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I didn't realize I haven't posted this yet and since June marks Nia's 2nd hearing anniversary (her cochlear implant was switched on last June 2, 2021. I thought it's timely to post about this now. When she was implanted, we had to choose a hearing processor that she will wear and at that time, the latest model was Cochlear Nuchleus 7. It was the smallest and lightest behind-the-ear hearing solution, combining proven hearing performance with built-in connectivity featuring direct streaming with a compatible Apple and Android device without attaching anything to the sound processor. (As I post this, there's already Nuchleus 8 available in the market.)

Here is the kit that was given to us together with the N7 unit:

First was this tablet. It was so high tech.

It was an introduction to Nuchleus 7. It also serves as a manual. I also liked that there were testimonials from recipients. I remember being so moved hearing their stories.

There were also very helpful tips when using the N7 device. It was really informative and helpful espcecially for parents with small kids like mine.

Here are the contents of the kit itself:

These are the chargers, remote control, coil cable and the hearing processor itself.

The next layer houses chargers, disposable batteries and other accessories.

These are parts of the N7. We had to go to the office of Gruppo so they could teach us how to assemble Nia's N7. So I brought the whole kit for them to assemble it altogether.

These are accessories/parts that we will eventually need to repurchase and replace as she gets older.

Along with the parts, a drying kit is also included. This is very important because her processors have to remain dry at all times so they will be in their tiptop shape.

We need to put Nia's hearing processors in this Breeze dry and store kit every night before we sleep. It runs for 8 hour or so, and in the morning, it's ready for her to wear. I also put her hearing aid here to dry it as well. I just make sure to remove the battery and keep the aid away from N7's magnet.

This is the power button and it lights up when being used. We know that it's ready when there is no light anymore.

Inside the dryer, we need to put a drying brick. This serves as a dehumidifier and absorbs all the moisture from her processors. We also repurchase this as we need to change it every 2-3 months.

Another kind of dehumidifier is Cedis tabs. This is recommended for hearing aids though, and not cochlear hearing processors.

Adapters are included. Very useful especially for travels.

Another useful accessory for students especially is the Wireless Mini Microphone 2. I have already used this a handful of times when we are out and it's a noisy environment.

I will probably also give this to Nia's teachers so Nia can hear them better. They can just clip it onto their shirt and it acts as a wireless mic connected to Nia's N7.

Lastly is the carrying case.

I put all of the important accessories and parts in here. And this is what I bring with me when we travel. It's a hard case so I know that what I put inside will be kept safe.

Nia's journey is still ongoing even after her surgery. Therapies, repurchase of accessories and parts, mapping and adjustments, check ups, etc. It can get costly, so H and I try to work hard. It's for Nia and her siblings. We will do what it takes to care for them. We know that we are chosen to be their parents, to look after them. And with everything, I know that God listens and He will provide, as he always has.

and it was all yellow...
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I made an update video for Nia, just to share where we're at after her cochlear implant surgery and therapy. It's been a few months since Nia's Cochlear Implant surgery, so I wanted to make an update video on her recovery and progress. We are blessed that we now have options and technology is on our side. With time, therapy, guidance and prayers, Nia will be able to hear and speak normally.

After her switch on, her AVT or auditory verbal therapy resumed. For now, she has therapy twice a month. Let's be honest, online classes and toddlers don't always match. There are times she babbles nonstop, which is my favorite because we get to listen to her vocabulary. Her therapist gets to tick which ones Nia can already say and do. There are times she just sits there, without a peep. Sometimes she doesn't cooperate. Sometimes she keeps moving that we can't do a single activity because she just won't stop. Those times stress me out so much. It makes me feel like I'm spending thousand of pesos for nothing. Her therapist says it's okay and that we just follow Nia's lead because well, what else can we do right? But still, it makes me feel like I'm throwing money away. :/

She's gone to several mapping sessions as well, which basically means reprogramming her hearing device, giving us different volume that we can adjust every few days. Do we see changes? I don't know, it's difficult to tell.

She doesn't remove her processor as much as before. I've always hated it when she throws it just like it's nothing. All I think of is that's millions of pesos you're pulling and throwing on the ground! Geez. So I'm thankful when her processor starts getting loose and she comes to me to have it fixed.

I want to say that everything's smooth sailing. Perhaps it is. She used to hate book reading, compared to Niko who loves to be read to. Now I can read to her too, few chosen books with about 4 pages, but I'll take it over nothing. Another improvement is now she listens to narrations in videos. She still loves her song and dance numbers but now, I see her actually sitting and watching narrations too, such as Blues Clues. It means she's listening to the stories, even if there's no melody.

She is still more observant than her brother. When I teach new dances or new songs, she would listen intently and watch very closely. And she gets it real fast.
These are good, it's progress. Her therapist is happy to see her respond and engaged and attend more. But as usual, the control freak in me still gets anxious from time to time. I now see her delay. Before it wasn't that evident, but now, it's more obvious. I know, I know. It's not right to compare, but it's difficult not to right? Especially since she has a twin just 3 minutes her senior.

I mentioned this to her therapist and she told me that Nia will catch up eventually. I told her about my fear of her not being able to go to the same school as her siblings. She said she's confident Nia can, when she's in primary school. But how about preschool? I still would want her to be in the same preschool as her brother. I haven't thought about putting her in a special school because I thought that was the point of early intervention right? These thoughts wash over me. However I know that I'm getting way ahead of myself. She's not even 2 yet.

My twins are turning 2 this December, and so many of my friends say that I'm putting too much pressure on ourselves. Toddlers still don't talk at this point, and I should know this, I already have Robyn! But honestly, with Ro, we just went with it. We didn't time when she first talked, her first word, and the timeline of her speech. I try to recall and watch her past videos, but I just can't pinpoint the exact time. But that's because we know Robyn didn't have any problems. Given that we know Nia has a disability, I have become more observant. Not just to her but even to Niko. When they do something new and different, right away, I think, is this normal? If they become too active too rowdy, I'd think is there something wrong? If they don't understand that I'm asking for the blue ball and not the red one, I'd think do they have sight problems too? Yes perhaps I'm OA. But I can't help it, there's trauma. I am no longer just a regular mom. I'm a mom who experienced hearing her doctor say that there's something wrong with the baby. I'm a mom who was asked by the doctor so many many many times if I did something or ate something when I was pregnant to cause this. I'm a mom who had to watch my baby be hurt so many times and tests to be done to her. I'm a mom who waited in a covid waiting room waiting for her 1 year old daughter to be out of surgery. I'm traumatized. So I give myself grace when I start thinking of negativity right away. I give myself grace when I start questioning the welfare and development of my babies. I give myself grace because I need to.

But that's the reality of this journey. The unknowns and the never ending questions you perhaps already know the answers to but just don't accept it. It's taking things one day at a time. I cannot think way ahead because there are still so many hurdles along the way We still need to tackle. This is definitely something I have to deal with day in day out. My husband and I talk about it, and we agreed that we will only feel "safe" and at peace when we finally hear her speak. We are still on our toes and are still hoping and praying for the day we can finally breathe.

I talk to other CI moms who have older kids, who have also experienced the same things, who have gone through similar challenges. They always say be patient, trust the process and everything will work out okay. They are the only ones who truly fully understand what we're going through now. That gives me hope, it makes me feel better, it calms me somehow. But I'm very stubborn and as I said, a control freak. So it's still very hard for me to imagine. There are good days, there are bad days. I won't see huge progress every single day. Nonetheless I look forward to seeing Nia as one of the senior CI implantees that have a good story to tell, a positive outcome. Trust the process, believe in all the positive stories I hear And surrender everything to the Lord.

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Next step before Nia actually starts her CI journey is switching on her cochlear implants. When she had her cochlear implant surgery, the implant device was "implanted" on her head. We also received the huge bag with the external processor, chargers and accessories. We haven't tried putting on the processor yet or turning it on since it wasn't programmed yet at that time. So the "Switch On" process was when the audiologist will program her processor and finally turn it all on.

I've watch countless videos of switch ons, most are of babies and kids. These videos are from other countries usually. So I was both excited and nervous how Nia will react when it's her time.
June 2, 2021 was her Switch On. (Side story: June 2 is such a special date. 6 years ago, on the same date, was when we moved to our house. Just about a year ago, June 1, 2020 was when Nia started wearing her hearing aids.) We have been waiting for this day for her hearing to finally be stimulated.

Just a summary in case you are not familiar with Nia's case (click here if you want to read her back story and more here), Nia is bimodal. She used to wear hearing aids on both ears. She has a better ear (her left ear) and even her other ear, thank God has residual hearing. So we knew that she can hear us especially when she was aided a year ago. With this in mind, I knew there wouldn't be any dramatic moment when her processor is turned on.

I wanted to vlog it but it was difficult because I'm a one man vlogging team. I was holding her while waiting until they finished. I didn't want to bother my husband anymore because I knew he was as nervous and anxious as I was. We did get some clips, but I didn't post them anymore. Why? She threw a huge fit when we were trying to put her processor on her head even though it wasn't even on yet. Ganong levelz. It's totally understandable especially with everything she had endured, there's definitely trauma. She's so afraid of people going near her, touching her New things also makes her nervous.

When we finally got her processor on he head and turned on, mapping began she was just quiet. She sat still, playing with her dad's phone. As the beep continued, she sat there quietly. In this photo, you'll see that I'm just holding the processor on my hand even though the magnet is on Nia's head. She didn't want anything touching her ear yet.

We tried calling her name, she looked. Tried making different sounds, she engaged. That's how you know it's working. That deadly look of Nia though. Haha!

We kept the volume minimal because we're trying to make her comfortable and get used to wearing her processor first, before cranking up the volume. Because of her condition, Large Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome (LVAS), the audiologist was careful about her balance.

Switching her on, there wasn't much difference yet. Perhaps because it was still very low volume, or maybe because she's already been wearing hearing aids for a long time and that helps with her better ear (left ear).

As per Nia's therapist, you don't notice difference right away. It takes about 6 months or more to see big development and changes.

I'm happy that she adjusted well with the cochlear implant. I feel like it's hugely because she's already used to having something on her ear when she was wearing her hearing aids.

There's something about "switch on days". It gives you hope, it gives you purpose. At least that was how it felt for us. It gave us a beginning of a new chapter on Nia's journey, one we have been waiting for, one we are still praying for- her journey to hearing and speech.

For Nia's #calears journey, click here. And for continuous donations for Nia's therapy and other medical expenses, you may refer to her story here. Thank you so much.

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We felt so relieved when Nia was finally brought back to the room after her cochlear implant surgery. It took 4 hours to finish, 4 hours of waiting, 4 hours of intense nervousness. When I finally got to see her in the recovery room, it felt like the world was lifted off my shoulders.

May 11, a day after surgery, Nia was still a little groggy. She still couldn't balance her head. Dr. Chiong did a great job dressing her ear/head. They also put diapers on her hands so she wouldn't be able to scratch and remove her dressing and her dextrose.

Around lunch time, we were told that she can already start eating. Good thing, H and I decided to order some food. I gave her some mashed potato. I was so happy when she started eating. She didn't eat much, which was expected.

With the help of my husband, I cleaned her up. I brought a basin, wash cloths, head to toe wash, tooth brush and toothpaste. Since she couldn't lift her head still, I just cleaned her while lying down.

Another tip I got from a fellow CI mom, mommy Jeng, was to bring side tie and easy clothes. So I brought side tie dresses and button down tops to easily remove them if she needs to change. It made life so much easier. Given that her head size is bigger because of the dressing, it was definitely more difficult to wear shirts from her head.

The whole day was just quiet. She was mostly sleeping, perhaps still groggy from the anesthesia, or just plain tired. Nurses also came to give her some meds through her IV. They also gave her pain medication to handle pain. I was also allowed to breastfeed her. There were also times she was getting angry at her bandaged hands. She is usually an active girl, so this was especially annoying to her. Hehe!

Around dinner time, she was finally able to sit up. Yey! She still needed assistance and she still couldn't walk. My friend, Roma, sent over some chinese food for dinner. I was able to feed Nia some congee. It was advised to feed her soft food so it was the perfect choice.

We stayed in touch with the house through video call. It was sad when we learned that Robyn had cried several times. She isn't used to us not being together, that's why. And add to that the fact that she feels pity on Nia. She has been emotional few weeks before surgery. When we talk about the procedure or plan for it and she hears about it, she would instantly tear up. She would always say "kawawa si shobe." And how she doesn't want her to get an operation.
Niko, on the other hand, obviously couldn't speak his mind. But my sister told me that he hasn't been eating much. That says a lot, because Niko is a good eater. We also noticed when we got home, that he has lost weight. It just goes to show that even though he can't speak yet, he was still affected by this change.

My husband and I were both just "lutang". We were happy that the surgery's over and done. And we just want to finish everything and get back to normal. We felt like we were in a dream.
I slept beside Nia on the patient's bed. It was not the most comfortable, but it was the most convenient. Nia kept asking to be nursed and I gladly obliged. It was tricky positioning her and myself. We were afraid she wouldn't be comfortable because of her dressing. But it turned out okay. Nursing her round the clock was exhausting, but it was nothing compared to what she had to endure.

May 12, we were finally visited by Dr. Chiong. She visited around 10am, checked on Nia. She briefly discussed what happened during the operation. We were also advised that we can finally go home that day just as long as Nia is able to drink her pain meds orally.

We tried giving it to her, but she kept vomiting after. When we asked the nurse, she said that Nia should be able to take it without vomiting or else they have to administer to through IV which mean we wouldn't be able to go home. We tried different tricks including giving her some juice to help with the taste. After a few failed attempts, she finally took it and we celebrated because it means we graduated! Woohoo.

Around 12:45pm, while nursing Nia for her nap, they finally removed her IV. This was a huge moment for me. It just dawned on me that that was it! We're free to go and finally get back to the other kids.

We settled the bill, prepared our things and finally made our way home.

My dad and my sister stayed with the kids while we were away. We were so excited to see everyone. When we got home, they were all so happy to see Nia healthy. She was still puffy but that didn't matter.

I remember my dad being worried because Nia jumped on her horsey ride and rode it so vigorously and so fast. "Parang walang nangyari." :) I was also so stoked to see all of them 3 together.

We could see how happy she was. As cliche as it may sound, nowhere is better than your home.

She also began starting to walk, though unsuccessful at first. She needed to hold on to something to help her walk. She was all smiles, and was excited to see familiar faces. Eating some of her favorite snacks, napping on her own bed.

Our family felt the same relief as I felt. You see, Nia is a favorite of the family because she's so bubbly and all smiles. Our families and friends all said a prayer for her successful operation and we got that. Thank you God.

Eventually she regained her strength and balance. She started standing up and walking on her own again. By the way, we kept her hearing aid on her left ear so she can still hear what' happening. Thankful that she was okay with it.

Recovery was smooth, thank you again God. What was most challenging during the first few days was her scratching her bandage. Perhaps sweat also made in unbearable, she was so itchy. We'd remove her hand when she starts scratching. We were so afraid she'd remove it.

A week after her operation, May 17, we were asked to go back to the clinic to remove the dressing. We could't wait! It was difficult keeping Nia from scratching herself. It was also the first time we saw the "bump" on her head, where the implant was placed and the stitches she got from the surgery.

We also asked the doctor to put thread on her ear hole because she was already pierced. And she could't keep her earring on her right ear. I didn't want her to go through another piercing again, because from what we've observed, her ear hole closes so fast. So I really asked the surgeon as a favor to just put thread so the hole doesn't close.

We cleaned it, removed tape residue (which was so difficult to remove by the way), we had to use alcohol to do it. And Dr. Chiong also checked the magnet that was implanted inside. Here, she used a mock cochlear implant to check if it will stick properly to the implant.

Nia was checked and everything checked out great. Her wound was healing properly. We were to finally set a schedule for the “switch on” or when they will finally turn on the cochlear implant and Nia will start wearing her device.

Thank you to Dr. Chiong, Ms. Mhel and her whole team for a successful operation. We will forever be grateful!

Another CI mom, Mommy Thessa, lent us this "helmet" that Nia could wear while her wound is recovering. We were told that it's important she doesn't bump on anything so that the implant stays in place and get settled well.

Unfortunately, she didn't like having anything on her head. Pretty sure because of fear and trauma.

We headed home, bought some bandages to protect her implant before switch on.

On the way home, I couldn't help but remember everything she went through to get all the way here. It hasn't been easy, heck, it has been hell. But my little champ is so brave and so resilient.

I know that she doesn't understand what's happening and what we did or why we did it, at this point. But my prayer is she realizes it when she's older. She realizes that we wanted her to have the best future she can possibly have, the same opportunities, the same life.

When I look at her implant, I think to myself gosh, it looked huge on her tiny head. But this gives her options and gives her an advantage and ability to hear, understand and speak.

The next stop on this long journey is Nia's switch on.

For Nia's #calears journey, click here. And for continuous donations for Nia's therapy and other medical expenses, you may refer to her story here. Thank you so much.

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