Wednesday, June 20, 2012

our little guy

ten weeks ago our sweet boy graced us with his charm. ten weeks ago i fell in love all over again with another perfect little being. ten weeks ago we found out our precious baby boy might be deaf.

when i first laid eyes on Hudson Gregory my heart melted. cute as a button, ten fingers ten toes...everything was just right. You can imagine our heartbreak when the results came back from his newborn hearing screening as a fail. the nurses were optimistic. they told us it was so early, and he may still have fluid in his ears so another basic test was scheduled for when he was ten days old. he failed again. a more extensive test had to be done to determine for sure if he did indeed have some form of hearing loss, and that's when it was confirmed that our little guy's ears had some issues. initially i was quite distraught to say the least. not because of the potential struggles we were bound to face in our near future, but because this was going to be one of Hudson's greatest trials in life. this was the card he was dealt and i didn't think it was fair. i felt so sad for him, but i snapped out of it real quick. this isn't life threatening. this isn't something that will drastically change the way we live our everyday lives. we can handle this. he was blessed with positive, loving and supportive family and friends. together we will get him through it all. its not yet known as to how intense his hearing loss is. after a couple of attempts, we still don't have clear results due to his lack of napping skills during the tests. best case scenario, he wont need any kind of amplification though he will have a hard time understanding what people are saying in crowded noisy situations. worst case scenario, either his cochlea or his nerve didn't form fully and not even cochlear implants will benefit him resulting in us learning sign language as primary communication with him. Judging by what he reacts to daily his exceptionally loud sister startles him on a regular basis, among other things we feel that he wont end up in the worst case category. we have a lot of testing ahead of us. since we are still unsure, they are going to treat our case as if he needs amplification and start him with hearing aids to see if we notice a difference in him at all. once they can start testing him in a booth, which starts around six months of age, we will get a much better idea of what level hearing loss he has. when he is about a year old, if the hearing aids don't do the trick they plan to do an MRI to take a look at the cochlea and nerve to determine if he's a candidate for cochlear implants. we are so very grateful for technology and the things they can do for hearing loss today. its amazing to me that in some cases they can completely restore one of our five senses. I don't feel sad for him anymore. he was given this challenge because with our encouragement and support he will be able to handle it like a champ. this just makes him extra sweet and i don't plan on treating him any differently because of it. we have a lot of love in our little family, and i've said it before...all you need is love.


6 comments:

Arica said...

Oh Nikki. What does one say to that, other than you and Greg are no doubt handing this with grace. What a precious soul, I know God gave him to goodly parents. We love you and will keep your little man and family in our prayers.

Anonymous said...

Precious boy. I know in my heart that with spectacular parents such as yourselves, little hudson will be just fine, whatever the outcome.

Thinking and praying for you all.

Logan and Michelle said...

I love my huds! And my sas

r.deighton said...

Dear Nikki and Greg, You are all in out prayers. However, God chose two special parents for dear little Hudson. You will do great things for him I am sure. Blessings to all of you.
Love, Aunt Ger

Bajamom@gmail.com said...

What a lucky guy Hudson is to have such a great Mom and Dad!!

Aleigh Joy Moore said...

what a sweet little boy, I dearly love him!