A GOOD night's rest is NOT overrated!

I have been tired, beyond a normal amount, for a LONG time now. I finally revisited this issue in prayer with my Heavenly Father and then followed the promptings to find out the source of my tiredness and to not just be satisfied with the answers/ideas of the past (2 kids make you tired, maybe post viral meningitis stuff, possibly still postpartum depression, etc.).

I just had to figure out why I am so tired because I knew deep down that all my other issues/symptoms I was experiencing all seemed to stem from being so tired. Even though I would have 8 hours of sleep each night I always woke up feeling exhausted. Most days I feel like I can't go on without a nap (when Ethan takes his nap).

Well, I went to see a very, very thorough Neurologist and I recapped the last year and 1/2 or so for to her in great detail. She decided the 1st plan of action was to do an MRI and then do a sleep study. MRI looked great :) whew!

The sleep study was a bit odd and super fascinating at the same time. I stayed the night in a sleep room at the doctor's office. My nurse, Ruby, was uber nice! I asked her a million questions and I enjoyed all the info. I learned about the sleep study field. Way intriguing!

cell pics of my room

There were sooooooooooo many wires hooked up to me- on my head, ears, neck, chest, legs, and then a nose/mouth thing (not shown in the pic below- i have to draw the line somewhere).

I had to carry this panel around with me cause all my wires attached to it.

They woke me up at 630am the next morning and then from that point on I had to do a "nap" study. I thought this sounded pleasant... taking naps all day- how lovely... I was WRONG! All day long they had me stay awake for 2 hrs., nap for 20 min., wake me up after 20 min., make me stay awake for 2 hrs., and repeat this process until 4pm. It was torture! It made me feel so tired, raw, and grumpy. No one likes to be woken up and told they can't sleep at the very moment that they were just falling asleep...can we say ANNOYING!?

They feed me good during the nap study though...maybe because they know they are torturing you :) ha ha! I had Kerby Lane's Apple Wheat pancakes, eggs, bacon, and juice for breakfast- YUM! Then fried rice and chicken broccoli from Snow Pea for lunch :) Oh yeah!

There is more I could journal, but I am tired (go figure) so here are the RESULTS in laymen terms. I thought I slept solid without waking up at all, but I actually was waking up 18 times per hour due to respiratory related issues and at times was not getting the "desired" amount of oxygen. There was tons of data from the study but this is the most important scoop to share about my case and my daytime fatigue.

The Neurologist explained that this non-restful sleep can cause irritability and depression... no kidding! My treatment options were: surgery in throat area, and oral apparatus that holds mouth open a certain way, or a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) mask to sleep with. I didn't want to do surgery, I can't do oral thing due to the lovely new braces I have on to fix my bite and TMJ, and so I chose the awesome mask.

I did another sleep study with CPAP mask this week and are awaiting results of that. As I sat there getting all rigged with wires again and trying on a wonderful arrangement of sleep masks, I thought to myself "this is a HOT look... braces, 30 wires, and a mask covering my nose & mouth that is linked to a long tube and machine- rrrrrarrr!" ha ha. I just had to laugh about it all.

I am grateful for modern medicine and for the fact that there is a possible fix to my problem :) Heavenly Father does hear and answer our prayers. Hallelujah!

I know this is a way more wordy blog post for me, but I wanted to fill in family and friends without telling the story 10 plus times :) So if you are still reading... bless your heart and feel my love! Thanks for love and support everyone.