Great News About Her Hearing!!!!!!!

Miss Alayna getting ready to come home from Trinity after 5 days in the NICU. We were soooo ready!
What a sweetie. She's such a tough cookie. Her face is red due to a reaction to all of the tape they had on her face and the medications.
Has she come a long way! I look back at photos of her and I never realized how blind I was to the fact that she looked so sick. Of course, I was probably a mother in a bit of denial.

I thought I'd share a few old photos with all of you. I don't have any new ones right now!

I have a quick update for you. We just got back from Iowa City tonight. Alayna had an appointment in the Department of Otolaryngology to have a sedated ABR and to get her tubes checked. Her tubes are still there and look good. We've had absolutely no problems with them (knock on wood). And the most exciting part of the day was that her ABR shows normal hearing! Yes, I said "normal hearing!" This just goes to show that there is an almighty God who answers prayers and miracles do happen.

Alayna passed her hearing test at birth. So, of course, I didn't doubt anything was wrong. That is until she just didn't respond to some things and hit milestones. After her 1p36 diagnosis she was given a hearing test at BHASED two times, but had never completely "passed" either test. Alayna had a sleep deprived ABR in Peoria and it was also inconclusive due to an ear infection. And a few weeks ago when she had her tubes put in they tried another ABR. And again, we had no results due to fluid in her ears.

Now that she has had the tubes in place, we've noticed a big difference with her alertness and how she startles at things more often. It was good timing to do another ABR. And Iowa City supports sedated ABR's and believes that sleep-deprived ABR's don't really "work." Alayna was given 4.5 ml of chloralhydrate to make her sleep for about an hour. She actually slept until we got home at 6:00 pm. The poor thing hadn't eaten for almost 12 hours. Anyway, the ABR today showed results that suggest normal hearing in both ears. We are all so happy. We revisit this department on July 30th to check the tubes again and do a behavioral test in a sound booth. Right now, the audiologist sees no apparent reason to repeat the ABR. We'll keep our fingers crossed and hope her hearing remains the same or improves with time....just like her development. I'm so thankful to not have to get her hearing aids. We've got a helmet to contend with and that is good for now.

I keep my faith in the Lord and he keeps answering my prayers. I said a prayer to him before Alayna went in for the test. I told him we would glorify his name and praise him if he'd watch over Alayna and deliver us good results. Please continue to pray for Alayna and praise the Lord for the many blessings we have received.