How not to use a Nasal Aspirator & Other Tales

September 15th – Really? I can scarcely believe this month is half over! We have been keeping busy, busy, busy!

The weekend we picked up the Matrix, we decided that a maiden road trip would be just the thing. So I consulted Jack Christie’s 52 Best Day Trips from Vancouver and learned that there is a Benedictine Abbey in Mission run by monks. I decided I just had to see this! So on Sunday we drove out to Mission, had a late lunch at ABC (which Jordan slept right through,) then made our way up the hill to Westminster Abbey. Some dark clouds loomed overhead but we managed to stay dry our whole trip. We just missed the visitors’ hours by a couple of minutes but happily learned as we strolled a woodsy path leading to a view of the valley below that we were in time to hear the Vespers bells. It was a treat to see Jordan listening and staring at the bell tower until we got moving again. I was taken over by a warm feeling of happiness to be walking with my family under the trees as the bells tolled, even if Chris declared them to be cacophonous and not exactly pleasing. Mommy had been hoping that these particular monks were the sort who made amazing cheese or wine, but this was not to be, Westminster Abbey is a seminary, so it’s just books and religion for these guys.

http://www.mission.ca/Page151.aspx

The next day was Labour Day, and after some discussion, we decided that Jordan has reached an age at which we no longer find it necessary to avoid going to restaurants and it was high time we resumed one of Chris’n’Deb’s favourite traditions: Breakfast Out. Yes, having a nice late breakfast in a restaurant is one of our “things.” So we went to Ricky’s and had breakfast, and it was nice, and though Jordy didn’t want to endure sitting in his stroller the whole time, it was no trouble taking turns holding him whilst eating. Good call, Dad! This is a tradition I welcome back heartily.

We met with Ayasha again on Tuesday and one of the best things I took away from that meeting was the enlightenment gained from several demos that she shared with me which tried to convey sound as someone who is partially deaf may perceive it. We will never know exactly what the world sounds like to Jordan, but these may bring us pretty close. I can’t share all of the demos with you, as they aren’t all available digitally, but here is one link: http://www.phonak.com/consumer/hearing/hearinglossdemo.htm I have never been more conscientious of noise as the few days after hearing the demos, because as I listened to the muffled tones and struggled to understand I wanted desperately to turn off the fan, and ask Jordan to stop babbling just until the recording was done, but the fact is, someone with a hearing loss doesn’t have that luxury. It’s important to remember that while the H.A.’s amplify sound so he can hear better, they amplify everything and that means noise which can make the process more challenging. This realization has reinforced my decision to learn a workable ASL vocabulary.



That night Jordan woke up several times with congestion. Poor little guy was struggling to breathe as he nursed; he had gotten his first cold. No coincidence, I am sure, that this followed not long after learning to put objects and his hands into his mouth! It really wasn’t too bad during the day, as he is mostly upright, but at night lying flat on his back made breathing a chore. The second night, when he stuffily awoke around quarter to four, I thought I would break out the ol’ nasal aspirator (you know what that is right, a bulb syringe - bulbous rubbery suction thingie) to help the little guy out a bit. My friend Jackie would later comment after relating my late night misadventures with the bulb syringe, “isn’t it just: insert & suck?” O such clarity! But being the well-meaning rookie I am, I had to read up on this first. A groggy first-time mom wuth a nasal aspirator: what could go wrong? I do admit to trying out the bulb syringe out without consulting any literature which resulted in my blowing some air into my poor kid’s nasal passages before the sucking action worked. It occurred to me, “gosh, that can’t be right!” To his credit, Jordan took it pretty well in stride. Anyhoo, the book says to administer saline drops to help loosen the mucous and then use the bulb to suction it out. But that wasn’t specific enough for me. I mean, what saline solution? Is there a bulb technique? What do you do with the snot when you’re done, etc. So as Chris was passing in the hall and asked if all was well, I said, “well, since you’re already up...” and roped him in to assist. We puzzled over how to approach this task for a moment ‘til Chris, keenly intelligent as he is, said, “We don’t know what we’re doing, look it up online.” Yes, this is what the internet is for! So there I was at 4 am Googling “nasal aspirator.” After reading up I whipped up a saline solution with everyday kitchen ingredients – wow! And got the dropper out and headed back to the nursery where I proceeded to torture my son by half drowning him with saline solution because the squeezy end of the dropper wasn’t on right, so instead of just one drop releasing, all the contents released! And I don’t think, even though I am sure my bulb syringe technique was perfect, I managed to get a hold of any mucous at all! And so after much frustration, feelings of guilt, and tears (both mum’s and son’s) I decided I couldn’t continue this treatment, hoped the saline dousing would help somewhat, and put Jordan to the breast in hopes of comforting him after this trauma and getting him to sleep. And to top it all off I felt extra bad that I kept Chris up for this horrible episode. In the end, Jordan seems none the worse for wear and I fixed the dropper, and have managed to help out in those extra mucous-y moments. Ah, first time parenthood, at least I can now look back on this fiasco and laugh. As to the cold, Jordy is still a bit congested , I have to wipe the crustified snot from around his nose every so often, and we have the odd rough night, but he seems to be getting better.

On Thursday, we welcomed Nanny Mary back home from her month long visit with family in Newfoundland. She commented on how much Jordy has grown since she left, and I have to admit that even to me he seems to have grown even in the last week! He is a little drool monster these days, and after hearing about Jordan’s cold, Nanny suggested he may be cutting teeth. I pointed out that I’d read most babies wouldn’t get them ‘til closer to the 6 month mark to which she said, “Christopher got his first tooth at four months!” This was followed immediately by, “Sorry!” from Chris.

Friday was a big day too, as it was Jordan’s first visit to the ELF program. It was a bit of a last minute announcement, coming just a few days before, and so it turned out that Jordan and I were the only pair to make it, but we still got to get to know the facilitator Alaina (not sure if that is how she spells it though,) meet the DCS staff, see the building, and generally get oriented. If there was any doubt as to my need to learn ASL it vanished on this visit. Alaina and Janice are both deaf and an interpreter was present to help us to communicate, besides that, everyone who works at the office is ASL fluent. Watching everyone’s hands flying with the conversation was fascinating for Jordan, but I felt truly inadequate for the first time since we found out about his hearing loss. I never once thought to myself, “I honestly don’t know if I can be everything I need to be for Jordy,” until Friday. I did share my sense of insecurity and everyone rushed to reassure me. Office manager, Karen helped me check out some Signing Time DVD’s from their resource centre and I am starting to feel better about my abilities, but it was humbling to know only a few words and be afraid to try them out. If you would like to learn a few signs I suggest going to DCS’s brand new site: http://www.deafchildren.bc.ca/sign-language/read-your-baby The woman who teaches the signs on the videos is Alaina. She will be reading and signing books to the kids, and teaching parents how to read and sign for them too. And I once again encourage everyone who loves Jordan to contribute to DCS as they have a lot of really great programs and have aspirations for more projects in the future. You can help by donating used clothing at these drop off sites: http://www.deafchildren.bc.ca/sites/default/files/Blue%20Box%20Locations.pdf or become a member. http://www.deafchildren.bc.ca/donate Incidentally, the Signing Time DVDs are fabulous! A couple of my friends had already suggested them for us, and now that I’ve viewed a couple I can understand why. I think I will have to buy the whole set at some point.

L-R Interpreter Christa, Alaina, Jordy & Janice

After our visit to DCS we headed to New Westminster and picked up Jordan’s new ear molds from Selma. We got purple ones this time, Daddy’s favourite colour. I have to say though, it appears the left ear mold is already starting to fit loosely. Thank goodness this is all paid for by the province! That was one exhausting day! After we got home, mom and son took a nap together and slept so heavily that we didn’t wake until Chris phoned for us to pick him up from work! Oops! I am happy to say we do seem to be making fantastic progress with the H.A. wearing. We are now able to keep them in Jordan’s ears for just about every waking moment! And at the last visit with Selma, she gave us some samples of Stick’n’Stay a double sided adhesive specially cut to fit the H.A.s and they work like a hot-damn. A little spendy though – something like $10 for a box of twenty. I may pick up a box to use for times we don’t want to run the risk of losing them while we’re out, but for everyday at home we’ll go without. We had been using something like librarians use to hold their glasses around their necks, made of elastic and that clips to his clothing. It appears that after several weeks of wearing it in a way that pulls his H.A.s nice and snug to his head they seem to have trained the tubing and H.A.s to rest where they should. So they don’t flop around anymore – Hooray! We’re now able to wear the H.A.s on their own and they look good!

Finally, on Saturday, Jordan helped us all celebrate his Tia Aida’s birthday at The Boathouse. He was pretty good. Once again, he wasn’t going to stand for being left in his carrier, but this was not a problem as Aida and her mum-in-law, Carol were more than happy to cuddle and coo to him. And as his Dad pointed out, that makes three restaurants for Jordan in one week!