SLEEP NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD

So, here we are - the long awaited day of Ethan's sleep study has finally arrived. Ethan had school today, then we ran a bunch of errands, followed by play time with the neighbor boys, Evan and Cameron, dinner & last (certainly not least) a trip to The Children's Hospital in Aurora for the main event of the evening. Sleep. Ethan has been rather anxious about this sleep study since his 4 year old Dr.'s appointment in April (in the nervous...not excited way). It has taken us 3 months to get in for the study, so he's had plenty of time to think, & dare I say worry, about it.

The hospital only allows one person to

accompany the child, so we told Ethan he needed to choose - Mom, or Dad. (Would it imply that the parent chosen was his favorite? In my opinion, it depended largely upon who he chose.) He flip flopped back and forth, and finally chose to take me along. (Yup, the favorite indeed. ( : kidding.) It was a tough decision I'm sure - but Scot was going to have to take his CPAP to sleep, and in my current state (at 35 weeks along), we figured it probably wouldn't matter where I tried to sleep... plastic couch bed was good enough (well, for one night anyway).

When we arrived, Ethan was still unsure of what it was going to be like, worried about making sure that I would stay with him the entire time etc. We got out of the car and headed into the lobby of the Children's Hospital, and Ethan ran over to these bunny statues and said "Mom, take my pictures with these huge bunnies". So far, so good.

We checked in, and waited in the sleep study waiting room until we were called back to get prepped. The nurse that was assigned to Ethan was awesome. She was so sweet and careful to explain everything to Ethan as she went along.

What she didn't know is that Ethan really does seem to do fine as long as he knows what is going on ahead of time.

Not only was she great at providing him with information, but she let Ethan choose a movie to watch (he chose Astro Boy) while she prepped all the wires etc., which he really seemed to enjoy.

When all was said and done, he had electrodes all over his head, in his hair, all over his face, a mesh covering to keep the wires in place, topped with gauze and tape around his head to keep everything in place. wires secured down the leg of his PJ's to the wires and tape on his feet and toes, belt around his waist and chest with sensors,They finished the set up off by placing a little tube in his nose and a sensor down over his mouth to watch his breathing.

It was quite a production - and with all those wires, I have to admit, I was worried that Ethan was going to have a hard time sleeping because he moves around so much. It was lights out before 9... which meant it was lights out for me too. Did I mention that the sleep rooms did not have a bathroom?

It wasn't the plastic couch pull out bed that worried me, it was the bathroom at this stage in

my pregnancy that seemed kind of important. I survived, and only had to make the trek down the hall to the bathroom a couple times during the night. At least Ethan slept well, but we didn't even get a chance to sleep in or anything cause we were sent packing at 6 am. Oh well.

Ethan slept through the night, which was much better than I expected. The nurse wasn't allowed to tell us about what she saw through the night, but she did say that Ethan didn't need oxygen - which was a good sign. We should have results within the week. [*NOTE: Verdict came back - Ethan has obstructive sleep apnea. We will now be heading to next steps with a Peds ENT at Children's Hospital].

Our nurse had been so worried about me sleeping that she offered me a bed in a room that wasn't being used. I had to reluctantly turn it down because I was worried about leaving Ethan alone in case he woke up and wondered where I was. After all, I HAD promised him that I would be right there the entire night, so I couldn't break my word. Have I mentioned how much I love this kid? He's the best.