Well, Daniel had another visit to the audiologist on Friday aaaand another failed hearing test. Okay, that’s not exactly right. The first thing they do is to test that the eardrum is responding, and if it isn’t, there is likely fluid in the ear. His right ear has been fine every time, but his left ear has shown a flat line each time, meaning there is probably fluid in that ear. And we’ve done this test like 5 times now. In addition to the 3 hearing tests before we left the hospital. So, not a fluke.

Anyway, that means tubes. I’m not exactly surprised. Kids with Down syndrome have small, low-set ear canals, so hearing problems and ear infections are common, and tubes are often necessary. I’m not excited about having my 5 month old go under anesthesia, but hearing loss leads to speech delay, and since he’ll likely be delayed already we don’t want anything to interfere with his development unnecessarily. He’s scheduled for surgery on Monday the 20th. (Also, if they put him under and get a good look and there *isn’t* fluid, they’ll just run an ABR and skip the tubes.)

So that’s the latest. I’ll update again when it’s over.