Newborn hearing test? rubbish morning
in Baby
Having a bit of a bad morning and need to have a bit or a rant/worry...
My HV was supposed to visit yesterday to weigh Isobel and do her hearing test (she's 3 weeks old). I waited for an hour trying to keep her awake as I didnt want her disturbed from sleep to have the tests done only to call and find out she was off sick and no-one had bothered to inform me. They made an appointment to see me at the local surestart centre this morning (half an hours walk there and back, three weeks post section) which would also give me an opportunity to see a BFing counsellor about a problem im having with a super fast let down which drowns my poor baby girl at each feed. Barely got to speak to the counsellor before getting whisked away to have hearing done, Isobel was hungry so was screaming and super hot and they couldnt get a reading in her right ear and wanted me to feed her in different positions Ive never attempted before with a hot, screaming baby in front of complete strangers in an attempt to get a reading from it (her left ear was clear). I ended up in tears as was worried and stressed and tense about having to feed in a position Ive never tried before and desperate to strip her down to her vest as she was so hot. They gave up in the end and have rebooked it for two weeks time before I was ushered back into the breastfeeding support group which was now full of toddlers and breastfeeding mothers who have obviously all been attending the group together for months. I kinda hovered around whilst waiting for the changing room to become free, stripped Izzy down, had her weighed and then left (had been there nearly three hours). I had to stop into my mum's house on the way home so i could feed her properly and now i just feel like crap - I didnt get any proper advice on the BFing problem im having and now im really worried that she has no hearing in her right ear and have to now wait two weeks until we get it tested again. has anyone else had similar experiences with the test and it turned out ok? I cannot believe how stressed and tearful I feel after this morning
My HV was supposed to visit yesterday to weigh Isobel and do her hearing test (she's 3 weeks old). I waited for an hour trying to keep her awake as I didnt want her disturbed from sleep to have the tests done only to call and find out she was off sick and no-one had bothered to inform me. They made an appointment to see me at the local surestart centre this morning (half an hours walk there and back, three weeks post section) which would also give me an opportunity to see a BFing counsellor about a problem im having with a super fast let down which drowns my poor baby girl at each feed. Barely got to speak to the counsellor before getting whisked away to have hearing done, Isobel was hungry so was screaming and super hot and they couldnt get a reading in her right ear and wanted me to feed her in different positions Ive never attempted before with a hot, screaming baby in front of complete strangers in an attempt to get a reading from it (her left ear was clear). I ended up in tears as was worried and stressed and tense about having to feed in a position Ive never tried before and desperate to strip her down to her vest as she was so hot. They gave up in the end and have rebooked it for two weeks time before I was ushered back into the breastfeeding support group which was now full of toddlers and breastfeeding mothers who have obviously all been attending the group together for months. I kinda hovered around whilst waiting for the changing room to become free, stripped Izzy down, had her weighed and then left (had been there nearly three hours). I had to stop into my mum's house on the way home so i could feed her properly and now i just feel like crap - I didnt get any proper advice on the BFing problem im having and now im really worried that she has no hearing in her right ear and have to now wait two weeks until we get it tested again. has anyone else had similar experiences with the test and it turned out ok? I cannot believe how stressed and tearful I feel after this morning
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Replies
I would ask if it's really necessary to have her retested, to be honest, it's a stress you just don't need.
There is some excellent advice here on helping baby cope with a forceful letdown:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html
I hope it helps! x
Also, don't worry about your baby being asleep during the test - it's actually easier if they are asleep (that what the woman doing our tests told me anyway) and won't disturb them.
Good luck and sorry you had such a cr*p day - it probably won't be the last I'm afraid but you will get better and better at coping with them!
C
My nephew failed his hearing test in one of his ears a couple of times, then on the third time it was totally fine and he passed.
Have a cuppa and a nice cake to cheer yourself up hun x
Thank you for the link, Mrs Setters. Ive found Kelly'smom a very helpful website since Isobel was born - im just finding changing position really hard and was really hopeful that they would give me a proper demonstration or physically help me latch her on. never mind, i guess we'll just have to keep going it alone for the time being x
Hope you get your BF issues sorted - can't offer any advice on that, sorry.
we ended up having to take lizzie to audiolology to have her hearing checked and they were brilliant exceot the whole room has to be dead silent so they like it if baby is asleep, hubby rocked lizzie to sleep just long enough to get a reading.
dont worry as most babies who have a clear response in pone ear are fine in the other!
hope they have better organisation next time xx
They decided to try another way which involved wiring her up with these little ear muffs, but this takes half an hour and she wouldn't settle. They suggested feeding her, so I took her outside for a quick feed. Took her back in and she promptly threw up everywhere, bless her it was all in her eyes and face.
The clinic only runs once a fortnight, so we've got to go back in 2 weeks and if they still can't get the result apparently we get referred to the ENT unit. Very frustrating.
As she was upset trying to feed she probably just failed because of that. When Beth moved the teeeniest bit the test had to be restarted. Hopefully next time she will be asleep and it will go better.
I'm impressed at you walking to the health centre but don't over-do it hon!! I also had a c-section on the 17th and haven't really done any walking or driving yet, I think I'll be up to it from next week but am determined not to over-do it and to follow orders - I'd hate for you to make yourself ill as looking after baby is hard enough after a c-section. Another similarity - my lo is Isabel too! different spelling though lol.
Hope you feeling brighter today and try to stop worrying, am sure if she passed in one ear and is alert and reacts to sound then she'll be fine xx
I've completely rambled on, but I really wouldn't worry hun, I'm
sure she's just very relaxed and contented xx
xxx