Briggs is Bilateral!!!

Briggs left ear activation was Wednesday. They set him up with programs and sent us home. We went back yesterday and they did sound booth testing and he showed great response. They adjusted his programs a little and we are to test them over the next month. They feel very confident that he is close to where he needs to be on his left side and they don't want to be too aggressive since everything is louder having both ears anyway. So we don't go back for a month and we are to gradually play with the volume and programs. Now that he is implanted and we don't have all this crazy running around and appointments every week I'm VERY excited to really concentrate on "teaching" Briggs and developing a routine for every day.

Elli's 4th Birthday!!!

Elli's birthday celebration started on Friday (22nd) with her WONDERFUL Chocolate Milk Grandma (my parents are chocolate milk grandpa and grandma, because she always has chocolate milk when she's at their house and Nick's mom and step-dad are merry go round grandma and grandpa Chick, because they have a merry go around at their house). My mom's birthday is the day after Elli's so every year they go do something special (aka. my mom spoils her :). This year they had lunch at Arby's (Elli's choice) and then they went to Target and Elli left there with all sorts of goodies. Then they went back to my mom's house to play for a while.
Elli's birthday party was Sunday, May 24th and she wanted a butterfly party this year. We had fun finding butterflies to decorate with. We had home made ice cream and cake. Our families came and she had a great time! She even got a new bike from her Merry Go Round grandma and grandpa Chick!

Picture of the cake table.

Elli blowing out her candles. I couldn't find the candles so we had to use matches :)

Opening Presents

More presents...

Her new Barbie bike from Merry Go Round Grandma and Grandpa Chick

Her actual birthday was Tuesday, May 26th and it started with breakfast at Village Inn. We dropped Briggs off at daycare and Elli and I went for breakfast. We had a great time! Then we did a little shopping, and after that headed to HyVee to pick out treats for her daycare birthday party. Then we headed home to get dad and go pick up her friend Macey. Nick and I took Elli and Macey to Champions Fun Center. The girls had a blast! They bowled and played games and played in the balls and got to pick out prizes with the tickets they won. After about 4 hours at Champions we went to Pizza Hut. That's where Elli wanted to go eat. She opened her presents and we had pizza. Then we headed back home so the girls could play. It was a REALLY great birthday for Elli and it was nice to spend the day with her and give her all of our attention!

On our way to Village Inn

Waiting for our food

Elli and Macey in dads truck on the way to Champions

Elli and Macey playing the Clown Game

They loved this game!

Pizza Hut!

Singing Happy Birthday!

Elli enjoying her cookie

Boys Town Memorial Day Run

I made it!!!

The sun is SO bright!

My new shades they handed out for finishing the race!

Getting ready for our run - I mean WALK :)

On Monday we participated in the "Boys Town Research Hospital Memorial Day Run". All of the proceeds went to the Lied Learning Technology Center for cochlear implant, hearing impairment and vision disorders research. The Lied Learning building is where we go for all of Briggs C.I. appointments. We participated in the "1 mile Children's Fun Run". It was a gorgeous morning and we had a lot of fun. Elli and Briggs both received ribbons after crossing the finish line. Elli also got her face painted. We plan to participate in this event every year.

I've Been Tagged...

My friend "Catching Up with the Christie's" tagged me to play this game. You're supposed to do the following.

1. Open the 4th picture folder on your computer

2. Open the 4th picture and post it to your blog

3. Explain the picture

4. Tag 4 people to do the same

So here is my picture.... a few years ago we decided to remodel our bathroom and this is one of the "final results" pictures. Not to interesting, however the story behind it is a memory. The remodel took less than 2 weeks and that included tearing up the floor (the entire floor - we could see down to the basement), stripping out old tile, vanity, sink, toilet. Tiling the floor, plumbing, the back splash (which was my project), installing new sink and toilet and in the middle of all of it Nick got influenza. Oh yes, the week long HORRIBLE influenza virus. He was SO sick, but got Tamiflu from an Urgent Care Clinic and recovered quicker than usual and got right back to work. We also broke Elli of her pacifier that weekend. We figured since we're staying up all hours and making a ton of noise (a pin drop woke her up) we figured no better time to let her stay up late and be so tired she wouldn't need her pacifier to fall asleep. She was also almost 2 years old and she was potty trained so it was definitely time.

I don't know who to tag. :)

Today is the day!! Briggs will be bilateral!!

Today we head back to Boys Town for Briggs post-op and left ear activation! I still remember almost a year ago (June 17th to be exact) Briggs was diagnosed with bilateral profound hearing loss and we were given this huge envelope with information of cochlear implants. What is a cochlear implant??? Then after A LOT of research we couldn't WAIT for Briggs to turn 10 months old but it seemed like an eternity away! Now we're here and today he'll be BILATERAL!!! I'll post more tomorrow.

We had a VERY fun weekend and celebrated Elli's 4th birthday yesterday! I forgot my camera but will post pictures tomorrow.

Fun Weekend and Week Ahead!!!

Yay it's Friday!! Elli's birthday is this coming Tuesday (May 26th) and Sunday is her family birthday party. We are making homemade ice cream (my all time fav) and having cake and cupcakes. She wanted a butterfly party and it has been fun finding cute decorations with butterflies (I'll be sure to post pictures next week).

Monday morning the kids, Nick and I and my parents are headed to Omaha to participate in the "Boys Town Memorial Day Walk/Run". There is a Children's 1 mile Fun Run (which is what we're signed up for), an Adult 1 mile Walk/Run, and an Adult 5 mile Walk/Run and all the proceeds go to the Lied Learning Technology Center (this is where we take Briggs for all his C.I. stuff, activation, follow-up appts., etc.) for Cochlear Implant Research and treating hearing impairment and vision disorders. I'm REALLY excited to participate in this and following the walk there is all kinds of kids stuff set up (face painting, snacks, activities, etc.). Now that things are starting to settle down a little (aka. no more surgeries!!!!!!!!!! pre-ops, keeping Briggs in a bubble etc.) I'm really looking forward to getting more involved in the community and the seminars, benefits, etc.

Tuesday is Elli's 4th birthday!!!! It makes me happy, sad to look back on the past 4 years. It has gone SO fast and she is such a neat little girl!! God has truly blessed us with amazing kids. She is a very mature, smart, happy, loving, caring little girl. I took the day off on Tuesday and when she wakes up we'll take Briggs to daycare and come back home to make breakfast together. Then we're going to pick up her friend Macey and go to Champion's Fun Center and then take the girls out to eat at Elli's restaurant choice. I hope to make this day very special for her and give her all the attention. She has been SO great with dealing with Briggs getting all this attention throughout his surgeries and I just feel so grateful to have such a great little girl!

Wednesday we head back to Omaha for Briggs activation!!!! YAY!!! 4 more days until he's bilateral!!!! That is also my moms birthday and so when we get home we're going out to dinner to celebrate her birthday and Briggs hearing with both ears.

We have a lot of fun things planned for the next week and I'm very excited for it all!!

IT'S OVER!!!

Well the surgery is over and the implant is in and I PRAY and PRAY that we will never have to return to that surgery floor again! Surgery was only supposed to last an hour and a half and ended up being over 5 hours!! I was a nervous wreck and paced the tiny hallway for over two hours at one point. He went back at 7:50 a.m. and was supposed to be back to us around 10:00 a.m. and didn't get back to us until 1:20 p.m.! This was supposed to be the shortest surgery and ended up being the longest! We are so thankful that we have a surgeon who is very meticulous and takes his time and doesn't rush through the procedure.

There was a lot more scar tissue than he had expected from the surgery done 3 weeks ago and so that took longer to remove. The implant went is very smooth and all the fluid that was seen during the first surgery was gone so that was great news! Then he went to do the cochleostomy and noticed that Briggs' cochlea was formed correctly but tilted or turned or not positioned correctly or something like that... there was a problem with his cochlea. So that took a little longer to maneuver around. Then he went to do the cochleostomy and experienced a "gusher". This means that his ceribal spinal fluid came through the tiny hole that was drilled and that is not a good thing. BUT it was a very tiny leak and he got it stopped right away and spent a lot of time sealing the hole. The opening that is drilled is 1mm and the electrode wire is .8mm so you're dealing with a VERY small amount of space and he said you're basically taking a tiny needle and packing tissue around the open space. So that took a majority of the time. They hooked up the device and checked the electrodes and his nerve responded beautifully so that was GREAT news! The audiologist called me and said that often times with a gusher they have to send stronger impulses to get the nerve to fire back but they didn't have to do that with him. His nerve responded right away and perfectly!! Dr. Lusk assured us that he did not have a "gush" of fluid and it was VERY minor and he spent a lot of time focusing on the seal and just watching it to make sure no fluid came through. He also said that Briggs produces scar tissue fast and that will also seal that hole tighter. Please pray Briggs does not have problems with this!!!

It's taking him a little longer to recover from this surgery but that is to be expected b/c he was under longer and just had over 3 hours of digging around in these 3 weeks ago. He's definitely getting back to good ole Briggs though!!

Thank you all SO much for your continued prayers and support! The hard part is over and now the fun, amazing, rewarding part of watching him hear and talk is beginning!! He is doing amazing!!!

He is activated next Wednesday!!!