More about those ears.

Today we spent our third (and hopefully final for a few weeks) Monday at the lovely Kosair Children's Hospital doing testing on sweet EK.

Last Monday was tubes and a little investigating to see how those ears looked on the inside. From an anatomy stand point, they look great. Everything that should be there, is there. And the things like the fluid and puss from 20 months of untreated ear infections that shouldn't be there, are now gone. Yes, puss. Gross, I know. The surgeon said there was a ton of it. And if I had to make an uneducated guess, I'd say that she never had a treated ear infection while living at the orphanage.

And before you jump the gun and start pointing fingers, no, her having multiple untreated ear infections didn't cause her to go deaf. I already asked. It didn't help her case, but certainly wasn't the cause.

She bounced back from the tubes pretty fast and was her normal chipper self after a 4 hour nap.

Today we repeated her sedated ABR (fancy word for hearing test while you are asleep) that was first done back in August. We knew we'd have to repeat it bc she had so much fluid (er, puss) that they weren't able to get good results from the first test.

Once again, she handled the not eating, the being poked and prodded, being stuck, the being wrapped up like a tiny burrito, the sedation all like a champ. It doesn't hurt that all the nurses and staff think she is the "most precious thing in the whole wide world" (said in a sing-songy-squeezing-your-cheeks kinda voice).

The hope today was that with the tubes and all that junk being gone from her ears, it might give her a boost in what she can hear with the hearing aids. I wasn't really holding my breath since I hadn't really seen any indication last week that she was hearing anything more than before. Please don't read that as a lack of faith. God could restore her hearing any 'ol time He chooses. Just like He can keep her deaf. I just hadn't noticed any huge changes.

And once the results were in, there wasn't really any substantial changes. Left ear stayed the same. They did get a response a little higher this time in the right ear, but it still falls in the severe to profound hearing loss range.

What is the next step?

Well, we go back next week to have her hearing aids reprogrammed to compensate for any changes after the tubes. And we return to the surgeon the first of November for a check on those tubes and to discuss our next options.

I think I know the fork in the road we are coming up on and while it excites me for her, it terrifies me as well. To make a choice to give her ears to hear and a voice to talk is a huge deal.

But a post on cochlear implants will be another topic for another day.

Possibly in the very near future.

Right now she's playing in the tub, biting the tail off a mermaid while attempting to wash her hair. Very unsuccessfully, I might add. As I dodge splashes and blog from my perch on the toilet. Seat down, of course.

Carry on, little one.

Your world as you know it may soon be completely different.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Two.

Today our sweet baby girl turns 2.

I can't help but mourn the 20 months of her life we missed, but whole heartily celebrate the 4 we have had with her.

Well, 3 months, 2 weeks and 1 day.

We've gone from being totally bottle fed to tolerating some solid foods (still working on that).  Barely moving at all to walking (almost running!) all over the place.  From no communication to following signs.  And imitating a few.  From a scrawny 13 lbs to almost 17.

She has grafted into our family almost perfectly.  Almost as if that was God's plan from the beginning.

Go figure.

She is funny.  She is feisty.  She has attitude.  She is tiny.  If it wasn't for the mouth full of teeth and the reasoning skills of a two-year-old, I might would think they were wrong about her age and should be turning just 1.  She is so stinkin' smart!

She has melted my two big boys into "Super Brothers" who are totally wrapped around their little sister's finger.  And the Daddy...well, let's just say he's pretty wrapped, too.  And completely in love.

I'm pretty smitten, as well.

I love how she wiggles her tongue when she laughs with her mouth wide open. 

I love how she cocks her head to one side and shakes her whole body when she is trying to get your attention. 

I love her attempt at signing with us, especially when she tries to tell me "no"! 

I love the way she sticks her little foot in the air when you come any where near her with a shoe....whether it's hers or not. 

I love how she tucks her little arm around me like a newborn when she is taking a bottle, to make sure she is as close to me as she can get. 

I love how she loves pasta and just simply tolerates veggies.

I love how she uses her tiny little finger to try to poke her hearing aid back in when it falls out.

I love how she stands at my feet, begging for puffs, while I cook dinner.

I love how just making eye contact with her can elicit the biggest smile ever.

I love how she brings me things she knows she's not supposed to be playing with.

I love how she loves ribbons, strings, bags, boxes, empty Mt. Dew bottles and any stuffed animal she can hug. 

I love how she gets to giggling at herself for no good reason.

I love how she loves to play "chase" with big brothers.

I love how she covers up her little face with her hands when she gets upset.  And then how she reaches for me to make it better. 

I love how she makes a little sound like a kitten when she is trying to tell you something important.

I love how she likes to play peek-a-boo anywhere, anytime.

I love how she looks at me when she hears something for the first time.

I love how she looks at me before she tries anything new.  And I especially love when she looks at me before she does something she knows she shouldn't.  As if to say, "Whatcha gonna do 'bout it?"

I just love her.

Ok, I'll stop.  You're all entitled to your opinions, but my kid is cuter than yours. 

Hands down.

Not too keen on the cupcake.  But she warmed up...

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ellie Kate!!!