The Beginning: Part 1

I started this blog when Malachi was 14 months old. A friend made a good point that when people are confused and looking for help and support is before and leading up to the big decision and where we are at now. I am going to start from the beginning and write several posts leading up to this point.


June 22, 2010- Malachi was born. The labor was perfect. The doctor said that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, but he didn't seem concerned. The doctor was able to unwrap the cord pretty quickly, and Malachi's AGAR score was a 9 (out of 10). Malachi was never even a little jaundice (because he was a champion eater). So no worries. Before we left the hospital Malachi had the routine newborn hearing screening. They asked me to feed him so he would sleep through it. I called them to come pick Malachi up after a feeding and they didn't come for near an hour and half. I knew he was going to be hungry during the test. They said he wasn't very cooperative and cried during parts of the test. He failed his left ear and passed his right. They told me not to worry because sometimes baby's have vernix in their ears and it kind of clogs them up. We would need to go in an have him screened again in one month just to make sure.

At one month we went to a hearing center to get another screening done. He didn't pass either ear. He was pretty cooperative that time and she thought maybe his ear canals were just a little too small because they didn't have the small plugs that the hospital has. So we can back a month later, he was now 2 months old. Again, he didn't pass either ear at all and he was cooperative. She decided to refer us to an otolaryngology clinic.

September 2010 - The otolaryngology appointment was a couple of weeks later. Malachi was almost 3 months old. The doctor decided to clean out his left ear because there was quite a bit of wax in it before they proceeded with the ABR. I had tried to time the appointment right after he had eaten but with all the waiting and then having his ear cleaned out he was ready for a feeding and was annoyed from being messed with. He was really uncooperative and I remember thinking that we would have to come back in for another test. I ended up feeding him during part of the test and then he would drift off to sleep, then wake up and eat again. Then he would get upset about the stuff on his head and ears and cry. After what seemed like forever, she told me that she "hesitantly" passed him. I was a bit confused how that worked, I didn't know anything about hearing tests. She told me to watch out for any signs that he wasn't hearing and if something seemed off by the time he was 12 months to come back in for a retest. That was good enough for me, I assumed nothing was wrong. I called family and friends and told everyone that Malachi was fine.

To be continued