A Post About Nothing

After all of the stress & worry of the past few weeks, we learned this week that there is nothing we can do, no one to go see, and nothing to get too freaked out about- yet- I think.

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The Story

We knew before we left the hospital with Jack that he was having trouble with his ears. He failed his hearing test twice, so the nursing staff made us an appointment to follow up in 2 weeks. No big deal, they said. It's probably just birthing gunk, and it'll clear up. OK, if you say so.

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Fast forward 2 weeks to our follow-up hearing screening. Little man failed again, twice. After some not-so-gentle tugging on his ears & some expert repositioning of the equipment, the tech got him to pass the test with his left ear, but the right ear was as stubborn as could be & refused to pass. OK, they say that we should now worry, but just a little. What? Worry just a little? Obviously she was not a parent. We now need another test, this one more extensive. (And expensive! Thank heavens for insurance!)

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Anyway, fast forward another 3 weeks to his big fancy hearing test done by the audiologist at the hospital. We had to keep him awake so that he'd sleep through the test. Yeah, right. Have you ever tried to get a 6 week old to sleep on command- with wires glued to his ears & scalp & electrodes jammed in his ears? You can imagine my ordeal. So, after over an hour of walking him around the hospital in the stroller, he finally went to sleep- after managing to dislodge most of the wires. He stayed asleep for exactly 13 minutes & woke up. AAAAHHHH! We only have 2 hours to get this done! OK- back to sleep after a few minutes of walking & patting the bum. At the end of our allotted time, the Dr stopped the test & told me what I was already starting to suspect. Jackeroo can't hear all that well. He has what's called mild conductive hearing loss. (I'm thinking, loss? How can it be a hearing loss if he never had it to begin with?)

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On with the story. Basically, she suspects that he's got a problem with his middle ear that prevents him from hearing all that well. We need to see the Dr ASAP & get on top of this before he gets too old. She starts talking about hearing aids by 6 months, special schooling, the whole 9 yards. I manage to hold it together until I get to the car, drive down the road a ways, and pull over to call Andy. Can you say meltdown? I indulge in the agony for a few minutes before driving home & making an appointment with the pediatrician for the next morning. It was a VERY long night.

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At the Dr's office the next morning, Andrew & I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, Andrew had been prompted during the baby's blessing to tell Jack that his hearing would be made whole. On the other hand, we've got people telling us all this crazy stuff about hearing aids & permanent loss. I had faith that the Lord would make good on his promise of healing my son, but I was nervous about when it would actually happen. Would this be something that we needed to deal with for a few years before he was OK?

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And then the Dr walks in. I tell him what the audiologist has told me, and the results of the test. He looks in the ears. He looks again. And then he starts apologizing. Basically, he was sorry that the audiologist scared us half to death! The things she was talking about don't even apply to our situation. My son has mild conductive hearing loss because he's got fluid in his ears! Perfectly normal for a newborn, and he just hasn't gotten rid of his yet. If worse comes to worse, we'll get him tubes in his ears when he gets older & that should drain the fluid. (I think.) Since he's so small, there's nothing we can, or should, do at this point. No medicines to give, no operation to fix it. It seems a little strange that it's enough of a problem that we have to have him re-tested, and that it's an actual diagnosis that will be listed in his medical records forever, but it's not a big enough problem to prompt any real action now. My little boy just hears the world as if he's always underwater. Or has his fingers stuffed in his ears. Not a big deal to the Dr, but it just breaks my heart to think that he can't hear me whisper in his ear or sing to him from across the room. So I'll just have to be louder- like I'm so soft-spoken right now, right?

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So now that we've had a chance to digest all of the info that we've received, we're a little more calm. Luckily we have a well-baby exam scheduled for next week & I can get the rest of my questions answered. But the basic gist of this story is nothing. Nothing to do but wait for my little one to grow, get bigger, and (hopefully) dry those ears up! A TON of worry, stress, and anticipation for nothing (we hope). Wow, that's a lot of post for nothing, huh?

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On a side note, I learned at the Dr's that Jack is no longer a baby. He is, officially, a MOOSE! He already weighs 11 1/2 pounds! To put that in perspective for you- Emma weighed somewhere around 11 pounds at a YEAR old! Yes, she is super teeny for her age, but still! I knew that he was big, but had no idea he was that big. So he seems so huge to me, but he's still only in the 55th percentile for weight. Man, kids today must be ginormous.