An interesting encounter

Has it really been two weeks since I last posted? It sure is crazy how my days and weeks roll by so fast now! I’ve been meaning to blog about a gentleman I met a couple of weeks ago when I was out of town but I’m just now finding the time.  Anyway, during my trip, I noticed that the driver of our hotel shuttle had a CI. He wore a CI in one ear and a hearing aid in the other. It turns out he had lost his hearing suddenly as an adult and has very little residual hearing left in one ear (the aided one). He received a CI about a year ago in the profound ear. As you can imagine, I had more and more questions for him each day when he arrived to take me and my colleagues back to our hotel. I'm sure he was glad when the week was over! ;)

My biggest question was about the difference in the way he hears. Throughout our journey, this has been described to me many different ways and I’ve done my research and listened to simulations, but I’m still a little uncertain. My new friend described hearing with a CI as “fine-tuned” and “incredibly clear”. He went on to state that he can hear things now that he would have never heard before and actually said that he prefers to hear with a CI. Wow – really?! Interesting, to say the very least. I know this is only one person’s experience, but it was very encouraging to hear. It just makes me even more certain we made the right choice for Sophie.  I’m sure I was walking around with a silly grin on my face right after he told me that. :)

Not too much more to update, other than Sophie is continuing to do great! She has a growing vocabulary and is saying more each day. Today, she just blurted out “flower!” I was picking her up from the sitter and she was pointing to a picture on the wall of a flower. Of course, I thought nothing of it until we got home and I started showing her pictures of flowers and she kept saying it. “FLOW-LER!” Clear as day, just with two l’s. Super cute, though! Seriously, isn’t that a pretty tough word for a 14-month-old to say? She just continues to amaze me. Silly girl. 

The floodgates are open...

And the words are pouring out of Sophie's mouth! She is just picking up so much more than I had ever imagined. Earlier this week, I went into her room in the morning to get her up and she popped up in her crib, pointed to her bookshelf, and said, "book!". I think my heart may have skipped a beat, I was so surprised. The "k" was questionable, but she definitely meant "book". :) After I put her CIs on, she started walking all around her room pointing out her books and saying "book" over and over again. Oh my, is this really happening?!  I just stood there, frozen and staring for a moment. I guess I was so surprised because "book" has not been a word that we continually label to her, we just usually say it in passing. She definitely knows the word, but I hadn't been coaxing her to say it at all.  

I am just beside myself with happiness over how well Sophie is doing. We have had so many great days lately and I feel like we are in such a good place. It's been a very long time since I've been upset and found myself crying over Sophie's hearing loss. Little things in our daily life can be frustrating, but it is all worth it when I see my girl walking around her room, pointing and shouting, "book!".

On another note, I'm a little nervous because I will be out of town this entire next week for work and I've never been away from Sophie for more than a night. Also, I'm afraid of what words I may miss! I don't want to miss her saying anything new. :( My hubby has our phones ready to video chat, so hopefully that will make it better. Let's just hope this business trip goes by fast and painless!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Well, she can definitely hear!

We had our first sound booth testing today since Sophie was activated and it went great! She has been responding to very soft sounds at home and I was pretty sure we would get good results, but I was still a little nervous. Anyway, our little girl is hearing at 15-20 dB across all frequencies!!! For those of you who may not understand what this means, here are some common sounds and the corresponding noise level:

breathing:10 dB
a whisper: 25 dB
ticking watch: 30dB
normal conversation: 55-75 dB
jet engine: 120 dB

So, as you can imagine, we are ecstatic! With her devices on, she is hearing within the normal range. Jared and I were both in the sound booth during the testing and there was a time when I didn't even realize Amy's voice (our audiologist) was coming through the speakers until Sophie turned and pointed her finger. At that moment, I just smiled and shook my head in utter amazement. Wow. Our baby, who was responding to speech between 100-115 dB unaided, can pick up less than a whisper. Birds chirping, refrigerator humming, leaves rustling, water dripping - you name it. Sophie can hear it. What a miracle!

She has gone from complete silence...

to the hearing world!

We are thrilled with her test results and so excited for the future. I remember a time when I was nervous about Sophie getting CIs at such a young age and wondered if we were doing the right thing.  I am so happy we made this decision and fought so hard for it. I have no regrets! Of course, we owe Sophie's success to all of the wonderful and knowledgeable women at the Moog Center. They are truly amazing and I am forever grateful for all of the encouragement and support we have received along the way. Thank you ladies, for holding my hand throughout this journey and always making me feel "normal." ;)

Now, let me leave you with a couple clips of my girl saying "uh-oh!" (Which is really more like "huh-ooh", but I'm sure you get the idea)

First words

That's right! Drum roll, please................................

We have a little talker on our hands!!! Over the past few weeks, Sophie has really exploded in expressive language. I'm happy to report that she is saying about four words spontaneously: baby, ball, eye, and mama.

I shot this video over the weekend and it has been the only word I've been able to catch on tape so far.

I know many more are in the works and I've honestly lost count of how many words and phrases she understands. I'm grinning ear to ear as I type this because I'm just so incredibly proud. Stay tuned!