Newest Update on Baby Hope

So, you know my niece Hope (7 months) was born without an ear canal in her right ear. She is adorable and cuddly and smart. I haven't seen her since she was a couple weeks old, but I get the updates on my sister's blog Dear Blank, and in our long 2 hour phone calls that are infrequent because we both have little ones that make talking so long almost impossible. (Especially on my end.) I have pressed in with prayer for her little ear, I have put out numerous prayer requests on Hope's behalf, I have believed in miracles. It looks like the miracle is in progress. The specialists finally got to do the echo test on her. Here is Holly's report (taken from her blog entry on January 20th):

Hope had her bone conduction hearing test today. We didn’t have to endure the worrisome fasting, the ultra-early morning drive across town, the scary general anesthetic or the endless hours of waiting, all of which colored our previous ABR attempt (thank God).

Instead we drove five minutes to the Research Hospital on our side of town. Hope nursed until an hour before her appointment. Granted, she did have to choke down some vile-tasting chloral hydrate (screaming her head off the whole time), but that was the worst of it. We were in the room with her while she had the ABR, and once it was done, we were pretty much okay to leave. Just had to hang around for a half-hour after she woke up for a little safety monitoring.

(BTW, babies waking up from sedation are hilarious. Hope was full of grins, but totally loopy. Like an incredibly cheerful drunk.)

Anyway. The results were good. Her right ear is functional, pretty much at the exact same level as her left. So, good. Yay.

But the test couldn’t answer my next question: does she hear with that ear? The inner ear can hear (is capable of hearing), but do the sound waves reach her inner ear?

We don’t know. I thought we would. And we don’t.

I know Who knows. Her Great Daddy who loves her and is so jealous over her. The Holy Spirit, who is doing a creative miracle in her ear. Her best friend, Jesus, in whose name I pray. My children continue to lift up their baby cousin each Saturday at the Children's Prayer Watch; they are still believing in the miraculous.

Also, when I talked to my sister before Christmas, she confessed that she and her mother-in-law have noticed a change in that little right ear. It is bigger. On the outside, you can hardly tell a difference between Hope's 2 ears anymore. It used to be much smaller than her left ear and have a squished appearance. The doctors mentioned future cosmetic surgery. I don't think that will be necessary, do you? I believe that God is working slowly in Hope's ear so that she doesn't experience any pain in this process. I believe, in the name of Jesus, that Hope will not need any surgery on her ear AT ALL and by the time she's old enough for school, she will be blessed with perfect hearing.

Thank you for joining your prayers with mine. They are as incense.