Replacements

This afternoon I picked up Waverly & Oliver's new hearing aids.  I have actually been looking forward to their arrival for over a month.  Their old hearing aids are 3.5 years old and they have served the kids well.  However, it was time for an upgrade.  The new hearing aids are lighter and smaller.  They also have a little blinking red light to let us know that the batteries are working.  It's the little things that make life a little easier.

I was sad to pack up their old hearing aids.  We are keeping them as spare sets, just in case.  They were our first step into *Holland*, into the special needs world.  Oliver was only 7 weeks old when he was fitted with them.  We picked him out a blue pair with clear ear molds.  I remember crying for him - worried that other kids would make fun of him, that we had to work incredibly hard to give him the best communication base, that he would always been seen as different.  Waverly got a bright pink pair with clear ear molds.  I was happy that her hair would hide them, so people wouldn't see the hearing aids right away and treat her differently.  I also remember the stress of our health insurance plan not covering them and paying $8000 for them, which we couldn't have done without the help of our family.  (Thankfully, our insurance plan now covers hearing aids.  I would like to think that our letter of petition helped to change their policy.)

I thought it was the end of the world.

How times have changed.