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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Vibrational Dance Party.
Amichai can no longer use his hearing aids and his implants have not been activated, so he will hear nothing at all for the next week and a half while he heals.
Our boy is a party animal. Why wait a couple of weeks to have a dance party when you can feel the vibrations now?! :)
Check out this video and notice where Amichai's hand immediately goes...such a smart boy!
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Our boy is a party animal. Why wait a couple of weeks to have a dance party when you can feel the vibrations now?! :)
Check out this video and notice where Amichai's hand immediately goes...such a smart boy!
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Light at the end...
Amichai seems to have turned a corner today--so much more himself--playing, smiling, jumping around, he even bit my nose this afternoon which is his greatest sign of affection to his Ema!
Honestly, this has been so incredibly difficult--much harder recovery than we anticipated--Amichai is just a hero, absolutely amazing. But it was a lot on him. And watching him go thru it has been excruciating.
We are starting to see a bright light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. He is perking up, and healing, and following his lead, we are too. It's a glorious feeling.
The cherry blossom outside our window has started to bloom. When we left for the hospital, there were only buds. In a few days, the flowers will be full. The metaphor is too good.
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Honestly, this has been so incredibly difficult--much harder recovery than we anticipated--Amichai is just a hero, absolutely amazing. But it was a lot on him. And watching him go thru it has been excruciating.
We are starting to see a bright light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. He is perking up, and healing, and following his lead, we are too. It's a glorious feeling.
The cherry blossom outside our window has started to bloom. When we left for the hospital, there were only buds. In a few days, the flowers will be full. The metaphor is too good.
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013
And He's Back!
Amichai woke from a nap about 20 minutes ago, opened his eyes, and finally, we saw our boy staring back at us--he is smiling, playing and kicking his feet--and clearly aware that we are all here together. It is the most amazing feeling. May it only be up and up from here.
Enjoy the video! :)
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Enjoy the video! :)
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Morning at Cornell
Amichai is doing well. It was a hard night, he is clearly uncomfortable...hard to tell how much of it is pain and how much of it is just disorientation, fear, etc. We are still at Cornell, but just got checked off by the surgeon, so we will be released to go home soon. We are really hoping that when we return to his home environment that he will start to feel more himself. He is, however, medically in GREAT shape, and his bandages are already off (just surgical tape over the incisions)! We feel blessed to have yesterday behind us and to be heading towards the part of the healing process that happens at home.
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Monday, April 22, 2013
Shhhh
The baby's asleep in the hospital crib. Nighty night...
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Lights out at Cornell
We are writing from the pediatric ward at Cornell, with Amichai sleeping soundly in his carseat (who needs a hospital crib?), and Shayna and I taking a moment to breathe. There is a lullaby mix playing next to us, a novel (and yet no less irritating) concept to parents of a deaf baby, and the lights are out in our room. Finally a moment to step back from all that has happened today.
Amichai had a successful bilateral cochlear implant surgery today. It is still hard to take in that under his Prince Leah get-up right now and his sweet little noggin, his two implants already lie, waiting for activation in a couple of weeks. The implants have already had their initial mapping, they are working beautifully and Amichai is doing amazing.
Our boy is such a trooper, it is truly incredible. He has been clearly uncomfortable for hours since he woke from the anesthesia, but he copes all knowingly by cuddling up, drinking plenty of fluids, and looking to each of us as best he can. We even got a few smiles. This boy is a champ.
We eagerly await the morning, when his bandages will be taken off and he will be checked by the surgeon...and we can walk out together into the fresh air and head back to Brooklyn. I think we will shed tears as we cross the Brooklyn Bridge. Home sounds like the most glorious thing right now.
What a day.
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Amichai had a successful bilateral cochlear implant surgery today. It is still hard to take in that under his Prince Leah get-up right now and his sweet little noggin, his two implants already lie, waiting for activation in a couple of weeks. The implants have already had their initial mapping, they are working beautifully and Amichai is doing amazing.
Our boy is such a trooper, it is truly incredible. He has been clearly uncomfortable for hours since he woke from the anesthesia, but he copes all knowingly by cuddling up, drinking plenty of fluids, and looking to each of us as best he can. We even got a few smiles. This boy is a champ.
We eagerly await the morning, when his bandages will be taken off and he will be checked by the surgeon...and we can walk out together into the fresh air and head back to Brooklyn. I think we will shed tears as we cross the Brooklyn Bridge. Home sounds like the most glorious thing right now.
What a day.
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Casey has cochlear implants!
Our audiologists just came out to let us know that the first side is done, and all is going well. Baruch ha'shem. One more to go.
And excitingly, a new friend for Amichai is awaiting his return to us. Casey the Koala, who we have lovingly nicknamed 'Rodent', has cochlear implants!! :)
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And excitingly, a new friend for Amichai is awaiting his return to us. Casey the Koala, who we have lovingly nicknamed 'Rodent', has cochlear implants!! :)
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Surgery Day
This morning, we are embarking on a difficult moment in our family
journey. As we send this email, Amichai is being prepped for cochlear implant surgery. He will be under general anesthesia for the next five hours: one hour of prep, an hour and a half surgery on each ear, and an hour of 'mapping' (setting the levels of the implants) after surgery is complete.
We wanted to take this time to reflect with those that we love on what we have learned over these last four and a half months since we found out that Amichai is deaf. It is truly incredible to sit here today, at this particular marker on our journey, and realize how much we have
grown together through this experience, how much we have learned, the amazing people that we have added to our lives. We thought to mark this time by writing down some of these thoughts and understandings.
Amichai will always be deaf. We value his deafness as an identity and as a unique inheritance of a rich culture, a visual language and communal heritage. Just as we hope to imbue in our son a sense of his Jewish identity, because it is a part of him, so too do we hope to imbue in Amichai a sense of his deaf identity.
For our family, cochlear implantation is a gateway to a skill set. Amichai will grow up as a deaf person who can hear when he has his implants on. We value it just as we value the millions of other skill sets that we hope to teach him over his years under our roof. We give our children skills and we teach them resourcefulness, and when the
time comes, if we are wise and if we are strong, we let them go to
make choices on their own. Today, we are giving Amichai the resource of a cochlear implant. The skill of hearing with a cochlear implant is not achieved simply through this surgery; we will engage in the long term in continuous mapping of his implants as well as ongoing
intensive speech therapy. Over the coming years, we hope that he will become proficient in three languages (American Sign Language, Hebrew and English), and these languages will allow him access to all communities with which he may choose to be a part. Shayna and I are
becoming quickly proficient in American Sign Language in part so that Amichai will always know that he is free to flow between language modalities and communities, or even choose, without the risk of isolating himself from his family. There will be times in every day of his life when his implants will be off (when he sleeps, in the
water, etc), and during these times, we will never lose the ability to communicate with one another through language. Amichai will always be
deaf, and we respect his deafness, and it has quickly come to the heart of our family identity. We are blessed to be able to give him various resources to navigate the hearing and deaf worlds and to flow between them. We are blessed to know in our hearts that he will always have our support as he discovers and shapes his identity as a deaf person, and that as we continue to embark on this journey together, we will use both our hands and our mouths to grow and learn and develop as a family.
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journey. As we send this email, Amichai is being prepped for cochlear implant surgery. He will be under general anesthesia for the next five hours: one hour of prep, an hour and a half surgery on each ear, and an hour of 'mapping' (setting the levels of the implants) after surgery is complete.
We wanted to take this time to reflect with those that we love on what we have learned over these last four and a half months since we found out that Amichai is deaf. It is truly incredible to sit here today, at this particular marker on our journey, and realize how much we have
grown together through this experience, how much we have learned, the amazing people that we have added to our lives. We thought to mark this time by writing down some of these thoughts and understandings.
Amichai will always be deaf. We value his deafness as an identity and as a unique inheritance of a rich culture, a visual language and communal heritage. Just as we hope to imbue in our son a sense of his Jewish identity, because it is a part of him, so too do we hope to imbue in Amichai a sense of his deaf identity.
For our family, cochlear implantation is a gateway to a skill set. Amichai will grow up as a deaf person who can hear when he has his implants on. We value it just as we value the millions of other skill sets that we hope to teach him over his years under our roof. We give our children skills and we teach them resourcefulness, and when the
time comes, if we are wise and if we are strong, we let them go to
make choices on their own. Today, we are giving Amichai the resource of a cochlear implant. The skill of hearing with a cochlear implant is not achieved simply through this surgery; we will engage in the long term in continuous mapping of his implants as well as ongoing
intensive speech therapy. Over the coming years, we hope that he will become proficient in three languages (American Sign Language, Hebrew and English), and these languages will allow him access to all communities with which he may choose to be a part. Shayna and I are
becoming quickly proficient in American Sign Language in part so that Amichai will always know that he is free to flow between language modalities and communities, or even choose, without the risk of isolating himself from his family. There will be times in every day of his life when his implants will be off (when he sleeps, in the
water, etc), and during these times, we will never lose the ability to communicate with one another through language. Amichai will always be
deaf, and we respect his deafness, and it has quickly come to the heart of our family identity. We are blessed to be able to give him various resources to navigate the hearing and deaf worlds and to flow between them. We are blessed to know in our hearts that he will always have our support as he discovers and shapes his identity as a deaf person, and that as we continue to embark on this journey together, we will use both our hands and our mouths to grow and learn and develop as a family.
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Thursday, April 18, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Taste test
We got our wish-a baby who loves nature and eating dirt!!
And he even has friends who like to join in! :)
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And he even has friends who like to join in! :)
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Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
Feeling lighter
We already feel a huge weight lifted now that one of Amichai's procedures is behind us. And he really helped his moms feel better by being sweet, smiley and lovey through the whole ordeal!
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One down, one to go...
We are home, safe and sound, from Amichai's pre-surgery MRI. Amichai was such a trooper all day--he couldn't eat after midnight last night and decided (after months of waking between 6:15-6:45) that this was a good morning to wake up at 5am! OY.
We arrived at the hospital at 7:30, and the poor bub didn't even go into the gowning room until close to ten! He was a love the entire time--had so much fun playing with all the hospital stuff and observing all that the nurses were doing to him, he particularly loved his tiger gown and ankle name tag--and he was even smiling at the anesthesiologist when I put him down on the table.
Here's some pics of our little champ:
About thirty minutes after the procedure...outside the hospital:
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We arrived at the hospital at 7:30, and the poor bub didn't even go into the gowning room until close to ten! He was a love the entire time--had so much fun playing with all the hospital stuff and observing all that the nurses were doing to him, he particularly loved his tiger gown and ankle name tag--and he was even smiling at the anesthesiologist when I put him down on the table.
Here's some pics of our little champ:
About thirty minutes after the procedure...outside the hospital:
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Sunday, April 7, 2013
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