Israel's Sleep Study

In early December we attempted to do Israel's sleep study in Manhattan, but just a few minutes after we got settled Israel became sick, so we rescheduled for December 28th. Thankfully he was out of school that day so it was much easier the second time to get everything figured out. We had someone watch Edith for a few hours so Will could help us get settled in our room.

Our boy has really grown so much in the last few months and he LOVES the train. 

We were worried about how the EEG would go. We checked in at 1 pm and the technician started on his head wires. Last time we tried to do an EEG at the neurologist (this fall) Israel got so upset that he threw up. The lady who did his wires this time was AWESOME and Israel did GREAT! We had a TV with Mickey Mouse on, one of his favorite books, and he was happy!



We started the EEG around 1 and that part was testing for absence seizures. The results didn't show that he had any, but he also had a low-stress day (seriously he just sat and watched TV and read books for an entire afternoon) so I don't think any of his "triggers" from being overwhelmed or stressed (therapy, crowds, getting in trouble) were present. So, for now he "doesn't" have them according to the EEG.





We were pretty much limited to the bed and chair because the wires that Israel was hooked up to were attached to the nightstand.



I documented some of the day on snapchat (@rebekahmcgeeNYC for those of you who do snapchat).









Although it was a pretty long and boring day, the time with Israel was so sweet. He was a champ and loved the snuggles, loved watching an entire day of TV, and loved falling asleep in a big bed next to Mommy. Meanwhile, Will and Edith had a fun day together and he let her stay up way past bedtime because she was being sweet and cuddly. It was a win/win for the McGees because our kids were loving the one on one attention!



He fell asleep around 7:15 but the technician came back around 8 and put MORE wires on him and a cannula for his nose to test his breathing and a heart rate monitor on his finger. Those were the hardest things because they kept coming off and the technician had to come back in and fix them throughout the night. Israel had a hard night. He woke up screaming for about 30 minutes and then had other times where he woke up or was woken up by the tech to fix his tubes or wires. It was really weird because the entire day and night we were being recorded/monitored by video and voice, so it is intimidating to try to get your kid back to sleep with someone watching you! Especially when Israel was really upset in the middle of the night, I was trying not to feel watched/judged!

We were discharged around 6:30 am and headed through Grand Central Station home! It was a nice morning commute!



We went today back to the NYU Langone Medical Center for results. Israel earned three new diagnoses! He has periodic limb movement disorder, sleep apnea, and psychophysiological insomnia. Whew! Thankfully, some of this can possibly fixed with an iron supplement and possibly removing his adenoids and tonsils. There are more things to follow up with, but we are happy that we have some answers.

Honestly, I was so relieved that there was a reason for all of the sleeplessness and that we weren't worrying over nothing. (Or we are not just parents complaining about a bad night's sleep). As with Israel's cerebral palsy diagnosis, it is somewhat validating to get a diagnosis because it shows that you're not making things up in your head. This is a real problem and now we can address it.