March 26, 2010

Hope with Grandma & Grandpa Holtz

Grandpa and Hope showing off her new outfit



Out for a walk


My new pink hat (Thank you Jackie!)

More cuddling with Grandpa & Grandma


It has been quite a month for Hope. Hope spent last week cuddling, playing and visitng with her Grandpa and Grandma Holtz who came to visit from North Carolina. They spent lots of time catching up and Hope was so very happy to see them again.

We were all enjoying the beautiful weather last week and Hope didn't want to miss out so we all ventured out for a walk one day. She wasn't too thrilled about having to wear a hat and bundle up but once she got her pretty new pink hat she didn't mind wearing a hat so much. We are all looking forward to the warmer weather so we can take more walks!

We have made a few more trips to Ann Arbor in preparation for the cochlear implants. Hope, Daddy & Mommy met with the surgeon on their last visit. So far there doesn't appear to be anything that would stand in the way of Hope receiving the implant. We are now just waiting for the final insurance approvals. Once we have those, we will have a couple more final appointments (to pick out the actual implant device and to have a final pre-op meeting with the surgeon) and then the surgery should be scheduled within a month after that.

Hope has several appointments this week. The big one is with the pulmonologist. After Hope's last appointment with the pulmonologist they said that if she was doing as well at this appointment as she was at the last, then they would consider lowering Hope's ventilator settings. This is a HUGE step forward; it will be the first time Hope's ventilator settings will have been lowered since she left the hospital. Pray that eveything goes well.

The other big news that Hope has is......HER FIRST TOOTH has popped through! Actually the second tooth popped through just this morning! She is on her way to a mouth full of pearly whites :)

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Hope has had a busy week. She made two trips to Ann Arbor; one on Friday and one on Tuesday. The trip on Friday was quite the adventure for Hope. Hope, Mommy, Daddy and Grandpa Robinson all made the drive to Ann Arbor with no trouble, but while they were there it started to snow. The roads got really bad and it took them all twice as long as it should have to get home. Thankfully they all made it safely. The trip on Tuesday was much better, with lots of sunshine and no snow!

The doctor visits themselves are more of a formality at this point. Hope has to go through some basic hearing tests in the sound booth. They play sounds into earphones in Hope's ears to see if she seems like she is responding to the sound. She also had to meet with a speech therapist to determine her basic level of communication. So far everyone has determined that the cochlear implants are neccessary and wouuld benefit Hope greatly. We meet with the surgeon next week on Friday and then have one more consultation with the audiologist. The surgery hasn't been scheduled yet but we should know more about that before long.