Sleep Test Results...

As you know, Aleah had her sleep study done early February at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. We got the results back yesterday, Wednesday, February 24th, 2010. The results were what I expected...Aleah has severe Mixed Sleep Apnea (Obstructive Sleep Apnea as well as Central sleep apnea). The test found out that Aleah's oxygen dropped 71 times in only 1 hour...it averaged 86.5% oxygen during her sleep, but dipped down as low as 71%.

Dr. Dafftary told us that if we took her tonsils/adnoids out, she may have improved oxygen levels for a while, but being that it is mixed sleep apnea, she will possibly have to be on oxygen at night after between 2 months-5 years later. I still think it will be in her best interest to get those taken out first, and then in a couple of months she'll have another sleep study done to see if it improved slightly or a lot and if she needs CPAP (oxygen at night). Aleah is scheduled for Tonsillectomy with Dr. Vanleeuwen on Wednesday, March 3rd. Richard is scheduled for his removal of his Tumor (located under his earlobe) on Tuesday, March 2nd...so I'll have both people to nurse back to health next week!!! I hope all goes well for both family members! I'll write more after the surgeries...

YUMMY!!!

I think each one of my kids have all tried to EAT MY NOSE at least once while a baby!!!Aaahhh...the joys of motherhood!
Thanks, Rachael, for capturing the moment!

Bountiful Baskets Co-op

This week's groceries included: 5 zucchini, 3 cloves garlic, 1 rutabaga, 1 large head of green-leaf lettuce, 7 corn on the cob, 1 head of cauliflower, 1 bunch of asparagus, 1 pineapple, 2 bunches of bananas, 6 asian pears, 8 apples, and 6 tangerines!

My sister, Cheryl, told me about this food co-op that is all over in Arizona, Utah and Idaho. It is where you order a basket of miscellanious fruits and vegetables (50% of each) for only $15 + $1.50 handling fee. As you can see in the picture, we get tons of good stuff and normally I would spend at least double the amount for all of what I'm getting here! WHAT A DEAL!!! And it's actually really good produce as well...we pick it up at certain locations throughout the state and they charge the amount to our credit card. This was my second time purchasing from them and I LOVE IT!!! It's perfect for our family of 7! They also provide other things you can order such as bread, big boxes of tomatoes, valentine cookies, Mexican packs, Italian packs, etc. I got the Mexican pack last week and in it were tomatillos, jalapenos, cilantro, green onions, garlic, tortillas, etc. It was really good and I had never made anything with tomatillos so I found out through the internet how to make Salsa Verda and made that for our Mexican tacos...YUMMY! I am hooked on this co-op thing that's for sure! Visit BountifulBaskets.org to try it out!

Sleep Lab

This doesn't look like fun dad!!!
February 4th was Aleah's sleep lab testing at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. As you may be aware, Aleah is Hypotonic (low muscle tone) which has affected most of her muscles throughout her body. She has to wear orthopedic shoes because she is highly pronated (flat footed), she needs eye surgery because her superior oblique muscle is weaker than the anterior (she has a palsy in her right eye). She is slow her her fine and gross motor skills...wasn't crawling until 12 months, and walking at 19 months. She still doesn't talk much...she does say, "baby", "no", "all dah"(meaning-"all done") and she signs a lot of things like tree, water, more, bird, and many more animals...she learned most of the signs from the Signing Time DVD's from the Library. They are GREAT little video's and have really helped her to communicate with us. ............

So, anyway, she has always slept poorly...waking up whimpering but when I go to check on her, she is sound asleep. She tosses and turns, snores, and has 3-4 second pauses every so often which is a little scary. I was reading on the internet about Sleep Apnea because my friend (65 yrs old) has it and we were talking about Aleah perhaps having it, so I checked it out on the internet and I guess it is very common to have this problem if you are hypotonic! So, I took Aleah in to see an ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat Doctor)- Dr. Van Leeuwen, and he said that her tonsils are pretty big and he agreed that she probably has sleep apnea. He told me to take her in to do a sleep test and see if she should get her tonsils/adnoids taken out and/or do something else. This was the day to have her sleep test and so last night, Richard took her to the hospital around 7 p.m to get a chest x-ray and then get hooked up with all the machines to do the sleep test overnight in the hospital. Rich told me that she didn't like the thing under her nose and kept trying to take it off, but who wouldn't??? All the nurses thought she was the cutest little thing! Rich said she woke up several times whimpering, but that's what she does at home quite often as well. Overall she did well last night though Rich didn't get much sleep with the nurses coming in every so often to fix the machine. Aleah did get a nice pink fleece blanket when she went home, so that was nice of them!

In two weeks, Dr. Dafftary (an Indian doctor who was very nice) will go over the results with us and tell us our options. He said it might be a combination of her tonsils being big and her thoat opening being small (1 is the biggest size throat openning and 4 the smallest, Aleah's is a 3) as well as the hypotenacity which makes her muscles relax so much and get floppy when she is REM sleep. We'll find out what we can do and let you know the results when we find out! I just love Aleah so much and hope she gets the help she needs!!!

Ice Fishin' with Dad!

Ok, Qaiden looks quite bored doesn't he???

 January 30th...Dad took Qaiden Ice Fishing the WHOLE day. They woke up and left by 7 a.m. and didn't get home until dinner! Qaiden was sooooo sleepy when he came home and had a sun-burned face, but they brought home 2 small trout! WAY TO GO!!! Rich fillet them both and we marinated them in Italian dressing for a few hours on Sunday and then broiled the fillets with some salt and butter then squeezed some fresh limes on the top....WOW....it was so good, I just wish there was more meat! Maybe they'll go again next weekend and get some more fish! Qaiden didn't really have that much fun, but maybe he'll have more fun when he gets a little older and if it wasn't so cold! Good job though Mr. Q!