3rd month

Christmas joy and baby joy! Life is good. We love our baby Isaac and are doing well with including him into our busy schedules of homeschooling, holidays, traveling, cleaning, cooking, reading and the never ending breastfeeding schedule. Wouldn't want it any other way! He's smiling back at us now and even started laughing out loud this week! He's quite noisy and has a very loud squealing/shrieking noise. He makes us all laugh. Thank you Jesus for all of our many blessings!

2nd month

Nov 21 - failed 2nd hearing test (9 weeks old)

Okay, we went into audiology last week to retry the infant hearing tests. He was asleep and very still so the testing environment was ideal but he failed the tests again. After 20 minutes or so of trying to get positive results, we went into a different sound room to check his middle ear for wax or fluid buildup (and probably other stuff I'm not aware of). The audiologist didn't find anything abnormal there. He explained that the tests did not work again and that he could try it again in about 6 weeks with brand new, updated equipment that had already been ordered and he was just waiting for the delivery. He didn't want us to worry about it before we tried the tests again with this new equipment. Naturally, I'm a little irritated with the idea that he was using "old" equipment and/or that he doesn't know how to do the test very well. There are probably 5-10 babies born every month at this hospital and I suppose all of them have the hearing tests so he's had a lot of experience doing the tests even though he's not a pediatric audiologist. I'll ask a few friends with new babies what their experience has been and if they can tell for sure if thier babies can hear at this age. I've agreed to wait another month to retest. This will get us through the holidays and into the new year before we have to worry about any potential problems.

Travis and I rationalize that he can definitely hear because he startles to loud noises. He's brand new and very young so we don't expect him to be able to respond to all sounds because he can't even hold his head up well or turn his head on his own to follow sounds. He is healthy and growing and meeting all the normal milestones for a 2 month old. At his well-baby appointment, I told the doctor that my only concern was his pending hearing test and was again reassured that it's probably nothing, and waiting for the new equipment was a good idea. So, we'll just observe his behaviors and casually test his responses a little more while we wait. The audiologist did mention that a parents gut instinct is one of the best indicators and usually quite accurate. I'm a little more concerned now and I'll share this with Grandma and Grandpa but don't really want to talk about it past that point as it will probably prove to be nothing. All the potential problems I encountered during my pregnancy ended up just fine so why not expect the same with this one. I just wish we could sit back and completely enjoy ourselves here instead of having this loom overhead.

newborn screening

Approximately 33 babies are born every day with a significant hearing loss in the United States. Nearly 50% of newborns with hearing loss are not diagnosed until at least the second year of life. Hearing loss among newborns is 20 times more prevalent than phenlyketonuria (PKU), a condition for which all newborns are screened for. The average age that children with hearing loss are initially diagnosed ranges from 12 to 25 months. Studies have shown that when hearing loss is detected later, an important time frame for developing speech and language skills has passed. As a result, speech and language development is delayed and academic and social skills may be adversely affected. Research has confirmed that treatment has the best results when infant hearing loss is identified and intervention is begins before the child reaches six months of age. Less than 20% of the children born in the U.S. are born in hospitals that offer universal newborn hearing screening programs.The National Institute of Health, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Audiology, the Joint committee on Infant Hearing, and the Healthy People 2000 Report recommend that children with congenital hearing loss be identified before six months of age. A unilateral hearing loss that remains undetected will have negative consequences. Even children with a hearing loss in one ear are ten times as likely to be held back by a grade as compared to children with normal hearing in both ears. Infants identified with hearing loss may be fit with hearing amplification as young as four weeks of age. Appropriate and comprehensive early intervention helps these children develop with better language, cognitive, and social skills.Most children with hearing loss can hear some speech, however, the speech tends to lack clarity since the hearing loss occurs in the higher frequencies that contain most of the consonant and vowel sounds necessary for understanding speech. However, since the child is able to respond to the lower frequencies, he or she will usually be identified later on. As a result of late identification, speech and language skills will have significant delays. Early identification is necessary before sixth months of age in order to catch that specific time frame in which optimal speech and language development occurs. Formal audiological evaluations are needed to rule out less severe but equally disabling degrees of hearing loss.

1st month

Oct 3rd - failed initial hearing test (2 weeks old)

Before Isaac and I were discharged from the hospital, we were instructed to visit the audiology department within the first couple of weeks for the new, easy, in and out, routine infant hearing screening. We made plans to do this on the same day as our 2 week well-baby appointment. Baby needs to be completely still and asleep for the test as it is a simple probe in each ear, one at at time. When the computer sends out different sounds his involuntary responses are recorded in sound waves. (or something like that, I guess)

Isaac was sound asleep when we arrived at the hospital so we decided to do the hearing test before seeing the pediatrician. I was busy getting the kids out of the car and still getting used to packing the diaper bag and all the baby gear so Grandma went on in ahead of us to get him signed in. By the time I got into the audiology suite, Isaac and Grandma were already in the sound room doing the test so I waited patiently outside with my girls. I thought it was a quick easy test but they had been in there for over 15 minutes so by the time they came out of the room, we were late for our well-baby appt. I called peds to explain our delay and went into the sound room with the audiologist for a re-test so he could show me what they'd been doing and explained that "the test" wasn't responding. The military audiologist does not have pediatric experience other than performing the routine newborn tests for all the babies born on the base. In his expereince, all the babies have passed the test. He didn't seem worried about it because the baby was very small and young...maybe he had extra fluid in his ears from birth that was affecting the test..."let's just give him a few weeks to grow and then we'll retest again next month," advised the audiologist. I was slightly concerned but since I had no previous experience with infant hearing tests and was assured by the audiologist and the pediatrician not to worry about it, I did my best to not be too alarmed and just follow the advice to retest next month. All is well. My baby is thriving and is pure joy in our home!

birth

At 39 weeks plus 1 day, my baby boy was born healthy and perfect! His family of: Mom age 37, Dad age 40, big sister age 10, big brother age 8 and big sister age 6 couldn't be more thrilled to welcome him. He's like the cherry on top of a delicious ice cream sundae. We can't wait to just eat him up! Grandma and Grandpa arrived within 72 hours of his birth and spent the first three weeks with us as we transitioned into a family of six. He is a blessing and a big answer to our prayers. We are a military family stationed overseas for three years. Isaac was born just two weeks short of our one year mark of living in Spain. This makes him our Spanish/American baby!

My pregnancy had a few bumps but in hind sight, it wasn't too bad. During the second trimester I had an amniocentesis test due to multiple elevated risk factors but the test proved the baby to have a healthy chromosome count and also revealed the secret of our growing baby BOY! It was stressful deciding whether or not to proceed with the test but afterwards we were very happy that we had done it and we were thrilled to start planning for blue and green baby gear. Then throughout my third trimester, I had to shoot insulin into my thigh daily and restrict my diet for the remaining pregnancy. I was able to control the gestational diabetes successfully with no further complications. My baby ended up being the smallest one out of my four children and he didn't have any blood sugar problems after delivery.

Before getting pregnant with Isaac, I had an unexpected but welcomed pregnancy that ended in miscarriage. We had a lot of concerns about trying for another baby but my heart strings were pulled and I felt such a loss without this baby in our family. Our prayers were answered four months later when we discovered that we were expecting again. Isaac completes me and and our family. I'm so grateful to my Heavenly Father for this baby and just love him more than words can express.

Introducing Isaac

September 19, 2008
6 lbs 11 oz

19.5 inches
a healthy and beautiful miracle
"It starts out like the flutter of a butterfly's wings...
and I think,
then I know,
it's you...
my precious, miraculous baby."