Hanging out with Daddy
I'm already 2 months
Cool new hat that Mommy bought me for winter(it makes me look old)
Thursday, November 27, 2008
New Troy Photos
Hanging out with Daddy I'm already 2 months Cool new hat that Mommy bought me for winter
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
2 Months!
Troy is 2 months today! I can't believe that time has flown by so fast. This week has been an interesting adventure so far. Yesterday I started back to work and Troy started daycare. Dean doesn't have school this week so he's been at daycare these couple days too. Yesterday when I dropped him off it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be - I think I was yearning for adult interaction. However, when I called in the afternoon I found that he had been having a hard day, which made the rest of my day much worse. Then today I was more reluctant to drop him off and called and checked in with Ms. Debi (our daycare lady) a few hours later. Luckily he was having a much better day today.
Next week we have an appointment with the school we are looking to send Troy to. If we choose to send him to this one a teacher will come out to the house one day a week and work with Troy and I.
Other than that Dean, Troy and I went to Chuck E. Cheese tonight for my friend's son's 2nd birthday party. Let's just say one parent taking two young children to Chuck E. Cheese is CRAZY! As Holly describes it...it makes your ovaries want to shrivel up and drop out!
Next week we have an appointment with the school we are looking to send Troy to. If we choose to send him to this one a teacher will come out to the house one day a week and work with Troy and I.
Other than that Dean, Troy and I went to Chuck E. Cheese tonight for my friend's son's 2nd birthday party. Let's just say one parent taking two young children to Chuck E. Cheese is CRAZY! As Holly describes it...it makes your ovaries want to shrivel up and drop out!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
10 Things We Have Learned About Troy
10 THINGS WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT TROY IN THE PAST 8 WEEKS...
10. He is cold ALL the time! You have to keep the kid bundled in an undershirt, outfit and a warm blanket does his little lip stop shivering.
9. He can't wear socks. This really doesn't help with the whole cold thing listed in #10. But there is something about the size / shape of his little tootsies that prevents him from keeping socks on.
6. He LOVES to be held. They say that at this age you can't really spoil them by holding them too much, but this has proven to be FALSE. This kid will only fall asleep if he is being held, if he wakes up and isn't held he won't go back to sleep. Yes, I completely blame this on myself, but GEESH!
2. He is a stinky little farter. The worst part is that he farts ALL THE TIME. Ask anyone who has held him, he feels like a little vibrating doll. The one time I took him to my mom's school to visit her classes, he farted in some girl's face. It was funny, but really embarrassing at the same time.
10. He is cold ALL the time! You have to keep the kid bundled in an undershirt, outfit and a warm blanket does his little lip stop shivering.9. He can't wear socks. This really doesn't help with the whole cold thing listed in #10. But there is something about the size / shape of his little tootsies that prevents him from keeping socks on.
8. He has to sleep on something soft. It's against what the SIDS people tell you, but he has to sleep with blankets and pillows.
7. He does this creepy thing with his eyes when he sleeps. He doesn't quite shut them all the way, but his eyes still roll back into his head. All you can end up seeing is the white of his eyes...creepy!
6. He LOVES to be held. They say that at this age you can't really spoil them by holding them too much, but this has proven to be FALSE. This kid will only fall asleep if he is being held, if he wakes up and isn't held he won't go back to sleep. Yes, I completely blame this on myself, but GEESH! 5. This kid is NOISY. Along with his age, this is one of the many reasons you cannot tell that he is deaf. He makes noises all the time. Half the time you don't even think that he is asleep because of all the crazy noises that he is making.
4. He LOVES to eat. He actually loves to eat a little too much. If he wakes up and you are not feeding him within 30 seconds, it is an all out, bloody murder type of scream. Actually, it's kind of ridiculous.
3. He gets the most terrible hiccups. All the time. I don't mean once or twice a week, I mean 3-4 times a day. They shake his whole body when he gets them, and you just feel terrible for the little guy.
2. He is a stinky little farter. The worst part is that he farts ALL THE TIME. Ask anyone who has held him, he feels like a little vibrating doll. The one time I took him to my mom's school to visit her classes, he farted in some girl's face. It was funny, but really embarrassing at the same time.1. This kid is perfect. We love him so much and know that God meant him for us. We don't care that he is deaf or has to be held or even farts constantly. We love this kid.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Dean Speak Vol. 1
Mom: "Dean, now that you have gotten so much birthday money what are you going to do with it?"
Dean: "Buy my own sofa."
Dean: "Buy my own sofa."
How do you test a baby for deafness?
I've had several people ask me how we already know that Troy is deaf. Most people, as I did before this whole ordeal, assume that you learn that a child is deaf around 2-3 years old when they are not talking. According to some research my mom and I did, only 20% of hospitals test newborns for deafness, so it's not uncommon for people to find out their child is deaf by not speaking at 2-3 years old.
In the hopsital they run a test that looks at the neural response to sounds. There are sensors put on his head and little earplugs in his ears. The earplugs then do a series of clicks and beeps. The sensors can record which sounds his brain responds to. Unfortunatly, Troy did not respond to any.
Troy had that test ran on him twice in the hospital and once a few weeks after. About 4 weeks after he was born the hospital did a diagnostic test (a similar test to above) that told us that he cannot hear up to and probably past 90 decibles. We could have tested him at 120 decibles, which is the volume of a jet engine, however we felt it was kind of unnecessary.
In the hopsital they run a test that looks at the neural response to sounds. There are sensors put on his head and little earplugs in his ears. The earplugs then do a series of clicks and beeps. The sensors can record which sounds his brain responds to. Unfortunatly, Troy did not respond to any.
Troy had that test ran on him twice in the hospital and once a few weeks after. About 4 weeks after he was born the hospital did a diagnostic test (a similar test to above) that told us that he cannot hear up to and probably past 90 decibles. We could have tested him at 120 decibles, which is the volume of a jet engine, however we felt it was kind of unnecessary.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Meet the Stambaughs
I have offically started this blog because our youngest son Troy was born over a month ago and is deaf. We have many family and friends who want constant updates on him, the other children, and how we are handling the situation. I thought instead of answering multiple phone calls (not saying that I don't LOVE talking to each one of you) that I could update this every so often instead.
Many people ask about how we found out about Troy's deafness so early. According to some research my mom and I did, 20% of hospitals in America check a baby's hearing at time of birth. We just happen to be blessed enough that we were in one that did. The second night at the hospital Troy was brought back in the room from the nursery with a purple card in his bassinet saying he failed a hearing test in both ears. I must admit that I was pretty upset that no one told us, instead they just stuck a card in his bassinet. It was also hard to handle because it was 2:00 am. We talked to some doctors and nurses and they said it's not uncommon for babies to fail the test in the hospital and pass just fine in the weeks to come. Two weeks after being released from the hospital we repeated the test and Troy failed MISERABLY! He was supposed to get 160/160 and he got 7/160 in his left ear and 16/160 in his right ear. This was the hardest day of them all so far. We made an appointment to meet with an audiologist 2 weeks from that date to do a diagnostic test. On October 22nd, we met with an audiologist and found that Troy has what is called Profound Hearing Loss because of nerve damage. His hearing will never get better, however we found out that Kent County is the best county to live in if you have a child with hearing loss. This is because of their great schools and doctors.
We have since meet with the doctors office that will be doing Troy's cochlear implant when he's 1 year old. Apparently, in the state of Michigan you have to use hearing aids for 6 months before you are a canidate for cochlear implant. More than likely the hearing aids will not help, due to the fact that they amplify hearing and Troy has no hearing to amplify - however it has to be done.
Currently we are preparing to meet with Kenoshea (not sure if I spelled that right). Kenoshea is the special needs program here in GR that will assist us for Troy's first 10 - 20 years of life. They will help us set Troy up in a school for the deaf. I am also in the process of teaching Thom and the other 3 kids to sign. I have taken a sign language class in college and have learned various other signs while growing up in the church.
Other than that our family is doing great. We are having a birthday party for Dean tomorrow at Craig's Cruisers to celebrate his 7th birthday!! I can't believe it. Dani and Brady are moving schools again thanks to their mom, however they seem excited. Thom is doing great but very, very busy. He has to go to Chicago several times in the past couple weeks and has to go back this week for most of week and some of next week.
Hope all is good with you readers! God bless you all as He has blessed me.
Many people ask about how we found out about Troy's deafness so early. According to some research my mom and I did, 20% of hospitals in America check a baby's hearing at time of birth. We just happen to be blessed enough that we were in one that did. The second night at the hospital Troy was brought back in the room from the nursery with a purple card in his bassinet saying he failed a hearing test in both ears. I must admit that I was pretty upset that no one told us, instead they just stuck a card in his bassinet. It was also hard to handle because it was 2:00 am. We talked to some doctors and nurses and they said it's not uncommon for babies to fail the test in the hospital and pass just fine in the weeks to come. Two weeks after being released from the hospital we repeated the test and Troy failed MISERABLY! He was supposed to get 160/160 and he got 7/160 in his left ear and 16/160 in his right ear. This was the hardest day of them all so far. We made an appointment to meet with an audiologist 2 weeks from that date to do a diagnostic test. On October 22nd, we met with an audiologist and found that Troy has what is called Profound Hearing Loss because of nerve damage. His hearing will never get better, however we found out that Kent County is the best county to live in if you have a child with hearing loss. This is because of their great schools and doctors.
We have since meet with the doctors office that will be doing Troy's cochlear implant when he's 1 year old. Apparently, in the state of Michigan you have to use hearing aids for 6 months before you are a canidate for cochlear implant. More than likely the hearing aids will not help, due to the fact that they amplify hearing and Troy has no hearing to amplify - however it has to be done.
Currently we are preparing to meet with Kenoshea (not sure if I spelled that right). Kenoshea is the special needs program here in GR that will assist us for Troy's first 10 - 20 years of life. They will help us set Troy up in a school for the deaf. I am also in the process of teaching Thom and the other 3 kids to sign. I have taken a sign language class in college and have learned various other signs while growing up in the church.
Other than that our family is doing great. We are having a birthday party for Dean tomorrow at Craig's Cruisers to celebrate his 7th birthday!! I can't believe it. Dani and Brady are moving schools again thanks to their mom, however they seem excited. Thom is doing great but very, very busy. He has to go to Chicago several times in the past couple weeks and has to go back this week for most of week and some of next week.
Hope all is good with you readers! God bless you all as He has blessed me.
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