Since Courtney's activation on October 3rd she has begun to make baby noises. It warms our hearts every time we hear her!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Activation Clip
This is a clip of Courtney during her initial activation. It was a long day, but she did great! At this point during the mapping they were adjusting her second ear (left). She was hooked up to a computer so only she could hear the sound. After several times of all of us pointing to the screen when we heard a sound, Courtney did it all on her own. It was amazing! She now points up every morning when we first put on her CIs and throughout the day when she hears specific sounds. She is also beginning to make more baby gurgling noises, and it feels so good to hear them! It truly is an amazing journey!
(Be sure to press stop on the music bar on the right before you play the clip.)
Sunday, October 12, 2008
A Week of Firsts
This past week has been a week of firsts. We started off on Saturday in a bit of a frenzy getting ready for Courtney's birthday party. Bryan was on shift and Jeremy had a soccer game at noon. After Mom's quick run to Walmart we loaded the kids in the car and headed to Jeremy's game. I dropped Jeremy and Mom off and went on a food run. I returned just in the nick of time to see Jeremy score his first goal! Oh, he was so cute!! He threw both hands up in the air and cheered with excitement. He quickly scanned the sidelines and found us - just beaming from ear to ear. I wish I had it on film! They also won for the fist time, too!
After the big game we came home, cleaned up, and wrapped up the finishing touches for the birthday party. We had a great turn out. 25-30 of our friends came to celebrate Courtney's birthday. I know first birthdays are usually more for the parents, but this one really was. Even if Little Girl didn't give us a reaction when we all sang happy birthday to her, we knew she could hear us.
On Sunday Jeremy learned how to ride his two wheel bike! He had such a good time with Bryan and now wants to ride his bike everyday after he gets home from school.
To round out the last few days, Courtney got her first goose egg on her forehead! Logan didn't have any firsts, but he sure loves to play with his brother! I have so much more to update, but out of time and energy. I am working on getting the video clips of the activation and a few others up on the blog for all to see. It has been an emotional, exhausting journey, but amazing all at the same time.
After the big game we came home, cleaned up, and wrapped up the finishing touches for the birthday party. We had a great turn out. 25-30 of our friends came to celebrate Courtney's birthday. I know first birthdays are usually more for the parents, but this one really was. Even if Little Girl didn't give us a reaction when we all sang happy birthday to her, we knew she could hear us.
On Sunday Jeremy learned how to ride his two wheel bike! He had such a good time with Bryan and now wants to ride his bike everyday after he gets home from school.
To round out the last few days, Courtney got her first goose egg on her forehead! Logan didn't have any firsts, but he sure loves to play with his brother! I have so much more to update, but out of time and energy. I am working on getting the video clips of the activation and a few others up on the blog for all to see. It has been an emotional, exhausting journey, but amazing all at the same time.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Activation Day
Friday, October 3rd was activation day. What a day! That morning we met with Dr. Syms so he could take a look at her incisions and clear her to go to Sunshine Cottage to be "turned on". Everything went well and we will return to see him on the 17th.
We had a few hours to kill in San Antonio before our 2:30 appointment so my mom, Bryan, Courtney and I had lunch and bought an internal battery for our video camera so we could capture the moment. We thought we had all of this time until one hour before the big moment we turned on the video camera and saw nothing but a black screen! Thank goodness for Best Buy!! By 2:10pm we were plugged in and charging up our new camcorder!!
We all felt pretty emotional walking into Sunshine Cottage. I became flooded with many of the same emotions I had the first day Bryan and I went there with Courtney. It all seemed surreal again. I felt my emotions brewing. I didn't want to have high expectations in the event that she didn't respond at all or cried, I just was unsure about it all. At the same time, I couldn't believe in 3 short months all that had happened. My mom finally was able to experience and feel the hope that this little school for deaf children gave us. She was touched by the "normal" chatter and excitement of a Friday at an elementary school. It definitely wasn't quiet!
There were 7 of us in the little tiny audiology office for Courtney's big day. I wasn't sure where to watch or what to do, but luckily they have a mirror so we could see her face no matter where we were sitting. Before we began we were informed that all 22 electrodes were in and all 22 functioning!! Very good! After a few adjustments on the computer, Jacque, our audiologist, told us she may hear something. She did and we absolutely scared her to death. I didn't know if I should cry with her because she was so scared or cry because I was so happy she was hearing something! I was able to keep my composure and we all were told to put our happy faces on while Jacque adjusted the levels.
Besides it being totally impossible to keep the processors on, Courtney did absolutely amazing! We were able to do the first mapping of the right ear and will return on Wednesday to do the left. After about 2 hours into it and all of us pointing to our ears when we heard the sound and then to the screen to start conditioning her, that little girl heard something and pointed her little finger all by herself to the screen. At first we thought it was a fluke, but then she kept doing it, it was AMAZING!
After about 3 hours of mapping she was exhausted, we all were. By this point overwhelmed was an understatement! Saturday didn't go so well and we only were able to keep the CIs on for 2.5 hours. Today, however, was great! A little toupee tape goes a long way! Courtney is so little that none of the baby accoutrements fit her, but we are hopeful that once her incisions heal it will get a little easier.
Here are a few pictures from post op to today!
We had a few hours to kill in San Antonio before our 2:30 appointment so my mom, Bryan, Courtney and I had lunch and bought an internal battery for our video camera so we could capture the moment. We thought we had all of this time until one hour before the big moment we turned on the video camera and saw nothing but a black screen! Thank goodness for Best Buy!! By 2:10pm we were plugged in and charging up our new camcorder!!
We all felt pretty emotional walking into Sunshine Cottage. I became flooded with many of the same emotions I had the first day Bryan and I went there with Courtney. It all seemed surreal again. I felt my emotions brewing. I didn't want to have high expectations in the event that she didn't respond at all or cried, I just was unsure about it all. At the same time, I couldn't believe in 3 short months all that had happened. My mom finally was able to experience and feel the hope that this little school for deaf children gave us. She was touched by the "normal" chatter and excitement of a Friday at an elementary school. It definitely wasn't quiet!
There were 7 of us in the little tiny audiology office for Courtney's big day. I wasn't sure where to watch or what to do, but luckily they have a mirror so we could see her face no matter where we were sitting. Before we began we were informed that all 22 electrodes were in and all 22 functioning!! Very good! After a few adjustments on the computer, Jacque, our audiologist, told us she may hear something. She did and we absolutely scared her to death. I didn't know if I should cry with her because she was so scared or cry because I was so happy she was hearing something! I was able to keep my composure and we all were told to put our happy faces on while Jacque adjusted the levels.
Besides it being totally impossible to keep the processors on, Courtney did absolutely amazing! We were able to do the first mapping of the right ear and will return on Wednesday to do the left. After about 2 hours into it and all of us pointing to our ears when we heard the sound and then to the screen to start conditioning her, that little girl heard something and pointed her little finger all by herself to the screen. At first we thought it was a fluke, but then she kept doing it, it was AMAZING!
After about 3 hours of mapping she was exhausted, we all were. By this point overwhelmed was an understatement! Saturday didn't go so well and we only were able to keep the CIs on for 2.5 hours. Today, however, was great! A little toupee tape goes a long way! Courtney is so little that none of the baby accoutrements fit her, but we are hopeful that once her incisions heal it will get a little easier.
Here are a few pictures from post op to today!
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