Noahs Smile: Update on Noah and the summer, (Bone-conduction hearing aids)

Well I haven't managed to post anything lately, still no sign of little bee coming along my due date is a week away now but I think this little baby is quite comfortable where he/she is and has other ideas about when they will turn up.

Updates on Noah, we have had a busy summer with Noah, he has had a number of appointments. I have noticed over the summer his features have changed he has become more grown up looking.

Firstly I promised that I would post pictures of the walk for the Solihull Down Syndrome Group. Thank you all for your support in sponsoring us, we are yet to confirm how much the group raised overall but it will most definitely benefit the whole group. THANK YOU.

Noah was exhausted after walking his little bit and fell asleep.

Noah finished nursery on 15th July and has been at home with me since then, waiting to start his new pre-school on 17th September.

This was Noah's last day on the nursery bus which he loved to travel on so very much.

Thank you to all the carers that looked after Noah during his time at nursery, he really enjoyed it and made lots of new friends. I will try and post some pictures of his last days at nursery when I can scan them in to the computer as they were taken by someone else.

We recently attended a Ear Nose and Throat appointment, where once again Noah failed his hearing test. It has therefore been decided that Noah will be fitted with a Bone-conduction hearing aid this will help him with his hearing. I don't think his hearing is very bad but it will benefit Noah hopefully when I am working with him. Bone-conduction hearing aids use a vibrating pad that allows sound to be conducted through the bone rather than through the middle ear. They are worn on a headband with the vibrator behind the ear, resting on the mastoid bone (part of the skull behind the ear). So basically Noah will get a little head band to wear, obviously it is best for him to have it on all of the time but for anyone who knows Noah this will probably prove difficult as he hates having anything on his head. I think its just a case of perseverance, with getting him to keep it on.

The other option is for Noah to have grommets. This is performed under a general anaesthetic, the eardrum is punctured with a very fine instrument and the fluid sucked out. A grommet (a tiny plastic tube sometimes called a ventilation tube) may be inserted into the hole to keep it open for a while. This will help air to circulate to prevent further fluid from building up. It stays in the eardrum for about six to eight months (on average) and then the eardrum naturally pushes it out and the hole heals by itself. There are problems with this, as the grommets can fall out on its own after a week, a month or so and therefore without having constant ENT checks at the clinic we wouldn't know whether they were still in. Therefore we are reluctant for Noah to have grommets first without going down the hearing aid route. Once he gets his hearing aid I will update with some photos.

I will leave you with some photos of him over the summer.

Noah loves pretend talking on the phone, he babbles away until there is someone on the line and then he is so quiet.

We went to see Mary Poppins which was arranged through the Solihull Down Syndrome Group, this was taken before the show when we were waiting on our food in a Chinese restaurant.