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COLORADO — Matthew Swetnam was born eight weeks early and weighed only 2 pounds, 11 ounces. His premature birth led to 47 days in the NICU, according to his mother, Erin, of Arvada, Colorado.
Complications of congenital cytomegalovirus — or CMV — led to several birth defects in addition to deafness in Matthew, Erin wrote in the description of a video on her YouTube channel.
Thanks to modern technology, Matthew was able to receive hearing aids at four months, and the video of him responding to his mother’s voice for the first time is darn near perfect. There’s a reason the internet can’t get enough of these sweet snippets.
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We all want the ability to fly, and this video shows it's actually kind of possible.Upon turning on the aid, Matthew’s eyes widen and he begins to cry at the influx of sound.
“Is mama’s voice not very pleasant?” Erin jokes on camera.
The crying gives way to heart-wrenching smiles as Matthew hears new noises thanks to his hearing aids.
“In the future, he will most likely receive bilateral cochlear implants,” Erin writes.
The Swetnams also advise people who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy to get tested for CMV, which is similar to the Zika virus and “can cause serious health problems for people with weakened immune systems, as well as babies infected with the virus before they are born,” according to the CDC.
The video is sweet and the Swetnam’s are using their son’s story to raise awareness — a worthy endeavor.
