Introduction

Assalammua'laikum and Hello!

This blog is dedicated to our firstborn son, Afif Haiqal.

Afif was born on a bright Wednesday morning (on 11th October 2012 to be exact) via Ceasarean section after a dramatic false alarm. He entered this world screaming and ready to pounce.

On his third day on Earth, he failed his newborn hearing test. We were told not to worry as it is normal for C-sect babies to fail his/her newborn hearing test as the amniotic fluid tend to still be in his/her ears and nose long after birth. The ears will be ok after a few months, they said. So we did not think much about it.

At around one month old, he failed the test again.

And again.

And again..

We came back for a few more test. ABR, sedated ABR, tympanometry..

All tests and check-ups bore the same result; our son has moderate to severe hearing loss.

As parents with normal hearing with no family history of anyone being born deaf, we were taken aback.
Puzzled.
Confused.
Sad.
Mad.

Why is this happening to our perfect baby?

Why our baby?

We were in denial.

He babbles and coo a lot. He talked back when we talk to him. He CAN NOT be deaf.

We went months trying to prove the test results wrong.

We went to seek second opinion at another hospital.

Still the same result. Afif has moderate-severe hearing loss.

And we can't prove the test results wrong either.

He would not respond to me calling him from behind. He would not flinch at the sound of thunder.

Though hard, we finally accepted that our son is hearing impaired.

Not deaf, just hard of hearing.

At 9 months, he got his hearing aids.

And thankfully (Alhamdulillah) he began to show hearing behavior.

That's why this blog exist.

This blog is dedicated to Afif Haiqal. So that one day he'll be able to re-live the journey, know the effort, the path we chose, the things that we do for him, with him.

So that he knows, he is perfect in his imperfection.

i also hope this blog will be a companion for parents of deaf or hard of hearing children. All the wikis and medical websites can give you information, but i find that reading other parents' experience more of a help. i hope this blog is good enough to be a reference for you.

Please know that you're not alone.

Our children will be okay.