Maggie updates

 

I thought I would take a minute and post an update on Maggie. This is what we know so far:
- She has an appointment Monday with a pediatric ophthalmologist for a (hopefully) routine eye examine  and will also see a pediatric cardiologist to access her VSD.  We have already had several doctors listen to her heart and all have said it appears she has a small VSD that may still heal on it's own. 
- She gets a bone conduction hearing aid on Thursday and will be able to hear "normally" for the first time.  It will be held on by a soft headband and the hearing aid is hidden in a cute bow.  Go here to see what her headband and bow will look like.  Maggie tried on the bone conduction hearing aid last Monday and heard our voices clearly for the first time.  At first she was startled, then she cried, and then she wanted to sit in my lap and was quite.  Of course, I was crying and very happy that she was responding to the hearing aid.  When she gets older ( around 5 ), Maggie can get a bone anchored hearing aid that requires surgery to attach a 'snap" to her skull.  The hearing aid will then attach to the snap and will be somewhat hidden behind her hair.  I am so amazed at the technology that is available for hearing impaired people and I can't imagine what will be available in the future.
- Maggie will start speech therapy soon.  She is not saying any words yet, which is normal for a child who has never heard words, only vibrations and mumbles. 
- We are waiting on Early Intervention to make their assessment.  They will also come to our house ( yay !) for speech therapy and/or physical therapy.
- Maggie has taken several steps by herself.  She really wants to walk !  She can climb our stairs (yikes) and crawls all over the place.  She loves to "listen" to her musical toys by laying her head on them with her right ear down.  It breaks my heart that she can only hear by putting things very close to her right ear, but she is so smart and figures it all out.  When I rock her, she presses her right ear up tightly to my mouth so she can hear me sing to her.  I can't imagine her world of silence.  She is such a happy baby and so content.  We are so blessed by Maggie and working very hard on spoiling her !