Monday, June 6, 2011

Not So Bad

It seems this round is not as bad for the little girl.  She is feeling really great during the day, full of smiles, alert and happy.  We had a great time at Tevis and Tabitha's first birthday party, where Scarlett was wide awake and watched all the other "big kids" play on the floor.  We got to stay for the whole party, and got my classroom packed up the next day.  Today she loved going to the grocery store and seeing all the people.  She is still feeling a little queasy at times, but all in all, this has been easier than in the past.

Last night, she made a big move - into her own room.  We have had her room and crib ready, but she had only spent a few short naps there.  Last night, we thought we would just try it out, and it was not nearly as scary as I thought!  :-)  We have had her in our room in a Pack n' Play since she has consistently been sick at night, and we never wanted her to choke.  This meant jumping out of bed multiple times per night when she would begin to cough or gag.  It was exhausting.  However, after three nights of no vomit, I thought we could try having her in the next room (with a video monitor focused right on her face!)  Of course, things did not go as planned and she threw up in the night, but I heard her and was there just as quickly.  She likes the light-up aquarium toy in her crib and slept just fine.  We'll keep the play pen set up in our room just in case, but we might just be moving toward more rest for all of us!

Tomorrow we have to go in EARLY for her next hearing evaluation, which requires anesthesia and a few hours of tests, so it will be a very long day.  This test will give us a better picture of her hearing loss now that the infection and antibiotics have cleared.  We anticipate a slight increase, but not much.  The results of this test will be used to guide us in choosing hearing aids in a few weeks as well.  We have been making contact with the hearing intervention programs and the Early Start program, but everything takes weeks to respond and initiate.  In the meantime, I am ramping up her exposure to sign language at home with Signing Time, as well as me modeling as much as I can.  I'm putting my teaching experience to work!

7 comments:

Beefer said...

You are such an inspiration and a great mommy. I think about Scarlett and you guys daily.

April said...

Great news about how she's handling the chemo this time. And I am glad things went well with Scarlett in her own room. You are right; you will all sleep better this way. I hope the hearing tests bring good news, but teaching her signs at this age is good no matter how well she hears.

Renaissance Woman said...

Yay for Scarlett! I hope the tests go well. I used to volunteer for St. Joseph's Institute for the Deaf. Be sure to look into teaching Scarlett how to lip read as well as use sign. At St. Joe, the focus was on teaching the kids skills needed to mainstream in the classroom, and there are a lot of advantages to starting lip reading techniques early in addition to sign language. If anything, the kids we got who could lip read as well as sign had an advantage in the outside world. I only have a smattering of sign language as compared to my hubby who is fluent (he lived with a deaf aunt for a few years). The best way for me to learn sign was to translate lyrics of my favorite songs. Every time I would hear one of those songs on the radio it gave me an excuse to practice. :) You can do this, super mama! So can Scarlett! Many babies learn sign at about this age, regardless of whether or not they are deaf/hard-of-hearing. It's a good skill to have!

heatherdily said...

Such a fantastic update to read Brandi! I'm so happy to hear that the second phase of treatment is easier on little Scarlett.

I remember when I moved Lindsey to her own room too and it is nerve wracking, but I bet their cribs are a lot more comfortable than pack and plays!

I'm so glad you were all able to go to your friend's birthday party! <3<3<3

Lots of Love and well wishes to you all,
Heather and Lindsey

Sarah said...

You are such and awesome Mommy!!!

Unrelated question... how do you get the links across the top? Yours say Scarlett's story, about brandi and chris etc. I want to do that to mine and cannot figure out how.

katy said...

You all continue to amaze me. Good luck tomorrow with the hearing tests -- I hope you get the results you want. Love & prayers from NC! xo

skye said...

I hope the hearing tests go well! Moving into her own room is a big step! The first few nights my daughter slept in her room I was attached to the video monitor all night.

I think you'll find baby sign very rewarding. My little girl can't do signs on her own yet, but she recognizes most of the ones I've taught her. If your schedule starts to clear up, going to a class might be fun. I found a free one at a high school, a lot of the moms just dropped in for a few classes, and the babies seemed to like all the songs and being around other kids.
Keep up the good work! you guys are awesome!