We arrrived at the hospital a little before 8pm; and our nurse, Ms. Morgan got us quickly settled in and finished checking us in with some remaining paperwork. Then, it was first moment of truth. We sat Andrew down on the bed while Ms. Morgan started putting the sensors on. Andrew's face totally showed apprehension and even a little bit of fear. But Daddy and I just tried to make it fun and tried to sound excited about the "stickers". Daddy let Andrew watch some YouTube videos on his phone and later, we put on Mickey Mouse Choo Choo Express to get his mind off what was going on. With every sensor that Ms. Morgan put on, Andrew seemed to become more apprehensive. Then, we began to tell him how he looked like WALL-E; and Andrew seemed satisfied with that and kept repeating the words "WALL-E" and "robot".
After all the sensors were on his chest and legs, Ms. Morgan began with the sensors on Andrew's head for the EEG that was going to be ran early in the morning. Not once during this tedious process did Andrew fuss or shed one tear. Ms. Morgan even commented that she had never seen a kid do so well and was even more impressed since Andrew is so young. She even mentioned that kids much much older didn't fare as well. However, she said the real test would be the oxygen level monitor that was going to be placed right under Andrew's nose. The monitor had two small hoses that went up Andrew's hose and one small one that hovered right above his mouth. But our little trooper didn't even put up a stink when Ms. Morgan put it in. Next, to keep him from pulling any of the wires off, she then wrapped Andrew's head in white gauze. We then told Andrew he looked now EVE now; and he totally played along. We did hit one snag though. Andrew didn't like the finger monitor even with the pretty red light and pulled it off once. But Ms. Morgan just put in on his ring finger (as opposed to his index finder where it was initially placed) with even more tape to secure it. We told him not to play with it or pull it off. After that, he let it be. We were more than impressed by his calmess and restraint!
Everything was all set for the sleep study and EEG. So then, we got ready for bed and read night night books. Poor Daddy was resigned to sleep on a couch; and I was going to sleep on the bed with Andrew. It took Andrew about half an hour to fall asleep, which wasn't too bad considering we were in a foreign place and he had all these wires going everywhere. Daddy fell asleep too, but Mommy went to the room next door and began watching a movie.
About an hour later, Ms. Morgan came to me and asked me if Andrew moves around a lot at night to which I replied a resounding "yes." She said that Andrew had flipped upside down on the bed and was tangled in his cords. I got my things and headed back into our room with her to help her get Andrew resituated. Boy was he ever tangled. Ms. Morgan even had to turn on the light to get him untangled!
Finally, I fell asleep, but would wake up every now and then. I was so scared of Andrew getting tangled again. Andrew was true to form and moved quite a bit that night. Around 230am, he woke up and was very disoriented. He didn't cry or fuss, but he just a matter of factly, pulled his nose monitor off. Ms. Morgan came back into our room and fixed the monitor; and Andrew quickly fell back asleep.
Around 530am, Ms. Morgan entered our room to began the EEG. She got all the equipment ready including a blinking lamp and went back outside to start the test. She told me to try to wake up Andrew, which I did. He was groggy and very sleepy still. She started to blink the lights; and this went on for a while. Andrew promptly fell back asleep, but Ms. Morgan said that was ok and that there was no need to wake him back up.
Once the EEG was completed, she came back in and began taking off the sensors. Andrew woke up for good then. And he was really good during the removal process too. Daddy and I got cleaned up and dressed. We gathered up our things and had some final paperwork to complete. Then, we were all cleared to leave. It was over. Daddy and I were happy to be released. We both felt very anxious during the entire process. But we were so happy about how Andrew did during this ordeal.
We wanted to reward Andrew for doing so beautifully during the sleep study so we took him for breakfast at IHOP where he ate pancakes and yogurt. After we got home, we chilled for a little bit and then decided to head to the Galleria. I would have rathered drive our car, but Daddy really wanted to make it even more special for Andrew. We walked down to the bus stop and waited for the bus to come. Boy, was it hot already!! But one finally came; and we boarded. Andrew was so giddy. He started singing and signing "The Wheels on the Bus". We made our way down to the Galleria and hopped off the bus. We walked towards the Galleria train where Daddy took Andrew for a ride while Mommy did a bit of shopping. We met up back at Borders where the boys were reading books. Then, we ate lunch at Gigi's Dumpling House. Andrew behaved very well except for talking loudly, which isn't too bad. He ate lots of dumplings of course and even liked some pork short ribs.
Then, we walked back out to the bus stop and waited for our bus to take us home. The wait here was much better as we were in the shade. On the ride home, Andrew was starting to fade, but he stayed up probably because he was too excited to sleep. But once we got home, we all took a nap before Aunt Monica and Aunt Vinaya were due over to the house for a visit.
The test results should be ready in approximately ten days, but our follow up appointment is scheduled for Tuesday, July 6th as Dr. Rotenberg is out of town until then. We anxiously await the test results though Daddy and I both suspect that Andrew has sleep apnea or sleep impairment. James and I weren't happy about doing the sleep study and EEG, but we hope that it will help Andrew and provide some answers as to his sleeping. It's so hard seeing your kid go through anything like this. Part of me was so scared; and there was even one point that I started to tear up. But I tried my best to put on a brave face for Andrew. I didn't want him to feed off my fear or anxiousness. It's even difficult for me to look at the pictures now. It breaks my heart to see Andrew like that. James wasn't thrilled about me taking the pictures that night, but one day, maybe Andrew will want to see what it was like that night. HealthBridge, and especially Ms. Morgan, were fantastic and made the process easier and less painful. I am just so proud of Andrew. He was so brave even though he was so scared.
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