Nolan likes to make things interesting...

So I have deleted probably 14 sentences just trying to start this post.

It is more difficult to figure out how to begin to tell the story then it is to actually just tell it.

Nolan (our youngest) was officially, as of December 3rd, 2009, diagnosed as hearing impaired. As of right now he is considered moderately deaf in both ears with a permanent loss.

There are so many things we are still learning in this process and it has been a little hard. We knew that something was wrong but we weren't expecting the wrongness to be to this extent.

Nolan has never passed a hearing test. From the three newborn tests he had in the hospital, to the one we returned for Nolan to take at 2 weeks old, to the 3 hours of testing we had done at Children's Hospital on Thursday.

Now to clarify and help those of you wondering what all that means (at least to the best of my ability as of right now). Nolan can hear to some extent. He doesn't hear speech, or whispers or birds, he doesn't hear Leanna and Hudson or even Josh and I. The sound of our dog barking or a lawn mower sounds like what we hear when the wind blows through the leaves on the trees.

He will wear hearing aids. They will continue to monitor him to make sure this isn't a progressive loss (meaning it might get worse but they won't know until it happens). Since it is a sensory nerve issue that may be the case or it may not.

We had meeting tonight with a service coordinator from a program called 1st Steps. It is a program that offers early intervention services to help with what could potentially be a learning/physical/speech delay of any sort. I didn't know this program existed until we found out about Nolan. They will do in home therapy until he is 3 and then they will help set him up with the school district at that point.

They do not know why or how this has happened. It could be genetic, a birth defect, a fluke or it could just be that God decided Nolan didn't need to hear everything the same way as we do. For Josh and I everything has a purpose. There is a reason Nolan is ours. There is a reason Nolan's ears don't work the way ours do (that is the way we are explaining it to Leanna and Hudson right now). While this is difficult and Josh and I are still processing and dealing with it we are dealing with it. Nolan is just as happy as ever and for that we are grateful. For Nolan we are grateful.

So for now that is that.

There is still so much that we have to learn and figure out so be patient with us as we do just that.

Thanks and Love,
*Shay B*