Born @ 27 weeks
2lbs 7oz

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Sign of the Times

I was so elated with all the good fortune lately, that I conveniently left out that amongst the celebration of crawling/sitting, we also learned Shaw has suffered mild hearing loss. His breathing is so noisy (one of the reasons we're meeting with the Pulmonologist & ENT), that it may drown out the other sounds Shaw needs to hear in order to speak. In addition, he has had TOO many ear infections since December.

From multiple appointments last week with the Audiologist, Pulmonologist, ENT and Speech Therapist, we have been encouraged to 'come up with a plan' with our ENT - ie tubes (no biggie), adenoids (walk in the park), cysts on windpipe (may require an additional surgery), and subglotic stenosis (narrow airway - a bit more complicated) to improve Shaw's quality of life.

Simultaneously, our Speech Therapist has encouraged us to begin sign language with Shaw. The hope is once we have 'uncovered' what is going on with his airway, he will be able to regain the hearing loss. However, if that is not the case, we do not want to miss very important communication development in the meantime. So starting today, you will see signs for things all over our house, teaching not just Shaw, but Michael, Nash and myself a new way of communicating.

In other news, this Friday, I had the privilege of volunteering at the NICU. I have been working with the Family Services Network who hosts a number of events at the NICU in support of mothers and families. Michael and I attended one of their events during our stay at the hospital and found comfort in speaking with some of the other families. I'm looking forward to returning the support, when I speak at their event in June.

This Friday, we partnered with the hospital to throw the mothers in the NICU a baby shower. So many mothers have their babies so early and unexpectedly that they never have the chance to have a shower or celebrate their pregnancy. This event is designed to spoil the mothers and families with cake and food and gifts and 'shower' them with warm wishes, as they are struggling through such a difficult time. More than anything, it is a pleasant distraction to the Moms and I felt so honored to be able to participate.




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi i was reading ur blog and wanted to get in touch. I am going tu something similar.