second baby

[Guest guest]

I wanted to respond to the person who asked about considering a second child.

My first child, , was born deaf. He was identified through the newborn

hearing screen. We had no history of hearing loss on either side of the

family, healthy pregnancy, full term and tested negative for Connexin 26.

So

we didn't have a reason for his loss. that first year of 's life I

questioned whether I would have it in me to have another child. Not only did I

worry what if the second child had a hearing loss as well, but I simply wondered

if I could manage two with all the things I was going through with at the

time. It was just overwhelming in the beginning. But after time past I

realized that it wasn't such a hardship anymore. I know we've got obstacles

ahead

of us, but I know more now and I'm optimistic about the future. I was naive

about a lot of things when we first learned about 's hearing and now I feel

things are more under control. My son, , was born when was almost

two years old. 's CI had just been activated only 2 months before the ba

by arrived.

When I was pregnant with I always thought there could be a chance that

he would have a hearing loss as well. Of course I didn't want that to be the

case, but I felt at the time that I would be okay with it. I figured we knew

so much about it already that we would have a head start in knowing what to

do. I was surprised that I didn't have a lot of anxiety waiting for the

newborn hearing test after was born. In fact, I was in the room by

myself

when the nurse called me and told me he passed. I forgot to tell my husband

until a few hours later when something reminded me of it. I think my husband

actually was saying something like, " I wonder when they're going to do 's

hearing test. She said they were going to do it today. " I told him, " oh,

yeah. I forgot to tell you. She called earlier and he passed! " He was

surprised

I had forgotten, but it just goes to show you how it wasn't first in my mind.

It sure was obvious that he could hear when we got him home. What a

difference tip toeing around him when we were used to shouting across the house

even

with in my arms! To this day we still have a hard time keeping quiet

when is sleeping. But at least when is loud he doesn't wake up

.

The way I look at it is that with any pregnancy there is a chance that

something could go wrong. I never even thought about this during my first

pregnancy. I just took for granted that everything would be fine. Now if I

were to

have another I'd be nervous that something else could happen, not necessarily

hearing related.

's deafness seemed so devastating initially but now it's just a small

part of him and I'm so in love with him. has eczema and numerous food

allergies that crushed me when I found out. They present daily challenges in

caring for him. So you never know...