Sleep Study Update

Before I go into the details about the sleep study, let me just say I have not forgotten about my promise to post a huge picture post with baptism pictures! It was a lovely ceremony and a fun party (if you were there and disagree, don't tell me ;). I simply have not had a free second, LITERALLY, since Sunday to even think about posting. I blame crazy work deadlines and my children for this.

Last night I took Bennett to Children's National Medical Center for an overnight sleep study to see how well he maintained his oxygen saturation during overnight sleep. Oftentimes, a child will be fine during the day maintaining oxygen, but during the deeper sleep cycles of overnight sleep, they begin to desaturate. So, this study is a prerequisite to him being able to come off the oxygen during sleep.

We had to be there by 7 p.m., which meant I had to leave work early, make a mad dash home to pack up the insane amount of stuff an infant his age needs for a simple overnight stay, love on Carter for a few minutes, and get me and Bennett on the road by 6 p.m. to navigate my way through D.C. and get there on time. Chaos is the only word to describe that process. Then, of course Bennett soiled his diaper on the way there, and proceeded to scream his head off nearly the entire drive. It didn't help that there are so many stops and starts driving through D.C. so he wasn't lulled to sleep by the car.

We check in to the sleep lab, I change him and he is all happy and smiley again. Then the mean tech comes in and proceeds to hook up over 30 different electrode wires all over his face, head, and body. He was NOT a happy camper!! And they put this nasal cannula on him that measures the depth of the breaths he took in, and it could also be used to deliver oxygen to him if he began to desaturate. But the prongs on it were a little thicker and longer than the ones we used and it really bothered Bennett. He kept pulling it out and wriggling his head back and forth. But its a SLEEP study, so I had to get him to sleep. Finally, at about 10:30 p.m., he is sleeping deeply enough for me to put him down so I could finally eat my dinner. I "slept" in the bed with him and did my best to keep him asleep even though he was very agitated and was stirring the whole night. I have a bad cramp in my neck today from the way I had to position myself, lol. I slept maybe 30 minutes total the whole night. But this isn't about ME.

When they came in at 6 a.m. to wake us up, they said Bennett did very well!! They wouldn't give me details about what that meant though. However, at the beginning of the night, he said that if Bennett desaturated below 93% for more than 2 minutes, or below 89% at all, he would come in and hook him up to the oxygen. Well, he never did come in to hook him up, so I am guessing that means he stayed above those parameters! YAY BENNETT!!!!

We see the pulmonologist very early (yawn) tomorrow morning. I doubt she'll have the report yet, as it takes a long time to read all those various electrodes and make sense of it all. But I take this as a positive sign that we will be getting rid of the oxygen very very soon!!! I know Bennett will be very happy - he hates it!

Sorry these pics are so dark, they are much better on my phone. You can see all the wires coming out of the top of his head here.

And you can see all the stuff on his face here. His little eyes were swollen from crying! Poor baby!