It's official, Cathal can hear.
Yippy!!!
Yes, he had his first hearing test on Monday, very exciting. How do they test a 5 month olds' hearing I hear you cry, do they wear headphones, do they need to raise their little arms? Bleeepppp.....did you hear that love? Why yes I did Mammy.
No no, they stick three little sensors onto the baby, one behind each ear, then one on the forehead and connect them up to a computer. Then little ear phones are put in the ears and sounds are played. They measure the response through the brain, somehow, through the magic of science. They are able to measure from the outer ear to the 'hearing' nerve, so they know that Cathal can hear down to 20 decibels, which is what you need to hear language and speech. Right now though, they can't determine how he is processing what he is hearing, in fairness, he can't answer back yet. But I can already tell that he has selective hearing.....Cathal, Cathal.....shushh Mammy, I am watching the Olympics. Swimming is great, the water is so shiny and splashy.
Oh, and by the way, the baby needs to be asleep for the test....they need to arrive awake, and then sleep at the click of your fingers. So in preperation, I kept him awake all day, well, he slept 15min midday. He was a cranky, cranky boy going ino the test....poor little man. He went out like a light.
Honestly, while the test was being carried out, I started to get a little worried. The Dad got the jitters before me though, all of a sudden you think, what will we do if he can't hear? How would we cope with that one....We already have the heart, how could we deal with another issue? It's like a check list that we have to go through now with him,
heart? bad
hearing? good
thyroid? good so far
eyesight? that's next, in a couple of weeks
It's funny, we get these mystery appointments in the post. What's this for? Ummmmm, eyes maybe?
I think this will be what it will be like for the next few years, never mind the milestones and mental development, its all the health and medical issues that throw you. Hopefully, because we got the raw deal with his heart, we will have no other trouble. He is hitting the milestones like any other baby, so I have high hopes for him.....my little, smily, happy baby
We went to Rome: by Liam
11 months ago
8 comments:
Problems with his hearing? NO Way! When I lost my voice a couple of weeks ago and could only whisper to Cathal, he found that very funny and laughed at me, the Little Monkey! 20 decibels??? My voice probably did not reach a quarter of that level, and he found it hilarious!
Not only can he hear, he has a wicked sense of humour… I wonder where this comes from?...
Isn’t it amazing how each piece of good news, that you take for granted with all other children, becomes a major source of celebration in these situations?
Keep laughing Cathal, keep laughing!
With love, Nan P.
Thats the way Mammy. Don't forget to keep celebrating the milestones and enjoying the wins. My love goes out to you as you do have a some realy challenges coming, but I think Cathal picked the right mammy. BTW. Mr Hammie has taught me how to pronounce Cathal's name properly. I have to keep reminding myself in my head.
xx
Of course you have high hopes for your son. Why wouldn't you when you're his mammy? He'll eventually get around to disappointing you on most of them lol, like every other boy does, and you'll be wondering how many times you have to roar 'DON'T WALK ON THE CLEAN KITCHEN FLOOR IN YOUR WELLIES!' and you'll be crazy because you KNOW there's nothing wrong with his hearing so WHY CAN'T HE UNDERSTAND??
Uh, it's because he also has the other extra chromosome that only boys get, technically labelled Pervasive Auditory Reduction (Especially Near Televisions And Lego) Syndrome.
Didn't they tell you about that one in The Coombe? Nah, course not. They leave us all to find out about PAR(ENTAL) Syndrome on our own, the feckers!
That aside, yippee for you lot, esp Cathal. I missed that test when Jacob had it, but it sounds very space age.
The appliance of science never ceases to amaze me..Babs had to get his hearing checked with the headphones and he hated every minute of it..was very stressful..so thankfully your wee fella was able to sleep through it That's one more hurdle jumped..good on ya little Cathal..
thanks guys....
Nick, sounds like you have a bit of experience in this PAR(ENTAL) syndrome...Will be coming back to you in a few years for tips I think
Happy for you but personally devastated. Our Robert has these tests 13 years ago - (not quite as fancy - but same idea) and no issues found. But in last 2 weeks his hearing has completely failed. At 14 he has lost his hearing, his vocabulary is reduced from 139 words to 3 words - "I don't care", can no longer dress himself until way past 3pm, is unable to operate vacuum cleaners, and assumes everything is his fault ( or at least claims everyone is blaming him).
Enjoy your few short years of mild compliance.
Have just read Nick's comment, on Pervasive Auditory Reduction (Especially Near Televisions And Lego) Syndrome. . . So that's what it's called? PARENTAL Syndrome! Had been wondering all along.Thanks for that!
By the way, I don't want to burst your bubble, but "they" never fully grow out of it! ;-)
Make that Televisions showing Sky sports and computers with rugby forums Nan! mr hammie practices selective attention too it seems.
xx
ps. can you be our nan too?
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