From a Lily Sprout to a Lily Bud!

Our beautiful Lily bud!

Lily has done phenomenally well with her new Neptune processors.  We do have the occasional times of day, when she is tired or wants attention, where she will take the headpiece off of her head every 5 to 10 seconds.  This of course makes one of us come running to put it back on.  I sometimes think she is laughing in her head thinking "I have so much control over these people".  Other than these times she leaves them on all day while she is awake and she is starting to recognize some sounds.  I felt so bad when I realized she was hearing me the other day.  I yelled "No" when she touched something and she instantly jumped and cried.  She walked over to me with huge crocodile tears and hugged me.

The last few days have been a journey into the world of life with a C.I. baby.  It is pretty amazing to watch her slowly pick up on sounds around her and to see her explore her processors.  Most of the time the exploring includes tasting them as well as looking at them and pulling on them.

Lily waiting for Lisa (her audiologist) to call us back

Today was Lily's second mapping/programming session and she was such a good girl!  We didn't have the shocked crying that we had with her initial stimulation.  Her audiologist said her nerve response was really great and she is adapting really well to the stimulation.  We are so pleased by these findings!  At the very end of today's appointment we went into the soundproof booth and tested Lily's response to voice and sounds.  It was so amazing to see Lily, for the first time, react to sounds in the booth.  According to the audiologist she is so excited by Lily's results.  She said they were fabulous and that Lily is currently hearing at the level of someone with a mild hearing loss instead of profound.  This alone brings tears to my eyes.

Deep in thought about her next move

Lily is scheduled to go back in for more mapping/programming in 2 weeks.  We can not wait to see the progress she makes in that time frame.  I have said it before and I will say it again...I am amazed at the things we can do with technology.  I had so many doubts and fears throughout the last year.  I was afraid we were making the wrong choice for our daughter, but now I wouldn't change it for anything!

Coming Soon: A blog post that reviews the Advanced Bionics Neptune processor and accessories that Lily received.