Hearing Aids !!!

So I have been a very bad blogger and have neglected to update on the newest activities in Juliana's life. We have been really busy just maintaining day to day between work and home and now work at home.

Juliana is fabulous. She received her new hearing aids on the 17th and it was a very emotional moments for both of us. I laughed as she cried. We put the hearing aids on her for the first time and sat back and waited for her response. There is about a six second delay from the time you turn them on till they actually begin working. It was wonderful to see that she could actually hear even though she was terribly upset. She had a look of confusion for the first second which was followed by the biggest crocodile tears ever. All I could do was laugh. I was so happy to know that she would finally be able to hear me sing to her or hear her nutty brother acting crazy or listen to a lullaby.

By the time we left the audiologist she had stopped crying. I put her in the car to go home and the second I turned my back on her she had pulled one of her hearing aids out and was twirling it around in her hands. For the next few days this was her new trick. Let's see how many times I can pull this hearing aid out to make mommy so frustrated that she won't put it back in. Well it didn't work because this mommy has a lot of patience. Every time she took one out we would just put it back in with out a fuss. I wasn't going to let her use this to get attention and I wanted her to know that no matter how many times she pulls it out we are just going to put it back. Within five days she stopped fighting me over them and just leaves them alone now (mostly). I can put them on in the morning without a fuss and she typically will leave them in until she is tired. When she is due for a nap or it's bedtime we just take them out anyway and put them back when she wakes up. One of the benefits of having a child who is hard of hearing is that you can quiet a room for naptime instantly.

Her reactions since having the hearing aids are priceless. When we arrived home that first night, she cracked up listening to her brother playing and talking to her. She is laughing and smiling much more. Vocally she has actually been a little quieter than usual. I think she is just absorbing all of the noise that she hasn't heard in about 6 months. Overall we are very pleased with our decision to get hearing aids for Juliana.

The hardest part about the hearing aids is rolling. Juliana loves to play on the floor and roll around which causes her aids to whistle. I don't think she hears this as much as we do so we are trying to just get used to it. She is holding her head up now when on her belly and has been trying to pull herself up when in her high chair or car seat. She is definitely growing and progressing physically. I am so grateful that she is developing normally in the physical and mental aspects. She is doing it on her own time but we have known since day one that Juliana does things on her schedule and that's fine with us.

We are still weaning on the oxygen since her last little cold that brought us up to 2 liters. We are back down to 1 now and I am hoping to wean a little more. Hopefully we can keep the germs and the colds out of our house this season. I would like to see Juliana come off oxygen by the spring so she can have her surgery. Only time will tell.