Parenting is a commitment. A commitment to walking through the ups and downs of life together, to sacrifice, constant prayer, unconditional love, hope, being your child’s biggest fan, making difficult choices...the list is a mile long. If our naïve little selves didn’t get this “commitment” idea during my pregnancy, we definitely got it about 24 hours after Lyla was born. A nurse woke me up at 2am to feed Lyla, bluntly said “she didn’t pass her hearing test”, and left the room. No details. That single sentence was left hanging in our sleep-deprived stupor.
In the midst of hospital visitors and a steep baby-care learning curve, we didn't have much time to process this nugget of information. We did ask a nurse about it, but she seemed to avoid giving us any real answers. We were told to bring Lyla back in 2 weeks for another test. So, for 2 weeks, we prayed a lot, daily performed our home-made version of hearing tests (loud clapping and the like), and decided we felt confident that Lyla could indeed hear.
When she failed that follow-up test 2 weeks later, we were forced to grapple with the potential of less-than-ideal scenarios. We prayed more (MUCH more), and had to wait 5 more weeks for an appointment with an audiologist who could tell us conclusively what we were dealing with.
The details from that appointment could take up many paragraphs, so I’ll stick to the highlights. After high-tech (and high stress) testing, the doctor was able to reassure us that Lyla can hear! She’ll lead a “normal” life! She'll be in normal classrooms! (insert grateful momma tears here!!)
Lyla does, though, have some mild hearing loss. It’s mild enough that it probably wouldn’t have even been caught 20 years ago (at least not until she was in a classroom setting). On the other hand, it’s severe enough that it could potentially affect Lyla’s speech development. The doctor recommended that we get little hearing aids for Lyla and monitor her hearing/speech development over the next several years.
The months since then have been spent processing this information, visiting the doctor a few more times, and falling more in love with our daughter by the minute. She is the joy of our hearts, and we want to give her EVERY opportunity for success in life. We’ve opted to go with the audiologist’s recommendation – hearing aids for our sweet 6 month old baby girl. We are deeply grateful for modern technology, occasionally saddened by the challenging aspects of the situation, and praying daily for God’s miracle-working power to heal Lyla’s ears completely.
We've had the hearing aids for 5 days now, and I have VOLUMES I could say (I'll try to keep it to a few short blog entries). These days have been humorous, exciting, eye opening, educational, and challenging. Watch for more blogs soon, not only about this particular journey, but about our adventures as a growing family!
