After struggling to conceive a child and having many procedures and test for IVF, we were overwhelmed to find out we were finally pregnant on March 21st 2013, although our pregnancy was not easy and didn’t always go to plan we were overjoyed when on December 4th 2013 we safely delivered a healthy baby boy Mason Alexander. 

Following Mason’s delivery we received the newborn hearing screening whilst in the maternity home, the lady was polite and checked Masons hearing and then came the words that I couldn’t seem to take in, she told us that Mason had not responded to the hearing test and it was likely that he was deaf, what? She must be wrong? How can she say that about my baby? Baby’s are not born deaf? How ridiculous? So many questions left unanswered, she politely apologised and said she would repeat the test tomorrow. You see I had never even realised that babies can be born deaf, naively I though it was something they had checked when  a child was 2, however new government initiative showed that the earlier the results the earlier prevention could be given to help children develop in areas of their learning specifically within their speech and language skills. 

The test didn’t stop here as feared the test the following day confirmed their suspicions, we were aloud home after a few days, they gave us leaflets and said an appointment for more test would arrive in the post. When Mason was just 2 weeks old he endured his first 90 minute hearing test, they had wires all over my baby and once again the confirmed mason had a mild to moderate hearing loss within the high frequency region. The next few days are a blear, I still could not comprehend what the hospital had said, I cried all the way home, I didn’t understand what was happening, or what mason could hear, would he be able to speak, say I love you? There were a lot of questions from family and friends which even now I still struggle to answer. Christmas came and went we began to realise that we were lucky, even though Mason was deaf he was still here and he was still healthy. 

Mason had to go back to the hospital on January 6th 2014 to have an impression of his ears made for his hearing aids, he was fitted with them on January 31st 2014. His life began to change he started to focus and look around the room and would look at you when you spoke to him instead of looking around. As a family we received support from the hospital and mason was designated a teacher of the deaf whom to this day still supports us and Mason and tries her best to answer the questions. Some days I feel alone and I don’t know which was is best to support Mason to encourage his development and ensure that he is wearing his hearing aids, this is why charities like NDCS are so important they provide support for families and children with a hearing loss. 

I am doing this walk as part of my Foundation Degree in early childhood studies, when I heard about our assignment  I instantly knew that I wanted to raise awareness and as much money as I could for this amazing charity who support families like us and others within the UK. Masons future is looking very bright hes amazing, cheeky and so clever and with the support of NDCS other children with a hearing loss can to receive support. So please donate and share and partake in the walk if you can. Further details of the walk will be uploaded as soon as times and places are confirmed, after the walk I am hoping to put together a local support group within Grimsby and Cleethorpes for children with a hearing loss, if you are a family who would like to take part then please do not hesitate to contact me on my email: teggleston@sky.com thanks for reading.

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