Dairy Ears

My poor baby!

Last Thursday, because I needed more stress than my MIL coming for two weeks, my poor baby had blood in his diaper.  I wasn't too freaked out because I've heard of it.  But I called the pediatrican anyway.  They wanted to see him and take a sample from his diaper.  By that afternoon, the doctor confirmed my fears:  no more dairy for me.  Hopefully by the fourth month it will be cleared up - because I'm not sure how long I can go without ice cream! 

Today we took baby for his third (well, second follow up) hearing test.  He had to be asleep, so I woke him up at 6.30, fed him and then kept him awake until 9.15 when we left for our appointment.  Well, it took the help and antics of my in-laws to do that.  Why is it that most mothers struggle to get their kid to sleep and I struggle to keep him awake?

So after a cruel (cold washcloths!) ride to Orange, we changed and fed him and he slept in my arms for two hours during the test.  Well, three tests.  I'm not entirely clear on what the tests did - something about frequencies.

The short of it: he has hearing loss in both ears.  Worse in one, but they don't know how badly.  (Is it really hearing "loss" if you never had it?!)  We have to do more tests and see more doctors for a more thorough explanation.  While his right ear passed both diagnostic tests, there did show to be some hearing loss.  His left ear, which did not pass either diagnostic test, has mild to moderate hearing loss.  She wouldn't be more specific.  She (the audiologist) said there is fluid behind his eardrum, so, until that is cleared up, there's not much more they can tell us. 

Our next step is an appointment with our pediatrician (she's going to be our new best friend...between the dairy allergy and this.  geesh!).  Hopefully when she reads the report and looks at his ears, she'll have next steps.  (The weird thing is she looked at his ears on Thursday when we went in and she said they looked fine.)  After that, the audiologist suggested we meet with an ears, nose, and throat doctor who can look more at the ear.  When we get the fluid from behind his eardrum, we are supposed to go back in to have the test done again. 

My SIL suggested that maybe the dairy thing and the fluid are connected  -- that maybe without the dairy, the fluid will disappear.  Maybe it means tubes.  I'd be REALLY sad if I had to give up dairy until I'm done breastfeeding!  But those are the sacrifices a mother makes, right?

We are a little sad and frustrated, but a minor hearing loss is minor in the grand scheme of things.  Audric obviously DOES hear - and if he just can't hear whispers all his life, he's not going to be that different from all the kids who blast their ipods in their ears.  We are grateful that I will be off and have time do to all these appointments - and for great insurance! I just love that my baby slept in my arms for so long today (and is now sleeping in grandma's arms!)