Hearing while Swimming

For my birthday earlier this year, my husband gifted me with something very unique...

A Nucleus Aqua+ kit!

What is that you may ask? Just look at this photo:

I spy with my little eye a Mama who can hear!

What's so special about this photo? Aside from my really cute little 1 year old, who was attending her first ever swim lessons? (We live on an Island, so naturally the need to learn how to swim is important) I can hear for the very FIRST time in water. In water. 

Mia, the Wildlife Photographer - Doll Review

A month ago, a friend and fellow blogger alerted me to the Irish-based company Lottie Doll's Mia, the Wildlife Photographer doll.

My first impression upon learning about Mia? This is a doll I wish I had when I was growing up.  

From a Parent's Perspective
As a hard of hearing mommy who wears a Cochlear Implant, this doll had a unique feature to it - Mia, aside from being fashion forward has a Cochlear Implant (!!!!!!!!! cue my jaw dropping!!!!!). 
 

My head shot of Mia. Isn't she gorgeous!?

When the doll arrived, I was in awe with the detail. It's smaller than a typical life-sized doll (18 cm tall), perfect for my 1 year old's nimble hand - though intended for ages 3 and up. My 4 year old loved how she could pack it easily in her backpack to take for show and tell at preschool. Her exposure alone to several preschoolers who likely don't know what a cochlear implant is powerful already.

My daughters love playing with Mia's hair and showing off her Cochlear Implant

Goodbye HOH, Hello Deaf Sleep

As part of my work, I have recently become very fascinated with how Hard of Hearing (HOHs) people sleep. When we go to sleep, we essentially become deaf - meaning we are completely oblivious to all sounds (in my case I am).

Specifically, the differences between how HOH kids sleep versus HOH adults. This brief article will be based on my personal experiences as I haven't heard all the stories out there about HOH sleeping patterns. I'll start with the kid version of myself.

This isn't me, but I like to think I was that cute once. (Photo credit: Pixabay.com)

Kid Monique (let's assume ages 4 to 18)

• Night light: I used one until I was well into my teens! Am I embarrassed by this fact? Maybe only slightly. My blinds were your basic shutter blinds - no black out curtains involved!
• It was essential as I am a visual person and not being able to see my surroundings as a hard of hearing person left me feeling nervous.
• Heavy blankets: I liked them from the get go. Even though it's not recommended for young kids, I enjoyed them because it meant I could wrap myself in a cocoon - and then eventually kick off the sheets as the night went on.
• Having mom and dad stay in the room with me until I fell asleep (ok - this only went on until I entered intermediate school, thankfully!)
• Mom always helped me put away my hearing aids - knowing that they were tucked safely away gave me a sense of security. To this day, I have never ever worn my hearing assistive devices to sleep. It's just way too disruptive!
• Mom was my alarm clock.

Some really cool tips are presented here for parents with kids with a hearing loss on how to achieve much needed sleep (and actual adult time in the evenings): Tips for establishing a bedtime routine for deaf children.

Happy 15 years!

Today marks the 15th anniversary of my partnership with a certain piece of technology - my cochlear implant! I am very thankful to have this wonderful partnership as it has been of huge benefit to me, despite a rocky start with it.

With Cindy Gustin, my audiologist on my switch on day. (Can you tell I looked like an impressed 17 year old?)

I was activated 15 years ago for the first time. After taking a month to heal. My 17 year old self was smart enough at the time to keep a journal of my initial journey. On this day in 2002, I wrote:

An Advantage or a Disadvantage?

Is it an advantage or a disadvantage for the hard of hearing person if they don't hear a fart?

Case in point: my husband recently told me that he often farts in front of me - especially at night when I don't have my hearing assistive devices on. The only time when I do know if he farts without my hearing assistive devices on is when there's a huge stink involved.

Other case in point: We were watching TV and out came this big boom. Me = "what on earth was that!?!'" Husband = *snickering* "I farted" Me = *face of disgust and groan*

So what do you think? Advantage or disadvantage?

I vote advantage. Ignorance can be bliss.

Ava Scribe

If you're deaf or hard of hearing, you'll know that reliable transcription (voice to text) services are valued, and often comes at a hefty cost! This article is about a new transcription app that a new audiologist friend of mine introduced to me not long ago. It's called Ava Scribe (I'll call it Ava for short)! You can find it on your iPhone or Android devices. I have a Samsung, so that gives you a bit of perspective where my technology use is at.

The logo for Ava Scribe

At first, when I heard about Ava I was intrigued. First off, it's free (yay! But there is a slight catch... more on that later), and had the ability to transcribe conversations in real time. Wow. For the deaf or hard of hearing consumer, this could be life changing. 

Journey to Alaska

Oops. There goes my #mombrain.

I just realized I forgot to write about our adventures to Alaska! A week after we returned home from our month long road trip, we found a smoking hot deal to go on an Alaskan cruise on Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam! A bucket list trip for my husband, who has always wanted to do that cruise.

In front of our ship in rainy Juneau

Fresh from unpacking, it was a strange feeling to be packing again - except this time we had to bring warmer clothes (sweaters, toques, extra pants!) and evening clothes for the dining room. I'll be honest...we actually brought slightly more on our 1 week cruise to Alaska than we did for 4 weeks in California! Weather makes a huge difference. Though note to self: glad I brought more underwear this time.

The four of us hunkered down in a single cabin, mom and dad in a queen size bed, toddler in a pull out bed and babe in a pack&play. There wasn't much room to spare. Originally our stateroom was set up in a much more space efficient configuration (pack&play was placed next to our bed), giving us ample space to move around. The biggest problem for us was that there was no outlet nearby. Most cabins only have one or two outlet spots for hairdryer and cell phone use. This is usually located in a very obscure spot, far away from the bed. 

What's the importance of having an outlet nearby anyhow, you may ask? 

The Biracial Cochlear Implant

My Cochlear Implant is Biracial!

When you're out and your rechargeable battery dies... 

And then your SPARE battery dies...

My last resort was my husband's SPARE battery!

All I can say is: thank goodness I have a hard of hearing husband.

Enjoy this hot weather everyone!

A HOH Wedding

Wedding season is on! And a few of my fellow Hard of Hearing (HOH) friends are getting hitched. 

They've also been asking me what kind of accessible services I had at our wedding, in 2011. This is a great question, as it could mean missing out on important things - in particular the wedding vows! Now who would want to mess up on that anyway?

Communication Access Realtime Translation, or CART for short, is our preferred method of verbal translation. CART can produce over 200 words per minute, and is to date, the fastest translation system we Canadians can access. In essence, the Captionist operating a stenograph machine translates what's being said in verbatim - similar to what you would find in court reporting.

Hear By the Sea

Five days ago we wrapped up CHHA's 35th Anniversary in Sidney, BC, a mere 15 minute drive away from our home. With approximately 130 participants, it was a great opportunity to network, meet new (and old!) friends, and listen to a presentation with minimal difficulty. Captioning and hearing loops were provided for all sessions!

I did not see whales... but thankfully we see them for free on our many ferry rides!

Many of you know that I also met my husband at the very first Canadian Hard of Hearing Association's (CHHA) National Conference that I attended in 2008. That conference was also in partnership with the International Federation of Hard of Hearing People's Congress. In a way, CHHA has become a part of our lives.

Our Minimalist Road Trip 2017

We are back!

Actually, we got back 10 days ago - I needed a few days to recover, organize my meals, sort the mail, and do all the responsible 'adulting' things.This will be a long post as we did a LOT. 44 American License Plates found, and plenty of punch buggy fists were thrown between myself and Curtis.

In case you didn't read the last couple of posts, I left you in San Diego, where we enjoyed the San Diego Zoo, Coronado Beach, and Legoland. A brief overview of each attraction is described.

San Diego Zoo: Our airbnb was a short 5 minutes' drive from the zoo. Incredibly convenient as we were there from opening to about 3:30pm. Long day for two little girls! We pretty much covered the entire zoo on foot, only taking a break for lunch and nursing/snack breaks. I'll never forget hearing my 3 year old tell us "come ON! We need to go and see the other animals!". Her favorite animal was the jaguar; I'll never forget the look on her face when she told me that the jaguar had "scary eyes".

Love this :)

Coronado Beach: A must see! We went on a prime weather day. I packed lunch for all of us and we ate a splendid feast right by the water. We weren't the only ones there - lots of people to 'people' watch, and yes, I even did my 'Baywatch' run with Rachel (unfortunately I'm not as hot as the actors are). Rachel loved rolling around in the sand, and Sarah just enjoyed waving to random people.

1 Week!

We're officially one week in of nearly 4.5 weeks of travel! Technically today is day 9.

The long haul driving is over. Thanks heavens. No meltdowns going south, fortunately. We did do a couple of quick stops along the way - such as doing a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory, walking along the wharf in beautiful Monterey and visiting Solvang, a little city that doesn't know if it's Dutch or Danish.

Some fun lessons we learned along the way:

-book a hotel/motel/campsite/whatever you like when you know you'll be driving on the days when the kids are happy. It's kind of exciting to wake up in the morning and go as fast as the wind takes you. Ideally we prefer mini suites, but managed fine in a single room. It just means I actually get to go to bed when the girls go to sleep!

-Squeegee packs. I can't rave more about them. Should have brought my reusable squeegee packs from home to save some $$$. 

Baby girl trying to get Daddy's Hearing Aid (and yes, we got Jelly Bellies to go!)

Travelling with Les(s)

Another Les(s) pun to use!

We are on the road! For a whole month! One Madza CX-5 and the four of us, two adults, a 3 year old and a 9 month old.

So far, it's going pretty well... knock on wood.

We also opted not to take our cargo box, to avoid potential underground parking lot issues.  This meant that we'd have to fit everything in our trunk space. Success, given that we're newfound minimalists. Instead of bringing our double chariot stroller, it's just the single Bob. Since our 3 year old can walk pretty much everywhere. Though, should toddler get tired, we have a Deuter Kangapack (used!) for baby to ride in - that way everyone gets a ride (and a good workout).Bonus, it doubles up as our diaper bag.

This is serious business! ;)

So this is what I've purged...

• Cleaning up an inbox that had 5300+ emails.
• Finally downloading 1000+ photos to my PC from my phone (so I guess that means I have to sort through nearly 10 years worth of photos)
• Getting rid of 85% of all my cookbooks! Nowadays, I find most online.

Those are all the cookbooks I have left! (Whittled down from 47)

Comedy Routines

There are many wonderful moments when raising my two daughters. Far too many to count. I'm incredibly grateful.

Even with that, I do get a few disappointing moments.

I recently had to ask my mom what my daughter said, all because I couldn't see her lips. Because of her really, really loud voice, it's sometimes hard for me to pick out what she says. My hearing isn't good enough for me to make out what she says without having her facing me.

That sucks.

I know my 3 year old is a lovely character, and I try not to miss out anything. But there are occasional moments when I do miss the cute things she says. Like the time when she was pretending to be the Wicked Witch, turning the princess into a frog when my aunt and uncle were here at the end of February.

While anyone else would be understanding of that situation, as a mommy, it feels a little bit of a sad point. I know I'll miss some (but not all) things. 

It could be a lot worse, I agree!

Living with Les(s)

Normally, I try to steer away from trends. My hair, fashion, and what have you has not changed much in the last 10 years. 

However, this is a trend that I'm happy to take on! It's called Minimalism. It's basically Living with Les(s) - see what I did there? I can legitimately pun my name! A couple of posts ago, I mentioned I was doing a major purge (still am) of all the stuff we have in our home.

It's been an amazing experience! I feel less frazzled, and know where everything is now. My time is used more efficiently. Most of all, my eyes don't get overwhelmed by endless clutter. Each morning, I feel more 'in charge'.

Awakening my left ear after 14 years!

Last year in October, I went over to Vancouver for work/training. Someone asked me the question: why don't you wear a hearing aid in your left ear? At the time, I only had a cochlear implant on my right ear.

Good question! Let me give you a history lesson:

Back in 2002, when I received my CI the philosophy was that I should focus on using my implant, rather than using both types of technology. That was the recommendation I was given then, and I accepted it, based on scientific findings.

Fast forward to 2013, my husband got his CI. Contrary to my experience, he was actually encouraged to use his hearing aid in tandem. The idea for me to use a hearing aid at the time was suggested, but I wasn't ready. Not when I was just about to have my first child!

Now, with a second child and an already loud 3-year old, I just thought: hmmm... what's the harm?? I'll give it a try for a month, and if I don't like it, I'll return it. Simple. My husband, a few months earlier had upgraded his hearing aid from a Phonak Naida to the Resound Enzo 7. He commented that he really liked it, and even better - Resound and Cochlear Corp actually worked together to pair the two different technologies!

Meet Enzo!

Back to writing!

Time flies.

The last time I actually wrote something was in October 2016. That was five months ago. No, I haven't been lazy, in case you were wondering.

A lot has been happening. I thought it would be prudent to take a break and do some actual self-care.

A number of friends, family, and online acquaintances know that I've been working through Postpartum Anxiety. It's no fun, and yet, it's so common - though easily hidden. Fortunately, I didn't have to take medication for this as my husband has been my rock through this period of time. It's considerably better than it was two months ago, and I'm feeling so much like myself lately.

I don't have many photos of myself with my girls - need to change that!