Last day of maternity leave

Today is the end of my maternity leave. It is going to be so hard to leave Nicholas on Monday but he will be in good hands with Daddy. It is going to be hard on Mark and me because I will be working during the day and he will be working nights. We will only see each other 2 days a week besides the 5 minutes between the time I get home and he leaves for work. Nicholas can't go to daycare so this is really the only option we have right now.

We have accepted the fact that he is deaf. It is really a bummer but what can we do. We are grateful that he is even alive and made it through so many road blocks so far. There are so many other families that have lost babies to prematurity that I don't want to feel sorry for us when we witness a miracle every day. Several people have already told us that Cochlear Implants are wonderful and you wouldn't even know the child is deaf by listening to them communicate. I called the special needs coordinator at the pediatrician's office and she said that the doctor in Columbia is great but he doesn't accept Medicaid. Nicholas will definitely be able to keep medicaid with this new disability so that is one plus should we ever lose insurance. If our insurance doesn't cover the implant we would have to pay out of pocket in Columbia. So we are going to go to Charleston and have it done at MUSC- Medical University of South Carolina. The doctor there is also known as being the best in the country for what he does. She also said that insurance companies and Medicaid require that they try hearing aids first. The hearing center told us that yesterday too but they also said they don't think they will help because if he can't hear, amplifying the sound won't help. But, during the hearing aid trial he will get closer to a year old and should be able to get the implant ASAP. So as soon as I get the referral letter from the hearing center I will make an appointment at MUSC.