Kamdyn's sleep study

I mentioned before about Kamdyn's hearing issues, tubes, etc.  I decided before we went to Kamdyn's tubes and laryngoscope follow-up that I was going to request a sleep study.  The airway abnormality had been mentioned after the procedure, and I wanted to make sure her breathing was checking out ok.  They had no problem with ordering the sleep study.  Now, I wish I would have requested it earlier, but there's nothing I can do about that now.  We went into the sleep study as more precautionary, not expecting to find anything.











The room was more comfortable than I had expected.  It felt homey.  It had a bed, crib, tv, and a night stand where all of the wires would get hooked to once Kamdyn was wired up.  The crib was pushed right next to the bed, in front of the night stand.



The facility was about an hour from our house, and you didn't arrive between 8:30 and 9:00, so Kamdyn fell asleep on the way there.  She was a little sleepy when we first got there, but she was soon wide awake and ready to play.  I'm not really sure how to avoid something like that when you have to drive an hour at that time of night. 



I didn't get any pictures after that, because I had my hands full.  She played until around 11:00.  And since Kamdyn does not like doctors/medical professionals touching her, we decided it would be better to wait for her to fall asleep. I put Kamdyn in the crib for a little while.  This is what she did:

 

After a while of that, I downloaded a lullaby app on the iPad, turned the lights off, and brought Kamdyn in bed with me. She rolled around for a little while, but she eventually feel asleep.  I kept the music on for a long time after she was asleep.  It must have been around midnight at this point. 

 

The technician came in and hooked her all up while I held her.  It is SO MANY wires.  I had to help keep Kamdyn's hands down, because she would reach up in her sleep to pull them off.  I cannot even tell you how glad I am that we waited for her to be asleep though.  It would have been a NIGHTMARE otherwise.  When she was all wired up, they gather them all up in a bundle and bring them around to the her back, where they bunch them together in a black strap that keeps them all together.

 

Can I tell you how messed up it is to lay your baby down so sleep with a bunch of wires wrapped around her head and neck.  They are constantly monitoring her, so they would know if something happened, but still.  

 

Kamdyn slept after that, but she was restless, kept rolling and messing up the wires.  The technician had to come in over and over and over to fix them.

 

They wake you up early, 6am, I think.  The technician said she can't give official results, but everything looked good. 

 

A little over a month later (yeah, a month, don't even get me started on that!), they called to say that she had a positive sleep study.  In other words, Kamdyn has sleep apnea. Seriously!? was my first reaction. Then, I cried.  A lot.  Then, I calmed down. Perspective, you know.  Starving children in Africa.  Children with cancer.  Sleep apnea isn't so bad.  She had 6.4 episodes an hour.  That's mild sleep apnea.   

 

Next, we have an appointment with the ENT to discuss,

 

dun, dun, dun.

 

THE OPTIONS (enter loud, ominous voice).

 

Behind door # one:  c-pap mask while she is sleeping (are you kidding me!).

Door #2:  removal of the tonsils and adenoids (no history of enlarged tonsils and adenoids, though).

Door #3:  surgery that would open up the airway more (SCARY!!!)

And door #4:  A BIG FAT NOTHING, do nothing.

 

That's where we're at for now.  I'll let you know how it shakes out.