American Woman: Book 3

Chapter 67

Rounds two and three happened later that night and even though we didn't venture too much out of missionary position, Prince didn't have to be quite as gentle as the first time. We almost skipped church the next morning bc we were both exhausted and I was a little sore, but we knew we needed to go, especially with the audiology appointment being the following day. We needed all the extra prayers we could get. Several members of the church did know about Devon's hearing situation and I know they were faithfully praying for her and us. I tried Devon in the nursery for the first time this Sunday and she did awesome.
We had a leisurely day at home and Prince tried to get me to have sex each time Devon fell asleep, but I told him I needed some recovery time, but would make up for it that night by trying a different position. I made good on my word and rode him within an inch of his life before bed. Of course, I made sure we were both doused in lube and even reapplied during just to make sure nothing started hurting. I got it so wet while riding him, I was easily bouncing up and down on his slippery dick. It felt so good and I got so lost in the moment that when he screamed that he was cumming and tried to lift me off of him, I squeezed tight with my thighs to his sides. Once we came down from our highs, I started worrying. "Shit! Why did I do that?!" I exclaimed.
"I don't know baby. I tried to pull you off."
"I know. It's not your fault. It was mine. I'm sorry." I said while laying down beside him.
"You don't have to apologize to me. But I know you shouldn't be getting pregnant too soon. I highly doubt you will but we can't play with fire too much. If Devon does have some sort of hearing impairment, we really need to put all our energy into her. I would love another baby and fairly soon, but she deserves all our attention for awhile."
"I agree. I guess I'm the one who needs the self control. I really thought it would have been you." I teased.
"Guess you are more of a sex fiend than me. You naughty little girl." He says, slapping my bare butt.

The next day, we had to get up fairly early for the appointment. Even though I knew they would probably just strip her down to her diaper, I dressed Devon up in a cute pink dress and headband. Besides at church, she lives in onesies and pajamas. I had bought, or had made, so many cute outfits that I now realize most wont even be worn more than once if at all. Note to self for next child. All they will do is spit up on or get pee or poop on most of their clothes so don't bother buying a bunch of fancy things. Plus anything too complicated to put on is a drawback too. But I enjoyed days like today when I could dress her up a little bit.

I bring her out of the nursery to get into the car. "She is so adorable. Oh my gosh!!!" Prince exclaims. "Her eyes are getting bluer every day I swear."
"We definitely made a cutie! Ok let's go. I don't want to be late. I've got the notebook with all our observations written down. Do we need anything else?" I ask.
"Just the diaper bag I guess." Prince answers, taking her from me and heading downstairs. 
We arrive at the audiologist office and since we didn't have a private appointment, we had to sit in the waiting room. I could feel the other adults in the room staring at Prince and I knew he could too, but he stayed busy playing with and talking to Devon and thankfully nobody approached him. Luckily they called us back within a few minutes and showed us to a room. Not too long later, a tall, middle aged man arrives in the room and introduces himself as Dr. Robbins. "Ok I'm just going to get this out of the way. I'm a huge fan. Like borderline obsessed."
"Oh yeah?" Prince asks.
"Yep. I mean who wouldn't be a fan of this beauty." He says, turning towards Devon. Prince and I both laugh at his smooth ice breaker. "So what seems to be the problem Miss Devon? That's a pretty name by the way. Did you pick it out yourself?" He asks, leaning in like she was whispering in his ear. "Oh mom and dad did. That's how it usually goes. So what's going on with these little ears? Have you forgotten to turn them on?" He asks snapping beside her left ear and then her right. She had no reaction to it but he keeps talking. "So mom and dad what have you noticed the last few weeks. Anything stuck out?" He says, looking inside her ears with an otoscope.
"Well she doesn't seem to have a reaction to even super loud noises. I smashed drums and cymbals and played an electric guitar within feet of her and she didn't budge or cry. The smoke detectors went off the other day and she was near them and slept through it. She did cry once when Jensen spoke into the baby monitor and it was up really loud but I was holding her and I think I startled her when I jumped." Prince explained.
"Ok." He said leaning back in his rolling stool. "That's pretty major. I looked at her records and I can pretty much rule out non-genetic reasons. Those would be illnesses or trauma before or during birth or the baby being premature. The only thing I found was that forceps were used and it is highly unlikely that did any damage. Back in the old days sometimes poorly trained doctors would accidentally crush the baby's skull, therefore causing hearing loss but that didn't happen in this case. Also I see she had jaundice and if left untreated and it gets really bad it can also cause hearing loss but for one Devon's jaundice was treated quickly and for two she had already failed one hearing screening at birth. There just isn't any link I'm seeing to something non-genetic being the cause. So the other two causes fall under genetic and unknown. Half of the cases fall under genetic. It is way more common than people think. So I need to know some of your family medical history." He takes the next twenty minutes grilling us about parents, siblings, grandparents, aunt, uncles and cousins and was jotting down something that looked like a family tree. Prince also gave him a brief rundown on Ahmir.
"Ok here is where it can get super complicated guys. If a child is born with hearing loss it is called congenital but if the hearing loss occurs after birth it is called acquired. I've already established I am confident Devon's hearing loss is congenital. From there we look at if it is progressive or non-progressive, which means does it get worse over time or stay the same. My first instinct is that hers will be non-progressive but I will be doing some tests to verify that. Next we try to determine if it is syndromic or non-syndromic which basically means is it just hearing loss or is it some sort of syndrome that will involve other problems. We will need to determine that as soon as possible. Almost half of newborns born with hearing loss who do not syndrome have a mutation in the GJ2B gene. Most of time this occurs from a recessive gene passed down from both parents. So, it will be very important to set up some genetic testing soon to determine if this is the cause. If it is, we can proceed from there. If it is not, we will need to look into the various syndromes that have hearing loss, along with other problems. Ok the fourth thing we look at is if it is familial or sporadic. If more than one person in a family has hearing loss than it's familial, if it's only one person than it's sporadic. From the information I've gathered, hers seems sporadic. The last thing is where in the ear is the hearing loss located. If it's in the middle or outer ear, it's called conductive. If it's in the inner ear it's sensorineural. It can be in both areas also. So that's what I need to try to determine today. Where the hearing loss is occurring in her ear or ears. So let's get started."
My head was spinning from the overload of information, but Prince didn't seem as phased. I think he had done so much reading on the internet the last few weeks, that he already knew most of this. For the next two hours they did a battery of tests on Devon...ABR, ASSR, OAE, CAEP, MEMR, and tympanometry tests. Sweet little Devon slept through it all and didn't have to be sedated. After it was over, Dr. Robbins gave me some privacy to nurse her while he looked over the results. About a half hour later, he comes in to deliver the news. "Ok so the problem is in her inner ear. This kind of hearing loss is permanent, so like I mentioned before it's non-progressive basically meaning it's as bad as it's going to get now and won't get worse. We divide this hearing loss into four degrees. The first is mild which means a person cannot hear certain sounds. Then there is moderate which means they can't hear many sounds. Third is severe which means they cannot hear most sounds. And last is profound which means they cannot hear any sounds. We believe Devon's is profound. It's harder to tell when they are so young but it is defiantly severe or profound. We will be able to tell with more certainty as she gets older, but we are going to treat it as profound for the time being. It is also in both ears, severe to profound in both. So the first step we always try is hearing aids. Many times for children and adults with severe to profound hearing loss, the hearing aid doesn't help. So that is when a cochlear implant would be advised, but those aren't normally performed on children under 12 months of age. Obviously the sooner interventions happen, the more likely it is Devon will be able to communicate. My advice would be to get her hearing aids immediately and to use sign language as much as possible. We will also need to get you appointments with a clinical geneticist and a speech-language pathologist."
I was in such a state of shock and was so overwhelmed that I just sat there. Thankfully Prince spoke up for us. "Ok so how soon can she get the hearing aids? Today?"
"Absolutely! There are two main types, behind the ear and in the ear. For infants, we recommend behind the ear. Let's get her fitted for one. I will give you names and numbers for a geneticist and pathologist before you leave today."
By early evening, Devon had hearing aids attached to both of her ears and Dr. Robbins did a thorough job of explaining how they work and how to put them on her. As Prince and I left the doctor's office, it was beginning to get dark. As we made our way to the car, all of a sudden a huge flash almost blinds me. Thankfully I wasn't holding Devon in the carrier or I think I would have dropped it. "What was that?!" I exclaimed as I turned to see the rage plastered on Prince's face.
"Fucking paparazzi!" He whispered angrily. "Keep your head down and don't say a word." He instructed me. I did as he said and quickly got to the car and jumped in. Prince snapped the carrier in and walked around to the driver's side. By now there were several photographers around our vehicle, snapping pictures and asking all sort of questions.
"Prince is this your baby?!" I had to giggle at that one. No, it's just some random baby we are lugging around!
"Is it a girl?!" Again I had to put my head down to keep them from seeing my laugh. No, I wanted to dress my son in a pink dress and headband today. You know, be androgynous like Prince used to be.
"What's her name?"
"When was she born?"
"How old is she?"
"How do you like being a father?"
"Are you helping change diapers?"
Prince doesn't utter a word, just gives a small wave and signals them to move out of the way. Then as we were backing up, one aggressive photographer who had been hanging around the back window by Devon yells out. "Is she deaf? Look guys she has hearing aids! Oh man wouldn't that be ironic?!" He chuckles.
Prince throws the car in park, slamming my body forward abruptly. He unbuckled and throws open the car door, standing up and looking over the top of the car at the man who had yelled the stuff about Devon. "I've never addressed one of you son of a bitches in my life. You can say what you want about me. I could care less! But how fucking dare you say those things, in that way, about a child?! Have you no morals or conscious?! But go on. I know you will be selling your pictures and story to anyone you can. A world famous musician with a deaf child is just too enticing of a headline to pass up, whether it's true or not. I'm not going to try to stop you or waste anymore time talking to you. I pray that one day you will be fulfilled enough in our own life that running around trying to get into other people's business doesn't thrill you anymore or when something private or major happens to you, that you will understand nobody wants cameras in their face or in the faces of people they love. God bless you." And with that he steps back in the car and we drive home.