Our Immediate Family’s Reactions

While Baby K’s diagnosis of profound hearing loss affected us directly, it impacted our family members too.  Below are the reactions from Baby K’s aunt, uncle, and grandma. Baby K’s Aunt’s Reaction The day I found out my brother and his wife were expecting their first baby just 3 months after my husband and I … Continue reading →

Creating Baby K’s Schedule

  One of the most useful things we have done to track Baby K’s development is to create a schedule of activities, which changes as Baby K grows and develops.  Our Early Start teacher had not only taught us several activities to do with Baby K but also provided us with a comprehensive packet of … Continue reading →

Baby K’s Sedated ABR

Roughly six months after his birth, Baby K underwent a sedated ABR, which was his third ABR but his first sedated ABR, to confirm his hearing loss.  Administering an ABR under sedation meant that Baby K would receive anesthesia to put him to sleep and to allow the attending audiologist to conduct the ABR testing … Continue reading →

You Must Advocate For Your Child

We have learned many lessons along our journey to teach Baby K to hear, and one of the most important lessons has been that as parents, we have to be our child’s greatest advocate.  If we do not demand the best treatment, the best doctors, and the best audiologists for our child, who will? We … Continue reading →

Meeting Baby K’s ENT

Before we found out about Baby K’s hearing loss, we had planned to switch him onto Baby K’s Dad’s insurance.  Now, because of the unexpected medical issue we faced, we felt all the more compelled to switch Baby K’s insurance because Baby K’s Dad’s insurance provided more flexibility with choosing medical providers.  After switching insurance, … Continue reading →

The Grieving Process

Baby K’s Dad’s Perspective There’s no right way to cope with a loss, and each person has his / her unique way of dealing with stress, sadness, etc.  The experts suggest 7 stages (or 5 stages) of grief, and I can’t say that I progressed through each one in a linear fashion. I didn’t dwell … Continue reading →

How Our Journey Began

The day after he was born, Baby K failed the California Newborn Hearing Screen.  At the time, the nurses told us that Baby K likely failed this screening test because there were problems with the testing equipment.  In fact, the nurses assured us that the other babies, who were born on the same day as … Continue reading →