As most of you know, every child we have has a 25% chance of having Usher Type 1C. Being profoundly deaf at birth is the first sign of the syndrome. But the morning after Harrison was born, a sweet old man with white hair walked in our room around 7:30am to administer the newborn hearing test. It caught Blair and me completely off guard, but I think it was a good thing that we weren't waiting all day for the test. We informed the man that our first son did not pass his newborn hearing screen and how important this test was to us because it would pretty much tell us whether Harrison has Usher 1C like Hunter. Needless to say, he passed with flying colors :) Our baby boy Harrison can hear and will not have have the cloud of Usher Syndrome over him for the rest of his life. The decision to have another child was a huge one for us, but we put it in God's hands and were willing to accept another child with or without Usher Syndrome. But thankfully, for his sake, passing the newborn hearing screen is a pretty good indicator that he does not have it. We will most probably retest his hearing at 2 months, but we have definitely noticed differences in how he reacts to sound as compared to Hunter.
And big brother Hunter has been adjusting a little better than expected. He still has his 2.5 year old moments which are harder to deal with now with a new baby at home, but he has been ignoring Harrison for the most part. Which I'm ok with! I think once he gets a little older and is able to interact, Hunter will show more interest in his baby brother.
(Above photo by Nicole Bell Photography)
With a new baby at home it's hard to post when all I want to do is sleep, but I will try my best to keep up!
Happy Holidays!
-elise
