Hearing Screening

Because Verity failed her newborn hearing test, we had a thorough testing session scheduled yesterday, followed by a consultation with a doctor. I drove to where I thought the appointment was (same Boys Town Research center as the GI doc we see) only to learn that I should have gone to the downtown location. Oops. Thankfully it wasn't a problem (other than driving for an extra hour plus pushing everything back, thoroughly filling my afternoon!)

Verity had to be asleep for the test, and thankfully she did great. (Maybe we should have them test her during the night, lol.) Of course, it helped that I held her and kept her pacifier in her mouth while sitting in a cushy armchair. I think I got more sleep during the test than I did the night before, ha!

She had an Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test: "electrodes on the head pick up the brain's response to sounds presented to the ears. This test can provide information about the amount of hearing loss and how well the hearing nerve is working."

Because the initial responses showed between moderate to severe hearing loss, the tester then placed an electrode (held in place by another person) against the bony part of Verity's head behind her ear to see whether there was a true lack of ability to hear or whether perhaps the difficulty lies in her teeny tiny ear canals or possibly fluid in the ears.

With the second portion of the test, they determined that Verity is in the normal range for hearing low frequencies, and only in the mild loss category for higher frequencies.

At this time, there is really nothing to do other than wait for Verity (and her little ears!) to grow. Her canals are SUPER tiny, not uncommon for our T18 babies, and it is possible she will later have tubes in her ears and/or wear a BAHA (bone-anchored hearing aid) headband, but she will need to have a bigger head, lol, plus be able to sit up.

Meanwhile, it helps to know that her left ear is better able to hear than her right, and that when we talk with her, we need to talk in a fairly loud speaking voice and try to minimize distractions in the background. (I know, right?!?! Bwahahaha....)