Everything 'ology'

This month has been a smattering of doctor's visits.  Some for the big kids (shocker) and most for Charlotte. 

We've had Pediatric for her one year 'I'm big stuff and see how great I'm doing' appointment.  20# 6oz and 29 1/2 inches long.  Following her growth curve in a very smooth fashion.

Then it was Opthomology for her eye check.  It's routine for her.  Originally we were sent there because of the complications there can be with Down Syndrom and vision but she's doing pretty well, so they're just monitoring to make sure that the little bitty issues she has don't escalate more quickly than can be counteracted.

Later that same week was Audiology and the Pediatric Otolaryngology.  I don't even know HOW to pronounce that one.  Basically ENT.  (ear, nose, and throat)  This step is another standard with her diagnosis of Down Syndrome although this one has more of a 'yes, there's a bigger issue' element.  She has not passed their hearing screenings adequately.  We know that she can hear some things but there seems to be delay.  She's had a few of these appointments and this one was another follow-up to see if she had matured enough to respond to the testing - or not if her hearing was an issue.  

Yep - These last test revealved that she has fairly significant inability to hear at certain frequencies and or determine WHERE sound is coming from.  Our Audiologist (who is stinkin' awesome) was telling the big girls and I that Charlotte was hearing basically like the rest of us would if we were underwater in the deep end of the pool.  Not great for developing hearing...or speech.



Lunch in the waiting room at Doernbecher

 After that, we were off to another part of Doernbecher (that place is HUGE and yes, we did get lost) to the ENT offices and they checked her out.  Different doc, same results.  They are the ones that get to lay out the surgery card though.  Looks like that's the direction we're heading.  Tubes will be placed in her ears (both sides) to help drain the fluid.  This will be the first step in determining if her auditory nerves aren't functioning as well as they should or she was just blocked with fluid.  It's a very routine surgery but there is sedation so we have to get permission and clearance from her cardiologist for that first.  Hopefully within a month we'll be on the other side of this and she'll be cringing with all the noise that IS our home and family. 

Our new normal is a bit on the wild side.  It's good though and we're finding our groove.