Will she...or won't she?

This should be interesting. The latest blood draw lab results showed that Molly's red blood cell count was really high. The first thought that her doctor had was that she wasn't getting enough oxygen in her sleep (i.e : sleep apnea). The only times that we sleep with Molly in the same room is when we are camping in our pop up trailer or traveling and all staying in the same hotel room. So I don't have a lot of experience with her night time breathing and she might be a slight snorer but it's NOTHING like her dad :) Her tonsils are normal sized so I kinda doubted that her pulse oximeter reading would come back having an issue.

Let me back up. Dr Kucera wanted her to wear that clip that they put on your finger at the doctors office (pulse oximeter that measures oxygen saturation in your blood). Asthmatics and COPD patients are typical of those living with a lower level of O2 saturation. They have low energy and drag during the day and don't sleep well at night. Living at such a high elevation in Colorado could have an impact too though Molly was born here and has lived her entire life at this altitude. Low energy and dragging would not be how I would describe Molly. She has a good level of energy during the day and doesn't seem slow in any way. I, on the other hand, am becoming a candidate for afternoon naps. Do I need O2?

And now she has to wear the pulse ox ALL NIGHT LONG so that they could get a reading over the course of the night. Those of you that have a child with autism will all chuckle as you would think the same thing: There is NO WAY that she is going to keep that thing on. And I don't know if she really understands me when I tell her why she needs to. I kind of assumed that it would be like me wearing my mouth guard post braces in high school. I could barely breath with it in my mouth and it would be clear across the room in the morning where I had hucked it in my sleep. Molly was bound to do the same thing with something squeezing her pointer finger all night.

So I slept in her double bed with her. There were strict instructions "Leave it on your finger. All night. We'll take it off in the morning". Girlfriend slept like a log. I barely slept a wink as I kept looking over to see if she was still wearing it. And she hogged the covers. I couldn't wait until morning. She didn't snore. She didn't gasp for air after periods of no breathing. I thought for sure her O2 levels would be fine.

One week later, we got the call. Her levels are at 78%. Normal is above 90%. She had a couple periods in the night when the levels dropped. I must have actually been sleeping then :)

So now she gets to wear oxygen at night! Bummer.

So bedtime rolled around last night. She hopped into bed eyeballing the big machine beside her that was making a puffing noise every few seconds. Her normally quiet room had a guest. We'll have to come up with a name for that thing. I explained that she needed to keep it on all night long. I asked her if she understood and she said "Yesh" (I love how she says it...gotta video that for you sometime too). She was awkwardly half sitting up not wanting to move too much and I tried to show her that the cord was long and she could move around in bed. She just looked at me stiffly. We said "Good night. I love you". She always says "Too" (that's the shortened non verbal version of "I love you too"). I closed the door and hopped into bed where Brooke was reading. Our room is right across the hall from Molly's. Literally 2 1/2 minutes later Brooke turned to me and said "She just turned off the machine". And he was right, I couldn't hear the hum of it anymore either. So I got out of bed and went into her room. "Molly, you have to leave that on all night long". She shook her head adamantly and said "No". Gotta love her. And can't blame her either. I wouldn't want that thing up my nose all night. But with a little insistence, she let me put it back on. She is such a pleaser that most of the time she tries to be compliant.

Except for that time when I wouldn't let her take out the trash with only two items in it. She fought me tooth and nail over that situation. And she won.

She was tense so I scratched her back. And then her left arm. And then her right arm. And she looked like she might almost be asleep. Aahhhhh. And as I quietly exited her room she turned and looked at me. She was far from asleep and I had my doubts about that hose staying on her face all night.

But then this morning....lo and behold...it was STILL ON!! Yippee!!

Will be interesting to see if we notice any differences in her as she wears the O2 consistently? Am thinking that in all actuality maybe I'll start borrowing it for a few hours of solid nighttime sleep :)

The puffer