August 4 - new earmold ordered...arrived the 26th
August 13 - optometry appt.
August 13 - optometry appt.
August 17 - finialized hearing threshold reports and adjusted aide settings
Audiology: We started out the month with many visits in the sound room. We're trying to test the full range of pitches at different thresholds so we can put it all together for a good "reliable" report of Isaac's hearing levels. Each time we go in, Chris only tests a couple of sounds before Isaac gets too fussy to sit still or gets bored with it and won't respond to anything. From my perspective, it doesn't seem very reliable but Chris keeps telling us it's a much more reliable testing process than the sedated ABR because the ABR can only reveal limited hearing thresholds in a general scope. So the first two weeks we were pretty busy running back and forth doing this. The audiologist sits on one side of a tinted window and Isaac and I are in a darkened little room on the other side (w/o hearing aides). Sounds come out of the left or right speakers and when Isaac looks in the direction of the sound a little toy in a box lights up and flashes as a reward. Nothing too exciting but that's how it works. My job is to keep him in the right spot in the room and keep him still and quiet enough to hear and look towards the sound source. It's sad to sit with him and watch him NOT respond to obvious sounds.
We were scheduled to have the ABR test on the 19th but on the 17th, our new audiologist, Amy McCarther, flew in from Naples, Italy and during our appointment with her she determined our sound room testing to be thorough and complete so she cancelled the ABR. We were happy about this change of plans! She adjusted the hearing aides a bit to confirm they were properly set to his hearing thresholds. A week later, his new earmolds arrived. We are feeling very good about how his aides are working for him now. What a relief!
Optometry: Isaac needed a follow up appointment for his vision tests so on the 13th, we took care of this. The doctor said he looked good, had good tracking skills, good muscle coordination and his astigmatism level looked less than it did in May. This is another good report. We go back in six months.
Baby things: Isaac started creeping along the furniture this month! So cute! He gets stuck standing up so I have to help him down when he starts fussing and getting tired. The biggest problem with this arrangement is at bedtime. I'll lay him down, he'll fuss and stand up along the crib rails and then he can't get down! More than a couple of times, I've gone in several times to lay him back down before he actually falls asleep. This is creating bad habits! Two different times I listened to him cry and cry only to find him FINALLY falling asleep while standing up in the corner of his crib. Poor baby...you just need to bend your legs and lay yourself back down. I can't stand having him cry himself to sleep but I'm also at my wits end at dealing with naps and bedtime. Surely this won't last forever - will it?!
