BAER Hearing Test

When Braxton was in the NICU at Sanford he was put on a gas (Nitric) which was forced into his lungs to help him with his breathing. When small children are on this it has the potential to cause some hearing loss. The doctors informed us that he wasn't on this for very long so he should be okay however they would like to run the test just to be sure. If I remember right he was only on the nitric gas for a couple of days. So this past Friday was the day for the test and we are happy to know that Braxton has no hearing impairments. Since he was "moderately" sedated he was not to have anything to eat or drink up to 6 hours before the procedure (except clear liquids up to 2 hours before). We went with pedialyte so he wasn't starving or crying all the way to Sioux Falls. Everything went smooth... we got there, got checked in, met with the nurse, the anesthesiologist came to visit us, the nurse came back and gave Braxton the sedation medicine (chloral hydrate), and Braxton was off to jammy land (taking what they call an "exaggerated nap"), the gal came to do the test and 1/2 hour later he was done and awake... and STARVING. I have posted a couple pics of Braxton hooked up to the machine that was testing his hearing. The BAER hearing test puts sound into his ears and the "pads" that were stuck to his head measures the amount of brain activity based on the sound put into his ears. It's a hearing test that the child does not have to cooperate with. We were pretty sure that Braxton had no hearing problems but felt that it would be nice to know now if there were any slight impairments. He was pretty sleepy the rest of the day which was really nice... so we could finish up our Christmas shopping. Once again another awesome experience with the doctors, nurses, and staff at Sanford.