The first day of the rest of our lives

23rd February 2015..... It's a date which will be etched on my mind for the rest of time. It's the date my Little Princess first heard sound, through the miracle of cochlear implants.

Despite the fact that today started as any other Monday - packing school bags, hurrying the kids to eat their breakfast and get dressed for school, making packed lunches, sorting PE kits & school money envelopes. We managed to keep organised and leave our eldest two boys off at school, then our third son was taken to his grandparents house, before we travelled to the implant centre for what could turn out to be the most important day of our lives.

Princess is of course oblivious to everything, she will be 1 year old in a few days and she was born profoundly deaf in both ears, meaning that she couldn't even hear a jet engine if she was standing beside it. We tried hearing aids, but they were not powerful enough, so we all began learning BSL (British Sign Language) so that we could talk to our Princess. I am attending night classes to learn BSL and then I teach my hubby & kids what I have learned. I also take princess and the youngest of her brothers (3yrs old) to Sign2Music, where we learn more child-focussed signs, suitable for nursery rhymes and story time.

The last 12 months have been a rollercoaster ride for our family, Princess arrived a few days late after a non-eventful fourth pregnancy, looking absolutely perfect and after a few stumbles, I now realise she still is. Fourth babies get treated a little different and their mummies are allowed to make a few more decisions than perhaps is possible with those less experienced parents - meaning that we all went home in the evening after Princess's arrival at 10.51am. Of course that meant we didn't get screened for the newborn hearing test before we left.

Ten days of perfection followed, before we attended our first hearing test, only to be told, she had failed, but it was probably due to her ears still being wet after birth. We were then referred to the hospital for further testing, which happened a few weeks later. At this stage, we weren't worried at all, we were convinced we could see responses to sound, so we were sure Princess would pass her next test.

But...... She didn't.

Again, we assumed, it was nothing to worry about, kids fail tests all the time, then they pass the retest.

But...... She failed that too, in fact this time we were told that Princess had not shown any responses to any of the tests she had taken. I was on my own at the hospital with her and I didn't really understand what they were telling me. I knew it meant she had a problem with her hearing, but I didn't have a clue what lay ahead of us.

After managing to tell my husband, my parents & my in-laws, we realised we needed more information and managed to find support from NDCS (National Deaf Children's Society) thankfully! Which lead us to a local support group, Sound Friends. Talking to other parents helped us to feel supported and to realise that even if Princess could never hear a sound, she could still realise all her aspirations and lead a full life. We also found out information on the journey that lay ahead for us as parents, a family and integrating the Deaf and Hearing communities.

Anyway, over the next few months, we attended numerous NDCS & Sound Friends events allowing us to gain knowledge about deafness and options open to us. We attended the Regional Implant Centre several times for testing, including an MRI/CT scan at a local hospital which required a General Anaesthetic (something which every parent dreads). 

Thankfully all the testing was completed successfully and we were told on 1st December 2014 that our Princess was a suitable candidate for cochlear implants - hurray!

Christmas was a wonderful time for us all, knowing that our family was complete and happy, all under one roof, it was all we had ever dreamed of. The only thing that was wrong was that our little Princess couldn't hear us, but she was young & she loved to babble so most people didn't notice there was a problem at all!

The New Year came and we were given 5th January 2015 as our date for bilateral implantation. Unfortunately this had to be postponed due to an infection risk, despite the total anticlimax, we were grateful that our daughter was not going to be exposed to any unnecessary risks. We were rescheduled for 19th January 2015, when Princess successfully underwent surgery for bilateral implantation of cochlear implants. She recovered very well and we were so happy with her progress, but we're always wondering if we had made the right choice for our Princess.

On 9th February, we were given all our equipment and shown how to maintain everything. From this day, Princess began wearing her external devices to allow her to get used to wearing them, although they would not be "switched on" until 23rd February. The next two weeks went very well, she didn't seem to mind wearing all her equipment and continued to show progress in her babbling and signing.

And that, is how we arrived at today, 23rd February 2015 - activation day!

Today was one of those days that although you know it's important, emotional, life-changing, you can't decide how you feel about it because it hasn't quite sunk in yet. Princess performed perfectly, reacting to each of the twelve frequencies in ear each and even turned to a drum and then investigated the hand dryers in the bathrooms later.

Now, it's time for much needed sleep after an exhilarating & exhausting day. 

Goodnight xx