Can my baby hear?

kareik01 · October 2014

This is really more of a vent than anything, but input and similar experiences are appreciated.

When my baby Lily was born they did their usual hearing screenings they do on newborns at the hospital. She "referred" or failed the hearing test on the left ear, passed on the right. They said it's like 1 in 4 babies that will fair the initial hearing screen because of fluid still in the ears from birth, so we weren't too concerned. We had to take her back at 2 weeks old for a follow up screening.

At the follow up I was shocked to see how they give hearing screening to infants! They put electrodes on the back of her next and on her forehead, then tried covering her ears with these big cups that completely cover her ears. Naturally, she didn't take very well to all the stuff they were trying to keep situated on her! Eventually I got her to sleep in her car seat and that made the test run smoother. However, she ended up referring on BOTH ears this time.

Because of this they decided to refer us to a specialist at a national research hospital in my state. We saw an Audiologist there who ran more tests, including a similar one to last time with all the electrodes, except this time the electrodes were behind each ear and on the forehead, and she had little probes she stuck in Lily's ears for extended periods of time. This time, she passed the hearing in the left ear, but referred in the right! This is exactly opposite from the results at the initial hearing screening. By this time I'm genuinely concerned, and now a little frustrated!

They sent us to an ENT. The appointment with the ENT was the most frustrating of all. He looked in her ears, and all he really said was that she's too young for him to see much other than that her ears are formed normally. While that is comforting, I'm still frustrated.

We have a follow up at the research hospital next week, and the ENT told us to wait until after that to see him again and decide what needs to be done.

I guess what I'm most frustrated about is that every single place we have been to be tested, they have all told us that they THINK her hearing is normal, but that there is still just fluid in her middle ear that's causing her to fail the hearing screenings. No other explanation than that as to why she would have initially failed her left ear, but later pass it while failing the ear she initially passed!

I just want someone to tell me for sure what's going on. Why can no one tell me for sure! I can't imagine with today's technology that there's no way to say for sure yes or no there is fluid in the middle ear. Every one of them has stressed to us the importance of finding hearing problems as soon as possible to avoid more complications. Well I am paying a TON of money to have her seen by several specialists, none of which has told us any more than the first follow up screen.

Sorry this ended up being long. I know my baby hears because she reacts to sounds in what I would say is a normal way, but I can't help but be scared because of the lack of certainty from 3 specialists.

Laur110 · October 2014

How frustrating! I hope you get answers soon and that DD is just fine.

SoSayWeAll · October 2014

I am so sorry you're dealing with this and hope you get answers soon.

BeachM · October 2014

We were referred to an audiologist too after he failed the hearing test 3 times in the left ear. The follow up appointment did not involve a test anything like what you described. No electrodes but what looked like little ear buds and they did one ear at a time. The audiologist explained how it worked but of course I can't remember exactly now. And like you were told, I was told that many babies fail at the hospital and have nothing wrong with their ears.

Can you get a second opinion from another audiologist?

kareik01 · October 2014

@flip_flops, Well I'm going to wait until after our follow at with the Audiologist next Tuesday. If she still can't give me any definitive answers I am going to ask for a second opinion. There are several Audiologists there so I'm sure I can get one of them to be present if I need to.

But I'm hoping that things are starting to clear up by itself. A friend of DHs in highschool had fluid behind is ears at birth, but back then they didn't do hearing screenings like they do now. Well his was severe and never detected until it ruptured his ear drums and caused horrible long term problems. He's worn hearing aids ever since.

So when they all tell me it could be JUST fluid behind the ears I want to scream, because apparently that can still be dangerous, no matter how rarely.

I'm glad I'm not alone though, but hope your LO turns out alright too.

saraeric · October 2014

I don't have any advice but we're actually headed to an audiologist this afternoon at 1pm at our children's hospital. DS failed the newborn hearing screening 3 times but we know he can hear some. He startles/cries when our dog barks, doors close, etc. We're not sure if he has minor hearing loss or what the deal is. Hope you can get some answers soon, it's so frustrating that you're not getting consistent results. Keep us updated!

kareik01 · October 2014

@saraeric, same for us. She jumps if you talk while she's dozing off and other noises. It is comforting to know that others have had similar experiences, but I hate thinking that our babies have to go through all these tests. It's so hard trying to keep them comforted while they're being tested, for me anyway.

lgmeiner · October 2014

The same thing happened with my son (now 6 weeks old). He failed the hospital screening and we had to return to the hospital at 2 weeks for the lovely electrode/ earmuff test. They were unable to get it to work because he was moving/ too sweaty/ crying. They tried for 2 hours before finally deciding to use the machine they use for the hospital hearing screen. It took about 1 minute and he passed. Good lord, what a pain that ordeal was. Can they try again with the initial screening device? GL to you and hopefully everything is fine. It's just nerve wracking as a mom to think there may be an issue. My guess is that since baby passed in both ears at some point that everything is fine. Hope they are able to find a way to test your LO.

kareik01 · October 2014

@lgmeiner, at the first follow up screening that's what they attempted to use first was the little hand held machine. But they said she has a sharp curve in her ear canals that the machine couldn't quite get in there the way it needed to, so that's why they had to do the electrode/earmuff test.

lgmeiner · October 2014

@kareik01‌ , At the hospital they had to try a few different sizes on my son due to the same issue and couldn't make it work. Somehow they were able to use them at the 2 week follow up. I feel your pain. Fx that everything turns out fine!

bnoliva · October 2014

I'm sorry you're going through this. I feel like the fact that the results are inconsistent would be evidence that it's not a permanent issue and probably just temporary fluid blockage. I am no doctor though. Hope everything turns out ok!

saraeric · October 2014

Just had ds' appt with the audiologist. He passed! Hoping you can get some straight answers soon. I agree with pp, the inconsistencies are making me think user error on the testing.

kareik01 · October 2014

@saraeric, YAY! I'm really hoping our follow up next week brings back a pass for both ears so we can just be done with this too!

Stephy129 · October 2014

The test with the buds in the ears is usually called OAEs. They are basically testing for an echo to come back from the ear drum. Those buds must form a perfect seal for this to happen. If it doesn't most of the time the machine will ask the tech to retest but sometimes it can result in a failed test. The electrodes are testing for nerve response. Do you know what test was failed?

Do you notice your baby startled if you are holding her and you cough or if there is a unexpected loud noise?

kareik01 · October 2014

She passed the test that was testing the nerves. It was the decibel tests she was failing, as far as I understand.

Stephy129 · October 2014

It could still be fluid (it was for my daughter but caused by chronic ear infections). I'm not an audiologist but my mom is so we spent a lot of time talking about this stuff. Don't worry too much especially with the inconsistencies in the test results.

Eena1242 · October 2014

This might be a dumb question, but is it imperative that they know if she hears well now? Is this something that can wait until she's a toddler, or do they need to get the fluid out now? I guess I'm just asking because I would imagine doing a traditional hearing test with a toddler would be easier and give more definitive answers. It might be worth asking though.

I hope you get it all figured out. I am not jealous that you have to keep doctor-hopping.

Stephy129 · October 2014

Eena1242 said:
This might be a dumb question, but is it imperative that they know if she hears well now? Is this something that can wait until she's a toddler, or do they need to get the fluid out now? I guess I'm just asking because I would imagine doing a traditional hearing test with a toddler would be easier and give more definitive answers. It might be worth asking though.

I hope you get it all figured out. I am not jealous that you have to keep doctor-hopping.

For language development it is important to know what is going on. Because of all her issues, my daughter never spoke a word (not even normal voice play) until way after her second birthday. If there is hearing loss it would be important to know the severity so the parents can start doing different things to foster language and the like.

Eena1242 · October 2014

@Stephy129‌, that makes sense. I didn't even think of that! I knew it was a dumb question, but glad I know the answer!

Unknown · October 2014

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Stephy129 · October 2014

Eena1242 said:
@Stephy129‌, that makes sense. I didn't even think of that! I knew it was a dumb question, but glad I know the answer!

Not a dumb question at all!

kareik01 · October 2014

Thanks for all the support and encouragement, everyone! I feel less nervous about it these days simply because I do see her react to sounds more now than she used to. I also am guessing it is just fluid (or was, hopefully it's cleared up now) but we will find out a week from yesterday. I'll update after that

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