A Tale of Tonsils

Miles has always been a mouth breather and snores when he sleeps.  He's done both since he was pretty tiny, but it's gotten increasingly worse as he's grown.  We've noticed he isn't breathing consistently while asleep and sometimes pausing 8-10 seconds between breaths!  So I made him an appointment with our family doctor.  On the day of his appointment we dropped Cooper off to hang out at Derek's office and headed to the clinic.  Miles fell asleep on the way and stayed asleep while we waited... 

Our doctor came out to the waiting room and watched Miles sleep, which I was glad for. I'd taken video on my phone to show as 'proof' but it was great that the doctor got to see first hand.  He got to see a lot of it too, because Miles stayed asleep through all the examining!

He woke up right at the end when the nurse helped me put his coat back on him.

She gave him some stickers and he was thrilled!

He also thought it was great that he slept through the appointment, got stickers and then got to push the elevator button as we left.

Turns out he had an ear infection so we headed to pick up his prescription before we went to get Cooper.  Miles must not have gotten enough of a nap because he said, "I'm tired and there's no bed here.".

...not having a bed didn't bother him during a previous shopping trip.

Or one just after that. 

 This sound sleeping and in odd locations is just one of the many symptoms Miles shows of sleep apnea.  Our doctor reffered us on to an ear nose and throat specialist to investigate what to do next.

So a week or so later, we went to see the ENT, who had a fun chair that went up and down.  Miles was officially diagnosed with "Obstructive Sleep Apnea" and will have his tonsils taken out on March 18th.

I also had this as a kid and had my tonsils taken out when I was four years old.  I'm not looking forward to the surgery, but will be glad to have it done so Miles can breath easier.   I'm also aware that it could mean he'll give up naps if his quality of sleep improves.  I have mixed feelings about that. :)  But it will be just in time to spend our summer afternoons outside in the sun and water instead of inside napping...  Yay!