On Thursday night we took Kaitlyn for a sleep study. We arrived at 8 pm and they brought us to this room that had a queen size bed and a TV. We talked to the technician for a little bit and decided to let Kaitlyn fall asleep before she put the leads on. So we told Kaitlyn it was time for "night night" and tried to get her into bed. (Here's where I'll tell you that Kaitlyn has never slept in a bed - always a crib. And Kaitlyn has never really slept in a room with us. When she was an infant, we would put her down for naps in her pack-n-play in the room where we were, but that is it.)
So needless to say, Kaitlyn had no interest in going to sleep. She thought it was really cool that we were there and she was bouncing on the bed, giggling and trying to play with me. I tried to lay down and close my eyes so she would lay down. She finally went to sleep sometime after 11 and the technician came in around midnight and started to put the leads on. Kaitlyn woke up during that process and was not happy. At first she would just pull her leg away or roll over with a huff as though to say "leave me alone." But then she got really mad. So the nurse left so she could calm down. She cried for awhile and then laid there with wide eyes. I thought she would never go back to sleep. (On a side note - in the middle of this I sneezed and she started giggling. At least she still had her humor!)
The technician came and went periodically after that. It was probably about 3 am by the time she finally got the last thing on her. Here's some info:
A polysomnogram (sleep study) will typically record a minimum of twelve channels requiring a minimum of 22 wire attachments to the patient. These channels vary in every lab and may be adapted to meet the doctor's requests. There is a minimum of three channels for the EEG, one or two measure airflow, one or two are for chin muscle tone, one or more for leg movements, two for eye movements (EOG), one or two for heart rate and rhythm, one for oxygen saturation and one each for the belts which measure chest wall movement and upper abdominal wall movement.
We were all sleeping pretty good at some point. I stirred at 5:30 and thought to myself "I hope they just let her sleep." But no, she came in at 6 and cheerily noted that we were done. We were surprised to hear we were successful in completing the study. We each worried that she was awake too much and that they didn't get the leads on in time to get enough data. So huge relief. It would have been HORRIBLE to do all of that for nothing.
I must say that sleeping next to her I noticed her snoring quite a bit. She used to snore quite loudly but we hadn't noticed it in a while. And she had a few times where she made some weird noises. I guess I won't be surprised if they observed some instances of sleep apnea. The results are due in 7-10 business days. We'll see...
The end was a bit painful. Kaitlyn was not happy to have been woken up from her sleep. And then she was very upset when the leads were being ripped off her. She was inconsolable. We quickly changed her diaper and then bolted. She didn't even calm down when we got in the car and she had a bottle. I think she screamed half the way home. Yikes. When we got home it wasn't much better. She was out of her routine and not very excited to have a bath at 6:30 in the morning (she looked like she had been through the ringer - the goop they used to put the leads on was all in her hair and it was standing up). After her bath I wasn't sure what to do with her. Her teacher doesn't get in until 7:45 so I didn't want to bring her to daycare before that. (They bring them to a different classroom and I figured she had enough trauma/weirdness for the day.) So I decided to shower and get ready for work. The entire time she stood outside the door screaming. She finally got it together when it looked like we were going to leave. I think she wanted as far away from me as possible!
I dropped her off at school and she looked like a zombie. I let the teacher know about the study and she said that Kaitlyn could lay down and rest if she needed. On the bright side, she napped for 2 hours that day - which is a record for her at school. She hasn't been napping well for them. I think there is too much excitement around her for her to let herself sleep much. That day was her Christmas party and I brought her over to my work to see Santa (aka my employee, Andrew). She was in great spirits. What a trouper!
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