Both my boys are now teenagers but when they were born, I ended up having a caesarean for both of them. I remember I had to take my glasses and hearing aids out for the operation but when they pulled the baby out, they gave me a hearing aid so I could hear them cry.
I'm so glad that my husband is such a hands on father with the children. I remember in the early days when the boys would cry at night, I'd be sleeping soundly after taking my hearing aids out (nothing wakes me up!) and it was Johnny who woke up every time the boys started crying - sometimes he would nudge me to get out of bed and sometimes he didn't! It worked quite well as I always went to bed early and he goes to bed really late so we had the night and morning shifts covered! Luckily the boys have pretty much slept through the night since they were 2 months old. I was able to use a baby monitor when the boys had their daytime naps but I still kept popping to their bedroom just in case I'd missed hearing something or that the sound was off for some reason! A webcam would have been much better to use as I could have actually seen the boys on the screen to put my mind at rest.
I tried quite a few mother and baby classes but inevitably with those, the background noise was awful I really struggled with it. It's difficult when you go into a class with no previous information, like who runs the class, what their names are etc. Also, the acoustics are awful if it's in a large hall - really difficult to hear as it can be quite 'echoey'. Also, I found a couple of the groups quite cliquey and didn't feel comfortable. So I never found a group that I stayed with.
When the boys were toddlers, was I thankful for volume control!! Sometimes I was amazed by the loud sounds that came out of them, so volume control was very handy in those instances. Sometimes, I was even known to switch my hearing aids off completely! (Definitely helps with stress levels!) 😲
Because of my deafness and the doctors have no idea if its hereditary, the boys had hearing tests every year till the age of five. They have no hearing issues though sometimes I'd beg to differ if I need their help with housework...
There were a few times that I felt quite isolated with my husband at work and two boys 17 months apart to look after. I had anxiety and used to go on long walks with them in the double buggy and visit my grandmother who lived round the corner for a chat and go to the park to boost my mood. I think from not being able to join in with other mums at baby groups made my self esteem go down and I found it a struggle to join anything. My local church were very supportive though.
I was glad when the boys started school, you hear about parents who didn't want to let their child go and are crying on the playground and I was very happy to hand them over! It was good to get some sanity again and the boys loved their school. One thing I have passed on to my children is my love of reading, both boys love reading books and I think that's such an important skill to have. I particularly enjoy reading books with my hearing aids turned off, the sweet sound of silence!! Getting stuck into a world of magic and imagination with no noise to interrupt me - bliss 🙂
Now the boys are at secondary school and its strange to think they they can go into town and meet up with friends and do their own thing without needing me as much. The boys are very helpful letting me know if there's a knock on the door or if my phone is ringing and I haven't noticed! The boys know that I need to look at their faces when they talk and yet they still shout down the stairs and I don't reply and then they shout down again and I say 'what?' by which time they've had enough and come down in person to speak to me!! Still haven't learned!