Sleep Study #4

We had another sleep study last night. To sum it up, it did not go well. It was at one of the satellite centers instead of the main campus, and we had never been there before.  So Justin and I got there a little bit early and had a little dinner before we had to check in.  We tried Zaxby's, which we have never had before.  There aren't any close to us, but there was one right by the hospital so we thought we would check it out.

Justin liked it, can you tell??

While there were a few there were a few surprises that night, the one bonus was not having to pay for parking!  Our first surprise was that the study was not scheduled for titration, but just a baseline reading.  Even the nurse was surprised by that since he saw that Justin uses a CPAP machine.  So the entire night was without the machine (even though I had lugged it along with us and spent how many hours pouring over the DMEs reports to determine the best mask and combination of factors to make for the most productive study possible).  Justin was excited to find that they have Veggie Tales movies and so he was able to watch Larry Boy while getting hooked up!  This is him staring at the TV.  This is why we limit TV in our home.

They started with the leg and chest monitors.  That began the tears.  He did calm down when we reminded him that he couldn't hear Larry while crying.

Here are the marks for the monitors on his head.  He measures, marks, cleans, and attaches all the monitors.  Then they get taped and then the ski mask goes over top.  This nurse was a big fan of tape and everything was very securely attached with plenty of tape.

This is the attaching and taping.  Our nurse got help with this part.  I held hands and talking lovingly into his ears; he held Justin's head, and the other nurse cleaned and attached.

The main part was done.  You can see the purple tape peeking out from under the mask.  It was wrapped around his head and then the mask.

Then more tape on top of the mask.  And tape in the temperature sensor and nasal cannula.  This cannula had an extra attachment that came down into his mouth to sense his mouth versus nose breathing.  There was so much tape Justin had a difficult time closing his mouth and swallowing.  We had to loosen it a bit.  Plus I needed to get in one last nose blowing.  Then they cut the top of the mask to make puppy dog ears.  Justin was slightly impressed when I showed him his picture.

He even managed a smile for the mom/son picture.  Can't you tell?

Here you can see the extra tube coming down into his mouth.  The nurse took this picture.  He thought he was being cute taking a close up picture.  Not so much.

And then the lights went out around 8 pm.  I had planned not to sleep in the same bed with Justin since I figured I would be more of a hindrance than a help.  But the nurse asked me to sleep with Justin and after the trauma of attachment, I figured I owed him some snuggles so I was tucked in next to Justin.  Randy just realized that it's a hospital bed we sleep in.  I guess I thought that was a given.  So we are snuggled in, and baby girl was right in the mix!  The nurse put the bed up pretty high so it was easier for him to attach the wires, but then he left it high and all the sides up so when I had to use the restroom, it was quite a challenge!   I didn't realize until the middle of the night that maybe he truly didn't realize I am pregnant.  He is a guy and all, but I just assume that it's pretty obvious that I am pregnant.  Do you think he just didn't know?

Anyway, the next time he came in during the night I asked him to put down one of the sides, making potty breaks much easier.  He was in several times during the night.  He had to put on a new temperature sensor over his nose and the chest strap came off too.  He kept talking to me over the intercom telling me to turn Justin over onto his side or back, not to leave him on his stomach.  What's the point if you don't see how he really sleeps?  Do you know how weird it is to have someone talk to you during the night like that?

We made it through the night and then we woke up to watch more Larry Boy during  monitor removal.  Thus more mindless staring.

I'm free!  (And ready to get this gunk out of my hair!)

I am not sure what to think about the night.  Justin was pretty restless and woke up a lot.  It was frustrating not being able to prepare Justin for what was going to happen since it was changed around.  The nurse was not very gentle and it got my mommy bear fists clenched but I am trying to be thoughtful and constructive in my responses to negative behavior.  Sounds better than it works.  I am mentally preparing my critiques.  We got back to the sleep clinic in four weeks, and then we should find out about the study.  Justin was glad to be back playing with Travis, after a long family nap!  I know I feel better!