Can you hear me now?!

Sophie has had her hearing aids since she was about 10 weeks old. Everyone's first question is, "Can she hear?" You'd think that is a simple question, right?? Well, we're not sure. She has been tested with her hearing aids in and has shown several responses to sounds, but the tests are behavior-based and very subjective. We are hopeful that her hearing aids are benefiting her, but I'm not sure if we will ever be certain. There are times when she has no reactions to sounds and other times when I am certain she heard a noise. If I stop and over-analyze every single situation, I will lose my mind very quickly. It absolutely breaks my heart to imagine Sophie not hearing us talk to her and read her stories. Therefore, I force myself to be positive and assume she is hearing and her hearing aids are benefiting her. I have to, for my mental state. So, when people ask if she can hear, I say, "Yes, she can hear us." In the meantime, we are just counting down the days until she can (hopefully) get cochlear implants.

On 9/17, Sophie will be having an MRI and CT scan to confirm whether or not she is a candidate for cochlear implants. Her ENT has to determine how her cochleas are formed and confirm that her auditory nerves are intact. We have waited so long to have this testing performed because she will have to be sedated for several hours. I'm both excited and nervous for the tests! It is very rare that a child cannot get an implant, so I'm feeling pretty good about everything. I just want the results so we can move forward!

TGIF tomorrow! And a 3-day weekend! ;)