Specialist meeting, 6th December 07

Zem recieved his brand new hearing aids today from Australian Hearing, around 11:00am. However, about 3:30pm we were told that those brand new hearing aids were virtually useless. We now know the reason why Zem has no hearing. The bones in Zem's inner ear are not properly formed. On the CT scan, it shows that Zem's cochlear is shaped correctly (like a sea shell) but does not have the spiral inner structure that is needed. There are also some other bones that are formed incorrectly and what seems like an abnormal amount of fluid where the auditory nerve ought to be. In sum total, this news has hit us pretty hard. Zem now has an MRI scan on the 19th of February, to get a better idea concerning his options. We would appreciate your prayers regarding this.

Sharlene and I are now concentrating on learning and using Signed English. We have found this website useful:

http://www.sign.com.au/

Zem update

Last Friday (23rd Nov) Zem had a CT scan. It took two tries to get him relaxed enough to take it. It finished at 9:45a and the results will be sent to the hearing clinic. We pick them up on 6th Dec.


Here are regular appointments that Sharlene has:
Mother's group on Wednesday mornings.
Meeting with friends, Wednesday afternoons (fortnightly)
Hearing Australia for hearing aid fitting, every third Thursday.
Meeting at Royal Institute for Blind and Deaf, Friday mornings.

Zem's Hearing

On Monday, 15th October (Sharlene's Birthday), we took Zemiel into the John Hunter Audiology Unit to have diagnostic testing performed on his hearing. The results of this testing indicates that Zem has at least severe hearing loss in both ears. Further testing needs to be done to identify if his level of hearing loss is profound or not. We know for sure that he will be using hearing aids in the coming months. Hopefully, he will respond to these, but success is based on trial and error and observation.

We will be attending an information conference on Thursday afternoon (18th) in order to speak to a number of professionals about his hearing loss, what needs to be done now, and gaining referals to the many future tests that he may need.

Sharlene and I thank you for your ongoing support and prayers for Zemiel. Thank you Adrian for helping to make Sharlene's birthday a bit happier.

Visit from Nuna

It has been lovely to spend some time with Nuna and Uncle Adrian over the last two weeks. Dad has been home from work too. Nuna has been very busy cleaning and gardening around the house. She has also made some wonderful food so my mum and dad say. As for me, I have been busy guzzling my mums milk and growing alot.

he's finally here! And we are so relieved. After almost exactly 38 weeks of pregnancy and 19 hours of not so nice pain for mum, young master Cole has appeared on the outside. Zem arrived at 6:03pm on Wednesday the 12th September. He has smokey-grey eyes, hair about 2cm long and a flat little nose. Well, the nose will sort itself out soon enough. here's a few pics:

Bump is getting quite big.

Perhaps we should start calling it Gigantor...Sharlene and I have taken to calling it Murgatroyed Alowishes Cornelius Theodorus Dumbfungus, just because our students are wanting to know what names we have chosen.
No other hints given.

24 weeks pic

Here's a pic of Sharlene at 24 weeks. Up until now, the bump has been pretty small, but is now really starting to expand.

Bub pic

This pic was taken at our second ultrasound on the 1st May, 2007. It shows the little feet crossed over, just like it was sooo relaxed to be in there. But let me tell you that it was moving around a LOT, and the screening lady was chasing it all over the place to get the photos.

Catching up

Over the past few months, many things have happened to us. The most notable is Sharlene becoming pregnant with our first kid. This has provided us with both positive and negative experiences. Firstly, that for the first 14 weeks of her pregnancy, Sharlene was quite ill with nausea. Apparently, it is a sign of a healthy baby and a well-fastened placenta. Thankfully, that constant illness and accompanying discomfort is now behind us. Sharlene has been growing out of clothes quite quickly, preferring to wear my own jeans and pants. Recently though, we did purchase some better fitting maternity gear for her. Also, in preparation for our comfort during the future late nights, we've bought a rocking chair for Sharlene. It has come in handy already because she was beginning to find it a little difficult to get up and down out of our beanbags and lounge chairs. Anyways, if anyone decides to call in, I hope that you will take the time to leave a comment or two.

Hello

Welcome to our web diary. Here we will keep you up to date with what is going on in our lives. Particularly now that we have a Bub on the way. It makes it hard to keep in contact with everyone if we aren't around for phonecalls (besides them being expensive). Anywho, it should be fun to look back on when we are old and crotchety and can't remember to life we used to live.