There is an understandable rollercoaster of emotions in Leah Small’s voice when she describes the first year of her baby boy’s life. But you can hear pure joy when she recalls the moment nine-month-old Louis heard her voice for the very first time.
“The moment I said ‘hi’ to him, and he knew my voice, he started to cry,” Leah says.
In those first few minutes of Louis’ cochlear implants being switched on, Leah and her husband John could see how their little boy’s world would change. Louis was born prematurely at 28 weeks and has faced several challenges on the road to recovery – which include being diagnosed with ataxic cerebral palsy at two years old.
In the early weeks, John and Leah spent their time by their son’s side at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Wellington and later in Palmerston North. Leah says it’s believed that Louis’ severe case of jaundice led to auditory processing disorder as a premature baby. Three months after Louis was born he had his newborn hearing test, which showed that he had little hearing in both ears. Leah says that Louis could only hear muffled sounds, and when he was four months old specialists put them in touch with the Southern Cochlear Implant Programme (SCIP).
“Going ahead with the implants was such a big decision for us. On one hand we wanted him to have the implants so his life would be as normal as it could be, and on the other hand we had had a baby who was quite sick for the first few months of his life, so the thought of an operation was overwhelming and scary,” Leah says.
Louis Small
Leah and John knew that the implants would be life-changing for Louis, so they went ahead with the surgery in Christchurch when he was nine months old (six months corrected). Fast forward just over two years, and Louis is now an adventurous, intuitive and talkative three-year-old.
“Louis’ world changed right in front of us from the moment the implants were switched on,” Leah says.
The family, who live on their sheep and beef farm at Dannevirke and have since welcomed a baby sister – Cecilia – are enjoying watching Louis grow up and reach all his milestones. “He is talking heaps and he has nearly caught up with his age group and I swear he can actually hear better than us,” Leah says.
The monitoring of his cochlear implants is ongoing, with regular re-programming to fit Louis’ environment on the farm, with sounds such as tractors in his everyday life. “The whole process, from our initial meeting to surgery, was very smooth and fast,” Leah says.
“It’s been an emotional three years and every time it gets to his birthday I get emotional about it, but it helps that he’s such a happy little guy who has taken it all in his stride.” Leah says she is beyond grateful that this technology is available and knows it will bring so many opportunities and benefits to Louis’ life. “It’s an amazing feeling when we see Louis’ face light up to sounds as he sings along to songs or interacts with his peers. I cannot wait to see how his auditory journey develops even further in the coming years.”
Leah and John Small, with Louis and baby Cecilia