2nd opinion

We took Olivia to Chapel Hill today for a second opinion on her hearing. We found pretty much the same thing... A mild to moderate loss bilaterally. The loss sloped down to the moderate line for the high frequencies. We were able to get her to sleep for another unsedated ABR and hopefully we won't have to do another one. She will be able to start behavioral testing around 7 months in the sound booth. We were able to get more information on specific frequencies so I feel comfortable that the Audiologist can amplify her appropriately. We will return on August 13th for her hearing aid fitting... Pink with pink sparkly ear molds!! Won't she be adorable :)

We also met with a lady from CASTLE and right now there is a grant for birth to three for distance therapy. They provide a CASTLE teacher to work with us via the computer. They can provide a web cam, toys, etc and will also come do a home visit and video a play session with Olivia and I every 6 months. I still haven't heard from the CDSA or Beginnings... Hopefully I'll hear from them soon.

I'm all for anything that will help our sweet girl. Early identification, early amplification, and early intervention make a huge difference! Our audiologist encouraged us that with these things most of the time it's hard to tell the difference between a child with hearing loss and a typical child. Josh and I have both talked about the cosmetic side of wearing hearing aids and how cruel kids can be... however maybe by the time she is a teenager they will have invented some almost invisible type of hearing aid. You never know! Regardless we are going to encourage, tell her how 'cool' her hearing computers are and give her the confidence that she needs. I don't want to her to look at it as a negative thing and I think for that to happen it has to start with us.

Daddy dressing Olivia for the day... including the pink headband!

Mommy holding Livi for over 3 hours... my arm and shoulder were killing me.