A Baby is a Baby Right
...ver the healthy baby gets their hearing test done, it is a simple test and not needed again unless anything unusual would occur. They have a ten minute check up with the eye doctor before being discharged from the hospital and then are sent on their merry way. The parents of this healthy baby think it is tuff when she/he gets up every four to six hours for a bottle of formula or to be breast fed. Whenever the healthy baby wants something, she or he will cry and let it be known. Around two months the precious infant will start making vowel sounds and around six months will begin to imitate speech sounds. These parents can leave their baby on the floor to crawl or play with toys without worry while the parents do dishes in the next room. They can use a baby monitor in the nursery and can sleep in their own room. These babies usually do not see hospitals, frequent shots, breathing treatments or any medical equipment unless grandpa or grandma falls and needs treatment during recovering. The parent of a healthy infant probably would not know what heart rate their baby should have or even thought about how much oxygenation is in their child's blood, circulating throughout their body. Life of a healthy baby is simple, and has the occasional crisis like choking on a piece of a hot dog, in comparison, the life of a special needs baby is more complex and daily tasks can quickly become daily chores. Before delivery many woman know that they are having a special needs baby. Until delivery many problems are only suspicious because of signs or pictures from ultrasounds. Knowing these suspicions makes the delivery of a special needs baby fast pace, very emotional, and most of all stressful for everyone. If the baby is stable the parents may get a quick picture and maybe a hug, then the new joy is rushed off to the NICU. There the baby is introduced to a room full of other critical babies and tons of nurses and doctors. They will experience x-ray's ultrasounds, more detailed hearing tests, specialists of every kind including anesthesiologists and pediatric surgeons. When the new mother's hospital stay is up the baby will most likely remain in the hospital causing the mom to feel disappointed, and have feelings of guilt. These feelings and the time away from the baby can cause her milk production to slow down, and most likely she has begun to store her milk in the freezer in anticipation of more intense feedings due to the babies high calorie input needs. Special needs baby can mean a variety of things, such as; prematurely, Spina Bifida, Down Syndrome, congenital heart disease, exposed bowel, etc… Many times, like in premature babies, they need a nasal gastric tube put in for their feedings because they do not have enough energy to eat. If it is a different factor and the baby can not eat orally, a gastric tube or g-tube will be placed for their nutritional input. Unlike a healthy baby, the special needs baby's caloric input will be a lot higher and they tend to be on special diets such as a formula named pediasure. A hidden disability that effects more than 4,000 babies each year is hearing loss. For healthy babies they have there hearing test prior to discharge from the nursery, and come out with perfect hearing, and no need for further consults. That is very unlike special needs babies, after there first test they try again, then see a specialist, and hopefully find out what steps can be taken for better hearing such as; tube placements, cleaning of the ears, possible surgeries, hearing aids, ect. If this disability is not detected right away speech, language, and their hearing skills may be affected. When special needs...