Easter!

Savannah's first Easter was great!!  We were in Oak Harbor with my grandparents and went to my childhood church.  There really isn't much to mention, so here are some pictures!  :-)

Savannah with Daddy!

Savannah with her Easter baskets from her Godmommy and Grandma Jeananne

--Chauntelle

Savannah Hearing Loss: Part 2 - Early Intervention

Like I mentioned in my last post, Savannah has been in hearing aids now for about 5 months.  Other than her wanting to chew on them, they have been an easy adjustment for her.

After she was diagnosed at three months, our friend from Children's suggested that we get involved in an Early Intervention program through the state.  These program would provide us a chance to work with an organization to best help us and Savannah adjust to Savannah's loss and development.

We were given three different programs to choose from for Savannah's hearing loss:
1. An organization with a sign-language focus
2. An organization with a sign-and-talk focus
3. An organization with a listen-and-talk focus

Based on Savannah's case and the suggestions of some of her doctors and audiologists, we decided to talk with two of the organizations above to figure out which one would be a good fit.  The first was the sign and talk focused org and the second was the listen and talk focused org.

After meeting with these two programs, it really seemed like the last one was the best for us and Savannah.  We chose to work as part of the Parent Infant Program at Listen and Talk.  The focus of Listen and Talk is...well...encouraging kids to use their hearing and voices to communicate.  Given the usable hearing that Savannah has and with the help of her aids, this seemed like a great fit.

Savannah and Tara

We have now been with Listen and Talk since mid October of last year (before Savannah even got her aids) and absolutely love the assistance we are getting!!  Each week, our EI Specialist, Tara, comes to our home and we have a session where she evaluates Savannah's continued development and also gives instruction on how we can help Savannah utilize her hearing and communicate back with us.  It is amazing the progress that she has made over these past months.  Not to mention how much Savannah loves seeing Tara each week.  She has quickly become like a member of the family in our home.  We have had so much assistance in troubleshooting hearing aids that I feel like a pro now.

In addition to Tara's visits, there is also a Music and Movements class that Savannah attends with our close family friends - Ray and Jeannane - every other Friday.  Savannah loves the interaction with other kids.  It is important to both Michael and I that Savannah have the chance to see that she isn't alone with her aids and that other kids also have the same devices or ones that are similar to help them with their hearing as well.

Savannah with Ray at her Music and Movements Class

Clapping!!

Listen and Talk also provides special nights for parents of children with hearing loss where they bring in guest speakers or just have a group question and answer time.  The support is really a bonus.  One of my favorite meetings was a night that five teenagers who started in the Listen and Talk program when they were young came back to talk about their experiences and how we, as parents, can help our kids adjust to their hearing loss.  It was unbelievable to look at these kids and know they had hearing loss when I could have never told! Each of them had loss more severe than Savannah and their speech was impeccable!  It was encouraging to hear their stories and suggestions.

After these past two posts, if there are a couple of things I could leave you with, it would be these:
1. Savannah has two hearing aids that she wears to amplify her hearing.
2. She is not deaf.
3. You do not need to shout at her.  Lol.  Even without the aids she still can hear what you are saying...although it may not sound as clear as it does with the aids.
4. My biggest pet peeve is people saying "oh, now you can hear me, Savannah" or "yay, your ears are on!" when they see her with her aids in.  Her ears were never missing from her head!  Ugh.  Don't be ridiculous.
5. She is no different than you, your child, niece/nephew, brother/sister or cousin. God made her exactly as He wanted her to be, and she is on loan to Michael and I while we grace this earth.

As we told our friends about Savannah's hearing loss, I was shocked at how many of them (you) actually have hearing loss personally or know someone close who has hearing loss.  I have two different friends who actually wore hearing aids as children and I would have never suspected it now because they don't wear them anymore and communicate just fine.  It has been encouraging to hear your stories of triumph as a parent.

All of your encouragement is appreciated! Separate from the hearing loss, Savannah is a handful in the best kind of way - super active and opinionated without crying.  Haha.  Her current favorite things seem to be Sprout (other parents know what I am talking about), watching basketball, and swimming with me once a week.  Her hearing aids aren't water proof (there are currently no water proof aids available) so we swim without them, but she LOVES the water and the songs that I sing with her and has even attempted to start blowing bubbles like I do.  I don't know if its a blessing or a curse, but I think she is going to be a little fish!

--Chauntelle

Savannah's Hearing Loss - Part 1: Diagnosis

I have been wanting to write this particular blog ever since I started it, but because I knew how it would take me to write all the information I have been avoiding it.  Haha.

**Disclaimer: I do not know everything about hearing loss or the diagnosis of hearing loss.  This is just my experience, what I understand, and what I am passing on.  If something doesn't seem factual from what you understand, don't be offended. I am no expert.  :-)

Some of you may know that Savannah has been diagnosed with some hearing loss in both ears.  Here is where I tell you a little bit about our experience finding out.

Savannah after birth

Savannah was born at Swedish in Seattle on Sunday, August 7.  Before we were allowed to check out on the 8th, they ran a series of tests on her.  One of the tests they ran was what they called a "Infant Hearing Screening."  Savannah's brain responses to noises were monitored to determine if she passed this screening.  Well, she didn't.  After doing a little research, I didn't think much about it and was told by the woman who did our testing that she could have fluid in her ears from the birth and that we should come back in two weeks to do the testing again.  So we scheduled the second test for two weeks after her birth and checked out to go home.

After just watching Savannah's behavior, there was no doubt in my mind that Savannah's hearing was perfectly normal.  She startled at sounds (really hating the sound of the toilet flushing).  She seemed to respond to voices (as much as any other 1-2 week old).  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  So, I thought nothing about having the second test done.

Well, she failed the second screening when we went back to Swedish.  I didn't really understand what that meant.  What this screening does is tell you if your child's brain is responding to conversational sound.  During Savannah's first screening, she failed on one ear and passed on the other.  During this second screening both ears had failed the test.  They suggested that we do another hearing test, but at Children's this time.  I scheduled the appointment later that afternoon once we had left Swedish.

At this point, I was kind of freaking out.  I didn't really understand exactly what all this meant, but I knew that Savannah could hear me when I was talking to her.  It was frustrating to know that we had to go to another appointment.  Unfortunately, the appointment at Children's was over a month away because that was the next thing they had available.  Four more weeks of waiting.

Randomly while I was coaching the girls HS swim team, one of the girls asked me if she could buy Savannah some head phones as a gift.  I gave her a puzzled look to which she responded, "it gets really loud at the pool, and my mom works with kids that have hearing loss at Children's - I think head phones would be good for her."  I didn't mention anything to my swimmers about the tests, because...well...I didn't know if anything was going on quite yet with her hearing.  I happened to know this particular parent fairly well and it never hit me to give her a call and ask her questions about what we were dealing with.

Needless to say, I called her the next day.  She was able to pull some strings and when someone cancelled she moved our appointment up earlier and personally scheduled us with an audiologist that she worked with.  Instead of waiting four weeks, we were able to get in right away - just a few days after she and I talked.  Lots of positive things have come from my coaching experiences with this particular group of kids and this was definitely one of them.  Being a first time parent was scary enough, but knowing there was someone I knew to help me figure this stuff out was good.  Our friend was more than helpful and explained what we should expect from our appointment and was just a great contact for questions for me.

Savannah had her first EOAE and BAER tests in September.  Children's has a great informational site that explains these tests really well.  Here is the link.  Savannah's first tests lasted about 4 hours.  At the conclusion of the test, they determined that Savannah had hearing loss in both ears.

That was a rough day for me.  I cried...a lot.  I still didn't really understand the diagnosis and what it meant.  Like most people, I am finding out, I thought it meant that Savannah couldn't hear, that she would need to be put in a special schools, that we would need to learn sign language and that my idea of parenting was turned completely upside down.  I called my friend that worked and Children's (she was out of town on business) and she was helpful in letting me know that early detection is more important than anything else we could do for Savannah (not reassuring at the moment, but really great encouragement now that I look back).  This woman not only looked through Savannah's chart, but invited myself, my mom and my grandmother to her house to explain exactly what the hearing loss meant and answer all of my questions and concerns...AFTER HOURS.  What a blessing to us!  She suggested that we come in for another test to confirm the results.  She helped us schedule it for just a few weeks later.  The results of those tests were nearly identical to the first.  Savannah was officially diagnosed with moderate bi-lateral hearing loss at 2 months old.

Most of a child's speech development takes place in the first few years of life.  Speech is developed based on what you hear.  If a child's hearing is not in the normal range, speech skills may not develop normally either.

To help illustrate this, here is an audiogram:

That purple area is commonly called a "speech banana."  It is the level of sound at which those letters are heard at.  To learn to make a sound, you need to first hear it. Savannah's hearing loss puts her at a normal to near normal range through 3000 HZ (following the top of the diagram) and after that her hearing drops off in dbls putting her outside of the "speech banana" and giving her the moderate classification.  Basically, f, s, and th sounds are hard for her to distinguish - which would also make them hard for her to say clearly.

Because Savannah has a lot of what they call "usable" hearing, hearing aids were the best choice to help her.  With her aids, her hearing is in the normal range.  Savannah was fitted for and given hearing aids on November 7 - at exactly 3 months old.

Savannah the day we got her first aids - zebra print!

It is suggested that children be fitted with aids before six months of age for them to really reap the benefit as their speech develops.  We were well above the curve in getting her aids at just 3 months old.  Michael and I went to the appointment together to get her aids not really knowing what to expect when they turned them on.  They warned us that because she does have so much good hearing, that she may not react at all like some other babies do who have cochlear implants or more loss.  Once they put the aids on, Michael said her name and she immediately turned her head around to him.  It was the first time that we had seen her respond to a specific sound's direction.  She had a huge smile on her face.  (After 4+ months of aids now, she still has this same response when her aids get put in every morning.)

To sum up her diagnosis, Savannah is not deaf (or Deaf) (and I am by no means putting down those that are - that is just not Savannah's diagnosis).  You would not classify someone who wears glasses as being blind.  As I explain to the kids that I coach who see Savannah's aids, they are "glasses for her ears."  They help her hear clearly what sounds muffled to her; the same way that glasses help clear things that seem blurry.

We are still unsure as to the cause of Savannah's hearing loss and will start with some testing in May that could help us and others understand more.

While I am sad that Savannah is going to deal with this for the rest of her life, there are a lot of positives things that have happened in spite of all this.  I think we can all agree that we each have something "wrong" with us.  Savannah's thing just happens to be her hearing.  Some parents don't know that their child has any loss until their vocabulary doesn't develop properly and by then you can't go back to do things differently.  She was able to qualify for state funded for her first pair of aids - so we didn't pay one penny!  They are expensive, but the ones she has now are not loaners - they belong to her and will until she outgrows them.  Our biggest issue now is keeping her from pulling them off and putting them in her mouth to chew on!!

Savannah at 6 months with her aids

My next blog update will be soon (I promise), and I will talk about our experiences post-diagnosis.

I am so thankful for the testing that we did initially and also that we had someone close to us guide us through the process as we went.  I have no doubt in my mind that Savannah's speech will not just develop normally, but that she will be telling us all off very, very soon.  :-)

Savannah this past weekend with Michael (no aids).

--Chauntelle

Seriously...Crawling?!

So lots has happened since the last time I posted!!  We have been quite busy the past few weeks.

The end of the high school swim season is always crazy for me.  Our boys team did well and finished second at state!  The meet came down to the last relay, actually.  We were unable to pull off the win, but I couldn't have been more proud of the boys and how hard they fought.  If you want to read about the state meet, here is a link to an article in the Seattle Times. After a week of sheer madness getting things ready for the banquet, it has been really weird not coaching in the afternoons. As much as I could use the break, I really do miss coaching that group in the spring.

Now on to the important stuff: Savannah!

Savannah with Papa

About two weeks ago, Savannah started sitting up on her own.  I always hear that things like this just happen overnight.  Well, that's definitely true.  She just woke up one morning sitting up on her own in bed.  It was pretty awesome.  Now she can finally enjoy some of her toys a little more and gets a much better view while she is trying to be nosey.

A little over a week ago, she started doing this...well...army crawl.  It was funny to watch because she would use one foot to push the ground as she slid on her belly to get whatever toy (or cell phone or remote) that she could get her hands on.  At this point, we knew it was only a matter of time before she really started to crawl on all fours.

Savannah and Michael at the Rose Garden

Then we went away this weekend to Vancouver/Portland!  We had a fantastic time.  Savannah got to meet the last Aunt and Uncle of all 8 of my Grandma's kids!  She absolutely loved hanging with Uncle Ken and Aunt Deborah.  We went to church with them on Sunday morning and Savannah was more than vocal during the entire service and brunch.

Savannah, Michael and I went to a Portland Trailblazers game on Saturday night.  You didn't really think I would let this kid get through a year of her life without seeing an NBA game live did you?!  As weird as it was hearing chants of "Go, Blazers, Go!" seeing Savannah's face during the starting lineup and hearing her yelling during the game totally made up for it.  Looks like something we will continue to do...at least until the Sonics are playing in Seattle again.

So yesterday, Michael stayed home with Savannah and they had a fantastic time just hanging out.  I learned that Savannah's army crawl had turned into her on all fours moving across the floor in just one day!  As excited as we are, I am almost a little sad.  She just turned 7 months old today and I can't believe how much she is moving on her own!  Then, after we put her in her crib last night, she is pulling up and standing in her crib!  (Don't worry...I freaked out and had Michael lower the crib immediately...at 10pm.) 

Oh yeah, and those two bottom teeth are completely up.  Her favorite food seems to be whatever is on my plate because she HAS to reach for it. Let's hope she doesn't start driving tomorrow.  Time is really starting to fly.

Yummy!

So there are our updates!  Whew!  What a busy couple of weeks.  Here is to a slower schedule for the Johnsons!

Chauntelle

Savannah's First Cold...

I think that Savannah's first cold was more traumatizing for me than it was for her!  It was awful to see her with a stuffy nose and hear her nasty cough - especially after we were just getting into a good sleep routine and starting with baby foods consistently.  One of my friends who just recently had a baby told me all the tricks she tried to help her little one get better, so we tried them all and they definitely helped.  Savannah's favorite of all of them was definitely the 20 minutes of sitting in the bathroom with a hot shower running each night.  We got through a lot of books!

It was a busy week for me with the end of the boys high school swim season, so I couldn't stay home with her.  Thank goodness for grandmas!  Lucky for us, my grandma was there to stay at our house and nurse Savannah back to health!! By Saturday afternoon, she was back in the stands cheering the boys on to a second place finish at the District meet and was, as always, the most popular person in the stands.  Thank goodness she is back to sleeping through the night again!  This week is going to be another long one in our house...

Chauntelle

Teething!

So Savannah officially has her first tooth breaking through!  It has been less than fun for those of us around - mostly Michael and me at night, but today I felt her second bottom tooth starting to push through!  As exhausting as it is, it is kind of exciting to see changes like that.  We are well on our way to a mouth full of teeth! 

We aren't quite sitting on our own yet, but she is certainly doing lots of rolling from front to back and back to front and also using her arms to go in a circle when she is on the ground...all while talking up a storm.  :-)

We had an audiology appointment earlier this week, so expect a rather long post soon talking about all we have learned about Savannah's hearing loss...and see her cool new hearing aids.

Happy weekend!

Chauntelle

Savannah's first snow!

Yesterday morning, we were lucky enough to have a little snow on the ground.  After heading out to brunch with the Burchams, we came back home and decided it was time for Savannah's first snow experience.

She was in her snow suit...which was too big.  It felt kind of like that scene from "The Christmas Story" when the little boy yells that he can't put his arms down.  She was bundled up pretty good.  One of our neighbors made a snowman earlier in the day, so we took advantage of not having to make one ourselves.

Savannah was pretty much interested in trying to eat the snowman.

She is still too young to really understand what was going on, but watching her reactions and confusion at times was entertaining.  

Looks like we can expect more snow over the next few days...I'm thinking snow angels are up next.  :-)

Chauntelle

New Year's Resolutions!

So our (or Chauntelle's) resolution for 2012 is to keep a blog on all the things going on for all three of us (but mostly Savannah).  Don't expect anything too deep/personal or advice on anything; it will mostly be pictures and quick updates on life.  Sooo, here we go!!

Savannah's first Christmas was AWESOME!  We went to Oak Harbor to my grandparents house for the weekend and had a lot of fun eating good food and watching the return of the NBA!  Savannah got lots of love from her grandma, great grandma, great grandpa and cousin.  She walked away clothes, toys, a tv and a serious shoe collection.  Good thing she had no idea what was going on.

Christmas Eve - yes, its a Jordan brand outfit from hat to socks.

Every girl need some all black chucks, right?!

She likes the spinning top with the train inside - pretty funny to watch her face while it whistles.

Yes, she was pulling paper off some of the gifts.  She didn't know what she was going, but it was entertaining to all of us.

It's a Duke glass!!  She knows quality when she sees it.  :-)

Opening presents ended when she fell asleep...

With Missy on Christmas night!

With Great Grandma before going home...

For New Year, we spent some time with Savannah's great aunt, great uncle and another cousin.  Again, lots of fun to be had.  I think that Savannah and Aunt Linda definitely bonded.

Overall, it was a fun holiday!  Something about watching Savannah experience everything for the first time made it that much more fun for me and Michael.  Can't wait for next year!

--Chauntelle