New Baby Bodie Graeme

We are excited to introduce our son Bodie Graeme. He's a perfect little sweet pickle (as Lily calls him) and we couldn't be more thrilled. The details...

What about the Name?

Bodie is a name we love. It's happy, sounds good with Lily and doesn't come with a lot of stereotypes or rhyming words. It's also not in the Top 10 most popular names. Of course when we picked LIly, the name was not very popular and now it's likely in the Top 20. We were going to call him Bodin, with Bodie for short, but why not just go with the nickname. Bodin can be used for the serious situations.

Graeme (sounds like Graham) is a nod to Graeme Clark, one of the first inventors of the multi-channel cochlear implant, and Alexander Graham Bell. Two people who changed the course of history for our family.

In my reading about Professor Graeme Clark of Australia, they said he was called Crazy Clark, because his goal since the 60s was to help deaf people hear. His colleagues doubted him and thought the goal was unreachable. This story is a good daily reminder to me to believe and reach for the impossible. Never be detered if that is your goal and always say YES, even though it's much easier to say NO.

I hope this name will give that determination to Bodie. I know Lily's already got it. Yesterday she was determined to go outside in 50 MPH winds and snow and fly her kite. I said NO, it won't work. She did it anyway, and wouldn't you know...the kite flew...twice.

Birth Story

The Birth Story is quite uneventful, in a positive way, compared to Lily's birth. With a scheduled C-Section it was peaceful, planned, no drama, no NICU, and no tears. Well, maybe a few tears of joy. Everything was calm and quick. Loved it.

When Lily first met her new brother, she came in, climbed up on a chair to see him in the bassinet and introduced herself. "Hi Bodie, I'm your big sister Lily." So sweet.

Having another child

For years we never thought of having another child, because we didn't want to take our focus off helping LIly succeed. At some point, as Lily's abilities have skyrocketed, we felt that adding another child to our family would only enrich our experience and Lily's life. Hearing or not, we were prepared to take the hearing journey again, if need be, and we would meet every need of this child as we have for Lily.

Nebraska's Newborn Hearing Screen

In Nebraska, the Newborn Hearing Screen is a state mandate (with no enforcement). Today, approximately 99% of all babies born in Nebraska are given the hearing screen, with about 50 babies annually having some sort of hearing loss.

About 50% of the hospitals, including ours, are using ABRs for their initial screens. ABRs have a much lower refer rate (4%-5%) than a tradition OAE (8%-9%). A refer rate means "failing" the test. Failing could be for other reasons, besides hearing loss, like fluid in the ears. A reduced referal rate means a lot fewer parents have to go through the emotional journey of understanding if their baby can hear, reduced cost and reduced use of limited resources. Bodie passed.

Is there a difference?

With a newborn baby, it's extremely difficult to tell if the baby is hearing. Especially for first time parents, if you are not watching for a reaction to sound, you just might miss it. We see Bodie and LIly with very similar baby behavior, but you can see that Bodie quiets to the Shhhhh sound and reacts to many noises.

I have noticed that we've gotten used to making lots of noise while Lily sleeps. Unfortunately or fortunately, gone are the days when we could turn up the TV or music, bang around, cough or vacuum. Restful sleep is a definite advantage for LIly, espcially when Bodie is wide awake in the middle of the night.

Language

I am very interested to watch Bodie's language develop. We've been trained by some of the best language pros in the country, and talking everyday all day and creating good listening environments is what we do.

A few Lily quotes

"It's great to be a big sister. " And this morning, "It's hard to be a big sister. I don't get any attention."