Emerie’s Hearing Journey – By Kaylin Krabbe
On Feb 7, 2024, our baby girl Emerie was born. That very same day, we found out she failed her hearing test. They redid it again 2 more times, but she failed those times as well. They told us it was just fluid and not to worry about it, so we went about our day and didn't think much about it.
Four weeks later we went back again, and she passed, so we went on. As the months went by, we noticed she was not responding to sounds. When the dogs would bark, she would not react. We asked her doctor, but he kept saying it was fluid even though they never checked. This went on for a while. Finally, in January 2025 a different doctor believed our concerns and sent us to get an echo [Otoacoustic Emission (OAE)].
On Jan 27, 2025, we found out that Emerie has severe to profound hearing loss. I was happy to know what she had but sad that she never heard us say, "I love you”. February 18, 2025, was the day we got her hearing aids. It didn't go well. She went a whole year without hearing so hearing in one day, she was overwhelmed. After that I honestly thought we weren't going to have any challenges and that would solve the problem. Boy was I wrong! Her getting to wear her hearing aids and to understand and to listen has been a battle.
In April 2025, the doctors told us she would pretty much need a cochlear implant due to hearing loss and that she wasn't responding well with her hearing aids. We started asking God to open her ears to hear and listen.
On June 3rd, we had another therapy session. That was the day she heard low tones for the first time in her life (talk about a wow God moment). They kept saying she shouldn't be able to hear low tones even with her hearing aids. On June 9th we had another hearing test and for the first time she heard normal range (this is with her hearing aids on), and everyone was shocked!
Even though we are still thinking about cochlear implants (if we should go that route or not), at the moment we are happy and she is truly a blessing. We still have bad hearing days and good hearing days, a lot of laughs and some meltdowns, therapy and a lot of hard work, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. This year has been so rewarding yet so challenging. Emerie has taught us to slow down and enjoy the small things in life. God has truly blessed us with a gift we call Emerie. She is perfect the way she is.
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