Hearing Aid Day

One year ago today Marlee received hearing aids. Hearing aids only amplify existing sound, so why get hearing aids when we knew she was not hearing?

Well, Marlee was not responding to any sound when tested; however, that test only goes up to 90 dB which is about as loud as a lawn mower or fire alarm. Those things are very loud, but there are louder sounds. We were told that it is unusual for a deaf person to hear absolutely no sounds at all. Hearing aids would amplify any sound Marlee may be hearing. Something like a jack hammer may sound very faint, but still be heard on some level...that's great providing you are a construction worker exposed to lots of jack hammers. We always laughed about the possibility of aids helping her to hear a jack hammer!

We were fairly certain that aids would not provide Marlee with enough sound to develop speech and language; yet, a person only becomes a cochlear implant candidate when it is proven that hearing aids will not benefit enough to provide language development. Also, even if the aids only provided a small amount of amplification, it was important to keep the hearing nerves stimulated until she received the implants. So all in all, we were very excited about this next step. For the first time, we felt like we could do something to help Marlee. Either the hearing aids would actually help her hear and develop speech or they would be the next step toward cochlear implants.

We were told to anticipate a little bit of sadness when we first saw Marlee with the hearing aids, but for us, there was nothing but excitement on this day. Molds for the aids had already been made, so today was just about putting them on her ears and giving lots of instructions to her mom and dad! I was so glad my mom came with us too!

It helped that Marlee was just perfect through the entire appointment! It was a happy day!

Our audiologist at the time, Dr. Mutchler, has been a huge part of Marlee's hearing journey. Her kindness and understanding during every step was such a comfort and encouragement. It is a special doctor who will cry with you after delivering bad news and call to check on you later. She answered hours worth of questions during appointments and on the phone. She showed us such love and compassion, and I am forever grateful.

Dr. Mutchler is no longer our audiologist, but is still our friend. This year we went back to see her over Christmas. I hope that can be a tradition!

Ultimately, hearing aids did not amplify sound enough to benefit Marlee. We saw her turn to sound on just a few occasions, but never consistently. And that jack hammer?? Well, we just happened to walk right by one at the zoo. So, of course, we turned around to walk by it again and again. She never even turned her head toward it. Just confirmation to us that this girl needed to be implanted, so that's exactly what happened! Today, she's turning to sound like a pro! I think that's amazing!!

Oh, and here are some pictures of creative things you do to try and keep hearing aids on the baby's ears and not in their mouth...

Between bows, hats, headbands, and equipment, Marlee has always had something on her head!! I wonder what she thinks about all of that... :)