We had his eyesight checked out in November (check out this post for more info). Getting the appointment for his hearing test proved to be a little more difficult. It was set up through Early Intervention and due to the timing, holidays and what not, our appointment wasn't until last week.
When we spoke to the developmental peds at Kirch, they suggested that Jackson get an ABR test due to his age. ABR stands for Auditory Brainstem Response. The test measures the hearing nerves response to different sounds. The Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh has a great description of the test on their website. The only thing about the test that made me a little nervous was that it is a sedated test. Sedation in general makes me nervous but even more so when they are going to do it to my child. But, I'd rather know for sure whether or not he had any hearing issues, so off to Rochester Jason, Jax and I went.
Jackson's appointment was at 9:30am and we were advised to make sure he didn't have anything to eat or drink after 7:30am and not to let him sleep in the car on the way there. Jackson almost always falls asleep in the car no matter where we were going, so for him to stay awake the entire time was going to be tough. Let me tell you, I had to pull out all the stops to keep him awake. Toys, books, singing, foolishness, bribery (not that he even knew what I was talking about)....I did it all. As soon as we pulled in the driveway at the Audiology office, he started to doze off. Good thing it was a bit breezy and a little chilly that day. He woke back up after we got him out of the car.
We were introduced to two doctors that were going to be part of the testing that day. They wanted to first try some behavioral testing to see if that would be enough for them to determine any hearing issues. This involved us going into a sound booth and having one of the doctors (in another room) call out Jackson's name through the sound system to see if he would look at the correct speaker that the sound was coming from. He wanted nothing to do with that. He started crying as soon as he heard "the voice". Being hungry and tired didn't really help, but I think it was more because "the voice" was LOUD!! I don't think they really checked the sound level before they started and her booming voice startled him. Heck, it even startled me. So, no behavioral testing...on to the ABR.
We were taken into another room and Jackson and I went into the sound booth, got comfortable in the chair and the nurse administered the sedative. It was called chloral hydrate and she gave it to him in an oral syringe. She warned us that most babies don't like the taste and also become irritable before falling asleep so Jackson might follow suit. But our awesome little guy swallowed all of the medicine and fell asleep peacefully.
They attached three electrodes to his head: one on his forehead and the other two behind each ear. The one that was supposed to be behind his right ear had to be moved because the fluid around his shunt was skewing the readings. So, it was placed on his earlobe. The electrodes were connected to a computer out in the other room. The nurse then took turns placing an earbud-type thing in his ears and the doctor played sounds at different loudness levels to see how the nerves responded. The test took about an hour and I was having trouble staying awake. It was nice and quiet and dark in the room...perfect conditions for a nap. Even Jason fell asleep out in the other room!
Based on the results of the test, the audiologist confirmed that at this time Jackson has no issues with hearing. Woo hoo!!!!! No follow-ups are scheduled at this time.
Side effects of the chloral hydrate included increased drowsiness and possible diarrhea among a couple of other things. He did sleep quite a bit more that day, which was totally understandable and the sedative actually helped a little with his constipation. As always, he was such a good little kiddo and handled the testing great. He even woke up before we left and batted the baby blues at the nurse and doctor and gave them a big ole smile.
After the appointment we went over to see Megan at Strong Perinatal Associates. We absolutely loved going there throughout our pregnancy and wanted to make sure that we kept in touch. The downside is that Jackson slept the whole time, but that gives a reason to go back and visit again!
We also went to Red Robin for lunch (Red Robin...yum!) and did a little shopping afterwards. Overall, a very positive day!
