ABR

Gabriel had his Auditory Brainstem Response test this morning--the last hearing test for a little while.

Michael took the morning off so that he would be able to help me; with these tests, we often need to restrain Gabe, which does not go over well and Michael is so much more adept at it. I tend to be the one that gets emotional and wants to spare him the unpleasant experience even if it is beneficial; Michael is more willing to allow him to be miserable for a short period of time to ensure his health and well-being. Of course I recognize that Michael is correct on that front, but darn it all if it is easier said than done for me.

Grannymom volunteered again to watch Emerald, which was very nice--it is unpleasant to take both kids to things like this; it's kind of little reward for Gabriel to have one-on-one time with Mommy and Daddy. When Grannymom came to pick Emerald up, however, Gabriel was distraught because he was not going too. I guess he had such a good time the day before that he was ready to go back, and he was not happy that we were apparently keeping him home.

To make it up to him, we stopped by the grocery store and I picked up some breakfast stuff--granola bars, chocolate milk, orange juice, stuff like that--as a kind of a treat.

The wait was non-existent--Gabriel played with a little baby boy younger than he is with the bead tracks, plus ran around for a short while before the doctor came and got us.

Now, in the past, the test would have called for sleep-deprivation or outright sedation. I was told when I made the appointment that a surgery suite would have to be booked just in case in situations like those just in case something went wrong, which for a hearing test sounds awfully frighting. Lucky for us though--this test is done through bluetooth technology.

First, they clean the area on his forehead and earlobes with alcohol and a scratchy brush which just annoyed Gabriel.

Then they attached four nodes to his little head--two on his forehead between his eyes, and one on each earlobe. That is what we had been prepared for, and it really wasn't awful...cool, this test won't be so hard, I think.

Oh, you KNOW I was wrong. Nothing like this is ever easy.

To each node they attach wires that run to a box that either Michael or I need to wear. Then in his ears, they place a microphone that is supposed to sit in there for a while.

Ugh!!

At first, I try and hold him--he eats some fruit snacks and then a granola bar; when they start attaching the wires, he gets quite upset and wants to pull them out but some singing from me and a paci help soothe him. He sits with me for about 10 minutes before he rips the ear part out and Michael takes over.

Mike is really good at restraining him, but he can't be screaming through the whole test or it won't work. And the doctor has warned us--if we can't get an idea of how his ears are functioning from this test, we have to come back another day for the sedation test. I will take a big pass on that, thank you. Mike suggests I use the netflix app on my phone to put veggie tales on--he can't have any sound and the connection is not great, but it really draws him into his Veggie Tales trance which allows the test to be completed with hardly any fuss.

I know how lucky we are--how many two-year-old's are going to be quiet, still, or calm enough to complete this test? And as sensory as Gabriel is, he really hated those wires and nodes and that thing sitting in his ear; but he was very well-behaved considering, and the fact that the test went as quickly as possible without having to re-do it....I count today as a definite win.

The doctor (I cannot for the life of me remember his name, but I can tell you it started with a Z and is completely odd) told us the results before we left: our little Gabriel is hearing just perfectly. This is good news of course since that means that there is no hearing loss and Gabriel needs no corrective surgeries; on the downside, it reinforces the whole autism thing. There probably will never be a part of me that doesn't hope just a little that the diagnosis is wrong and that Gabriel is fine and dandy.

We called Grannymom to let her know the test was over, but her and Emerald were having such a great time that they asked if they could keep her through lunch. Of course they can--that gives us a chance to get our grocery shopping out of the way!

It is really hard, by the way, to do diabetic grocery shopping, but we got a lot of good things. I am hoping that everyone will be pleased with what we got.

The ABR signaled the official "last" test we needed run on Gabriel. There is the developmental pediatrician in December, plus all the check-ups from all the specialists that we have met with over the past year, but this is the last diagnostic test that we have to do on the poor boy for quite some time. Let us hope that the next few months are blissfully and wondrously doctor-free for our little man =)

~Andie~