We had our- er... Von Bebe's hearing test a
week ago. I called to make the
appointment and the first question I got asked was
“…And are you testing
because she failed the test at the hospital?”
After I picked my jaw up off the floor I finally found the words to tell
the woman on the other end of the line that Von Bebe was the product of a home
birth. I could imagine her shaking her
head on the other end of the line as she told me that it’s really much harder
to test when they’re that old.
So I guess it’s just too bad that she passed
the test with flying colors after about 5 minutes. We showed up at 8
am . She was asleep and
pretty much stayed asleep throughout the entire test.
Actually, it was pretty cool. They stuck 3 electrodes on her and plastic
earphones that completely covered her ears.
The electrodes actually measured her brainwaves based on what sounds
they were piping into the ear phones.
And this is why it only works if babies are sleeping and their eyes are
closed. I guess if they are awake and
their eyes are open then the brain is receiving too many stimuli to measure.
But then I have to wonder is all of this really
necessary to test her hearing? Because I
can easily see her startle when the dogs bark.
It seems to me that she can hear just fine. But for some reason, if we don’t get this
test done, the state sends me a letter suggesting I should be ashamed for not
having had the test within the first week of my daughter’s life. Because I didn’t have better things to do
with my time… especially since she has been responding to multiple auditory
stimuli (ie. Loud noises) around the house just fine for the last several
weeks.
Whatever.
I guess this is yet one more thing that makes me an ass.
But if you ask me, she seems to be responding just fine.
This is something that I happen to be passionate about. My first baby was a c-section in the hospital and had the hearing test there. To our surprise he failed that one and the next two at ages 4 and 8 weeks. We knew by 8 weeks that he had a moderate hearing loss and he began wearing hearing aids at 12 weeks old. We were shocked because he, too, responded to claps and dog barks and we had absolutely no cases of hearing loss in our family! My other two boys were beautifully home birthed and I had the same job trying to find them somewhere to be tested. We actually found an audiologist to test the second one, and through our connections in the deaf community in Albuquerque found someone to come to our house to test the third child. It doesn't really matter when you test them, as long as you do. Of course earlier is better. But, hey, sometimes you just never know...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the perspective. I am definitely glad that I had her hearing tested. I wish the state didn't make me feel so guilty about not doing it sooner.
ReplyDeleteBut I realize early detection can help in a big way. Better safe than sorry.