We've been waiting for this day for quite awhile...

E has needed new hearing aids for about a year but we haven't had the "extra" money to get them and our insurance doesn't cover them. But in December he busted one of them into a million pieces and the need became even greater. He has been using an Oticon and a really old Phonak since then. Lucky for all of us he uses a personal FM and Soundfield in the classroom. So his performance hasn't lagged! But we sure have noticed the difference at home or in noisy situations.

Our TOD, who is WONDERFUL, gave me a suggestion on a new audi that is actually local to us. I have been looking to change for awhile, just haven't found anyone I felt could challenge E in the booth during testing. So about 3 weeks ago we met with Jennifer, at our local hospital, and she was awesome! She is familiar with fitting kiddos and challenging booth testing. Evan seemed to hit if off with her also! That is an added bonus.. We talked prices for hearing aids, earmolds and testing and while it is all outrageously expensive, it was within reason. So I set up another appointment to get some unaided testing done and order new aids.

That day was today! Bright and early! When I set up the appointment I forgot the boys would be on Spring Break. So at 7:00 am this morning I was trying to get E out of bed.. He begrudgely did and off we went to the audi's office. I was definitely more excited than he was!

The testing went very well and she got the same results we have been getting for years. I will say this, we are blessed that his hearing loss hasn't changed since he was diagnosed when he was 3 months old. It does make it easier to aid! E was yawning through some of it so she was patient with him and after about 30 minutes, he was done. He got fitted for new earmolds, which he of course doesn't like doing. But he decided on royal blue and red swirls for WEBO colors.

He originally said he wanted the Safari aids but I asked him if he would like to have those when he was in 6th grade.. I quickly got a NO!! So I said let's pick some that you can have when your a little older because these need to last longer than the last pair. So he decided on these:

The best part is the audi said the new aids should be in within a couple days and that will give us some time to use them before he goes back to school next week.. It's funny how your life changes when you enter the hearing loss world and that a cool set of hearing aids can make a momma so happy and a little boy excited to hear!!!