Ella has always been a snorer. Like a freight train kind of snorer. This last year it has gotten significantly worse and we have been worrying about sleep apnea. Her pediatrician referred us to a sleep institute to get everything checked out. So, this last Wednesday night we headed over and checked in at 7pm. I had told Ella ahead of time that is was going to be like we were sleeping in a hotel and she would be covered in stickers to help fix her breathing. I had no idea how many stickers/wires they were going to put on her and I was blown away by how brave Ella was. I still can't get over it.
She sat in my lap as the nurse began to hook everything up on Ella. First she put stickers on her legs and chest and connected wires to them.
Then she spent 30 minutes covering her head and face with wires. It was crazy. She would put this waxy stuff in Ella's hair to make those wires stick and then used tape and stickers for her face and neck.
After everything was in place, she wrapped her head in gauze so she wouldn't pull any of the wires. Ella was so chill the whole time and kept looking at Bob and saying "do I look cool dad? take my picture."
It kinda felt like we were on a reality show. Every move and word was being video taped and watched. I'm a crazy sleep talker so who knows what kind of entertainment I was putting on for them.
The nurses came in at 6am to unwire Ella and we met with the doctor at 9 that morning to hear the results.
Ella definitely has sleep apnea. Pretty bad actually. The doctor was surprised to see how severe her case was. If the sleep levels are 1.5 and above, they recommend getting tonsils out. Ella's level was a 4. It breaks my heart to think about how much trouble she has sleeping and staying asleep. The doctor said it takes her 2 hours to actually fall asleep after I think she is asleep. A tonsillectomy is in our summer plans for sure and we are all hoping and praying that removing the tonsils will fix her sleep problems. We are meeting with an ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor next to talk about adenoids being removed too. I will keep you guys updated when we find out more.
