hooked up. (I need to take a picture of the device itself but have thus far forgotten to do so.)
After setting up the program on the computer, Dr. Andrea told us that the first sounds Ana would hear would be more of an internal sound check, rather than "live" right away with our voices and all the other room noise. So there we sat...watching. The room was so quiet and we were all watching Ana when suddenly, she turned her head towards a sound she had heard in her ear and we saw success! Ana began to clap and smile, dance and jive and was excited about what was going on inside her right ear. This happened several times over and it was then that the fullness of the miracle hit me, causing me to shed tears of joy and relief, of weariness and of strength...our baby, could hear.
The next step, as Dr. Andrea told us, was to change the programming from hearing internally to hearing externally - hearing we the people, you might say. : ) As soon as this was done, but just before "flipping the switch", Dr. Andrea told us that this would be very different from what Ana had just heard and so we might not see the same reaction. She was right. And honestly, I was totally shocked when Ana got the most horrible look on her face and then began to cry in earnest. She was scared. Scared, scared, scared. This is a little girl who rarely cries and who has maybe been scared once so I thought she would just take it all in stride. However, after having a sitsy with me, she laid there for just a short time and just kind of listened and soaked in the situation. We were all reassuring her and being so gentle and I think she felt it was ok to return to Ana mode. She returned to her chair and for the most part took up where she left off, playing, listening, clapping and just overall enjoying the experience.
The remainder of the day was much the same, upon our return to the Ronald McDonald House (RMH). One thing Mom and I discussed at the end of the day though, was that we both noticed that when the device fell off (remember, it's held on by a magnet to her head), or when I took it off at nap and bed time, she got very mad. That quickly - in just the few hours that occur in a day - she learned that hearing is a gift and she did NOT wish to return it!
This is the conclusion of day two with newborn ears and it has been a good day. We had another session with Dr. Andrea this morning and the programming instructions she gave to me will carry us through to November 10.
I have more to say this evening but for now we must go. Thank you Jeri, for the wonderful home cooked meal in your home tonight! And now, we need to get back to RMH and get Ana to bed as she is so very tired. She couldn't even eat dinner tonight...just too tired and crabby. Jeri suggested a couple mini cream puffs and sure enough, she chowed them right down. Hey, it's not everyday you get a cochlear implant, right? We decided she was deserving of cream puffs for dinner - HA!
More tomorrow or Sunday. I do want to extend the invitation to any of you who are interested in seeing the video of Ana's activation. I shouldn't say THE video, as I did tape the whole first 45 minute session on our camcorder. Rather, I have a 20 second blip recording her first reaction to sound and I would love to share it with anyone who is able to receive video of that size. It would be under 10 mb and I know gmail and hotmail are capable, but beyond that I do not know. Please e-mail at buzzards2@gmail.com if you would like to receive the video from me. I will respond as I am able to each person but please know that I longer have a computer at my fingertips now that I'm at the RMH.
Thank you for your continued prayers and for the many notes you have written, both via the blog and e-mail. They are an encouragement to our family during this time! Please keep writing. : )
Nighty night,
Lisa
1 comments:
Incredible! Just incredible! We want to see the video but can wait until you get back here. Hangeth thou in there. Just think of how far Ana has come ... and what change this newest event is making in her life ... and how God's love is shown to her through her family and friends. It's a little bit of Heaven, right here on earth. :)
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