Can you hear me now?

“ And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Matt. 21:22

On our way, in the waiting room,
getting hooked up to
the computer,
FIRST SOUND!

Today was the day!   I woke up at 4:30 realizing that THE only task I was asked to do prior to Esther’s turn on day was to have the batteries charged for her device and I HAD NOT done that.  The batteries take 6-8 hours to charge fully and I was only 4 ½  hours away from turn on time.  I jumped out of bed, through my foggy eyes, I found the batteries and the charger, plugged them in, went into my office and prayed over the charger for it work quickly as I was also praying for the events of the big day!  At 5:30am I received a message via Facebook from a friend that she was praying for Esther and I asked her to pray for the batteries too!  In the next hour I asked 4 others to pray for the batteries to charge and guess what? They were fully charged with an hour to spare!!!

Left: not hearing
Right: FIRST SOUND falling into my chest

We dropped Parker and Eden off at a place to play while the rest of the family headed to the doctor’s office with Esther.  We all prayed over Esther and they called us back!  We had NO idea IF Esther would respond and if she did what that would look like.  The doctor had the Cochlear rep sit in on our turn on because of the “stickiness” of her case.  They prepped us that she may not respond at all, she may cry, she may get excited, she may look at me she may not etc.  They hooked her up to the computer to run some tests and “calibrate” the device.  During this time she would be able to hear some beeps (if she is going to be able to hear) so for us to watch for an expression of any kind.  OH MY WORD – as soon as they turned them up she threw herself into my chest and closed her eyes! It was at that moment that we knew it was a success and she HAD HEARING!  Following that process they unhooked her from the computer and said they would start sound out REALLY low and for us to talk to her softly.  We began talking and got no response then they gave her some musical instruments and she played with them but no response (and they were LOUD).  They turned it up some more and one of the therapists (behind her) laughed and she turned her head to look at her!  It was turned up a little more and she quickly threw herself into my chest again!  SHE IS HEARING!!!! 

They gave us 4 programs with program #1 begin very low and program #4 being the normal level she will be hearing at once she adjusts to sound.  We will change the program every 3 days until we get to #4 and we will begin Audio Verbal Therapy next Monday and will continue to teach her to sign!

What an AMAZING, JOY-FILLED, GOD PRAISING and a bit overwhelming day it has been!  When we picked up Parker and Eden I told them she could hear so don’t be too loud.  Parker got into the van and leaned into her and whispered, “Hi Esther I am your big brother Parker.”  MELT MY HEART - what a precious moment!  Then we got home and she heard herself for the first time in over a year – she went CRAZY!  Esther was running around the house making all sorts of sounds we have never heard before.  This lasted a solid 15 minutes and had us all cracking up! Here’s a video clip of a portion of that time: 

Then she sat by Kylan playing the piano and wouldn’t leave – it was just the biggest blessing we could ever have asked for!

I can’t thank everyone enough for all the prayers and texts and calls and messages – we know that Esther has had SO many people praying for her and that God has BIG things in store for her “for such a time as this!”

Blessings,

Tiffany