Most excellent news

Received some news yesterday which was... Well......... Life changing, again. But in a good way.
Here is the back story.

     Due to McKenna's deafness, we are considering cochlear implants. This choice isn't right for all children in all situations, but RJ and I feel it's right for our family and the way we want to raise our children. Part of that process is to determine her " candidacy". This includes 1. Does she have the right " kind" and " amount" of hearing loss ( check)? 2. Does  the family have the support ( emotional and financial) to make sure the child receives therapy to make the surgery worthwhile?( check) 3. Does the family seem motivated to attend the multitude of speech classes ? Will they work with the child at home? ( oh, double double check). 4. Lastly, the anatomy of the inner ears, which I have no control over ( you all know how much I hate that).


So McKenna underwent MRI last Friday. This was originally to discover the structure of her inner ears. Due to recent  developments we also had some concerns for possible brain abnormalities. To say this was scary would be the understatement of the decade. Now, I was no longer worried about whether my child would be able to hear to speak, but rather could she even cognitively understand speech? Would she ever be able to communicate in any way?

She underwent the anesthesia required for the MRI and RJ and I waited patiently for it to be over, the pager they give you planted firmly between us. She did well. Now we wait.

Yesterday, we received a phone call, and the result we had been hoping to hear came forward. " NORMAL". Brain is normal, ears are normal...... Normal normal normal.  The relief is overwhelming. Our baby is our baby, no matter what. This will allow her more chances in life, which is our goal. So, last candidacy point checked! Now, nothing stands between us and the implants but time! McKenna will never not be deaf, and implants don't " fix it". She will never hear as we do, as her sister hears, but she has a fantastic chance to learn to speak, learn to hear music, learn to interact with her peers. She has, as never before, the chance to partially gain back some of that lost sense. She has the chance of hearing her mommy and daddy tell her we love her.

The day we discovered....the big " D Word"

 The first day of McKenna's life, she was perfect. 10 fingers and 10 toes. We could not have been more happy. That evening she underwent hearing screen and failed. At that time, we were informed it was probably just fluid and she would come back. She did, and again McKenna failed. I was terrified.... How could this happen? It's my perfect baby!

Two weeks later she was screened again ( another fail) but by then I knew there was something off. She was not responding as her sister had.....as I knew she should. On May 7th, we received official diagnosis.McKenna had profound hearing loss on the left, and severe loss on the right. She was deaf. She was deaf and I couldn't fix it. She was deaf and I didn't know why.

After the crying( not going to lie, several days of that) we got to work. Research, calls, you name it. The right ENT, the right audiologist. Appointment after appointment.

So now, here we are.McKenna's deafness is likely caused by CMV, a virus I contracted during pregnancy. There are so many unknowns for her in regards to long term hearing and educational abilities.

There are so many more questions still to be answered. What will we do about the hearing loss? Has she had any brain involvement? Sign or no sign? Mainstream school? Deaf school? Who to see? We are lucky that my job offers me the opportunity to have access to the best in the field. Still, the choices are overwhelming.

What I do know is that our baby is not broken. She is not lesser. While we will do everything in our power to be sure she gets the help and care she needs, I don't ever want her to consider herself in any way inferior to her hearing peers.

So stay tuned. With her sister at her back, and those bright baby blue eyes, I can tell it is going to be a wild ride.

Who we are

I decided to start this blog for many reasons. First and foremost, to give a spot for family and friends to see what has been going on with us. Secondly, so that others may see what it's like to raise a hearing and deaf child. Lastly, to document this crazy ride called parenthood.

My husband and I are your average people with two extraordinary little girls. Reagan is 3, happy, healthy, rambunctious, stubborn, and brilliant. McKenna is 2 months, with brilliant blue eyes, a sweet disposition, a beautiful smile, and yes.... She is deaf.

Stay tuned for a wild ride.....