Sleep Study

Last night Nicholas and I ventured into Portland for his sleep study with Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU). The sleep study didn't take place at the hospital, it was at the Marriott Hotel in a huge suite! We got there at 8:00pm for check -in and the sleep technician, Zach, spent about 45 minutes hooking Nicholas up to all the electrodes you see in these photos. Nicholas was relaxed and patient the whole time and enjoyed watching the premiere of Dancing with the Stars with mommy.
The sleep study was conducted to see if Nicholas is having any sleep apnea episodes at night, which will determine if he needs a BiPap machine for breathing while he sleeps.

Our lovely, comfortable suite that had a kitchenette, a lounge area, a luxurious bathroom, and a king size bed. What a nice place for a sleep study!

After Nicholas was all hooked up to the numerous monitors, it was after 9:00pm and he was tired. None of the monitors seemed to bother him, except for the one in front of his nostrils that monitored his CO2 intake/output. He kept trying to pull it off before he fell asleep.


Both Nicholas and I ended up sleeping wonderfully. We feel asleep around 9:30pm and woke up every so often when the sleep technician came in to adjust monitors that had moved while Nicholas was sleeping. Nicholas only semi-woke-up a total of 3 times just to move from side to back or vice versa or to have his binky placed back in his mouth. I felt relieved in the morning when we awoke that we each got a good 8 hours of sleep!

We are so lucky to have such a laid-back, easygoing baby!

*Update (9/23/09)* I just received a phone call from Nicholas's pulmonologist, Dr. Link, with the results of his sleep study. He said that Nicholas's oxygen levels and carbon dioxide levels were a normal range (95-98%), that he had no apnea episodes during the night, and lots of REM sleep periods. He commented that it was one of the best sleep study results he had seen in quite awhile. We are so pleased that Nicholas is doing well!