Sweet Sound

Today, Mike and I took Faith to her appointment with the audiologist. To sum it all up, the sweet sound of the audiologist telling me that my baby girl can hear me was incredible! Going into this appointment we had no idea the extent of Faith’s hearing loss. Of course, it would have been wonderful to hear that Faith has perfect hearing. However, we got the second best news possible which is that Faith has mild hearing loss. She can hear us! Thank you God for hearing and answering our prayers!

The audiologist that tested Faith today was excellent. I was very impressed with her expertise and passion for what she does. We are very thankful for the time and energy she put into Faith’s testing. The test that was conducted today was a diagnostic ABR. This test is much more specific and gives a much clearer picture of hearing loss. At the hospital, a screening ABR was done which is very basic in comparison. At this time, the cause of the hearing loss is most likely neuro based on the results from today. We are very fortunate that Faith’s hearing loss is only mild at this time. Due to the extreme underdevelopment of her eyes, this is something that will need to be watched very closely. It is possible that overtime her hearing loss could become more severe so we are not out of the woods just yet. However, since the results are pretty flat(meaning no extremes in terms of pitches or tones) and symmetrical for both ears this leaves us hopeful that Faith’s hearing loss will remain mild.

In terms of follow-up, Faith will need to go back to repeat the test in a month or so to ensure we get the same results. Faith will then need to see an ear doctor. She will most likely get a hearing aid. At this time, her ears are too small for a hearing aid. The good news is that Faith should have no issues with speech and language acquisition since the hearing loss is mild. Her hearing loss will probably become more challenging as she gets a little older and starts moving around and eventually goes to school. Right now, she is in very close proximity to us so hearing isn’t as difficult for her.

We are so thankful that Faith can hear us. We are so happy to know that our baby girl can hear us tell her how much we love her!! Thank you all for praying for Faith’s hearing. Please continue to pray that her hearing loss will remain mild.

As always, keeping the faith!

Bridget