And the Miracles Continue...

~Tired Girl after the Sleep Study Night~

Many of you remembered and were praying fervently for Noelle's sleep study last week.  Personally, I thought it had gone well, based upon the monitor reading through the night {I took our own monitor this time so that I would have some indicator of her saturation levels through the night}.  However, I had thought the previous sleep study had gone well until the results came back; so I was cautiously optimistic this time around.  During the weeks in between the two studies, we had been very aggressive about addressing Noelle's reflux issues {through medication, sleep positions, holding her upright for long periods of time after feedings, etc...}, but she had a terrible flare up the week before this study which made me somewhat nervous.  We adjusted her medication again, and that had seemed to help; but we still did not know how this would affect the study this time around.  She actually did not sleep very well that night and woke up crying a few times {I think she was just extremely uncomfortable with everything that was attached to her}, so I really had no idea what to expect as far as the results were concerned.  We were tired girls the next day, but I was grateful to be past the whole experience since she gets pretty upset by the time they are done gluing and taping everything to her.  Then came the waiting.  "Waiting" seems to be one of our hallmark lessons of this past year {more on that in a later post}; and while we certainly have not mastered this trait, we have learned that it does not help our situation to worry through the waiting process.  I secretly hoped to have the results the next day {as we did last time}; but when we did not, I took comfort in God's perfect timing and wondered if maybe the longer waiting period meant that the situation was not as urgent this time.  The sleep study was on Wednesday night, and by Friday night we had still not heard anything and would have to wait through the weekend.  We enjoyed some wonderful, rare family time together, and Noelle even laughed several times, making me earnestly hope that we would not be losing that wonderful sound to a tracheotomy.  Most of today passed {the business hours, anyway} with still no word; but then suddenly the phone rang, the caller ID reflecting "Wake Forest."  My heart skipped a few beats as I picked it up, and the conversation that followed went like this:

Me: "Hello?"
Pulmonologist: "This is Dr. ____.  Is this a good time to talk?"
Me: "Yes, it is.
Pulmonologist: Well, her sleep study results are normal.
Me: W-w-what? 
Pulmonologist: They are basically normal!!  The normal overall grade is "1" or less, and she was at "0.5."
Me: Really?!!!
Pulmonologist: Yes!!  I say "basically" because she had one desaturation episode associated with an apnic episode in which she dropped her levels to 85, but it was only one time.
Me: That is great!!
Pulmonologist: Yes it is!!  She went from severe, severe, severe, SEVERE sleep apnea to completely normal, and I am so pleased!!  It shows you how bad reflux can truly be...

We discussed a few more things before ending the conversation, but I was in some shock.  We had hoped and prayed for some improvement; and God demonstrated how small our faith is {once again} and how big He is by completely eliminating the improvement clause and jumping right to normal range.  Noelle went from an average of forty episodes per hour to only one through the entire night.  Our hearts are filled with awe of our great God and extreme thankfulness that we are not scheduling her for a tracheotomy procedure.  Would He be less great if things had turned out differently?  Absolutely not.  We would have walked the tracheotomy path if that is what was best for Noelle in the larger scheme of things; but as her parents, we are so grateful that God intervened, and she is not going through such a traumatic event.  Now, we are ready to truly settle into this lock down period and attempt to stay as healthy as possible through these winter months, hopefully avoiding any setbacks or hospital stays.  We cannot thank you enough for your many prayers for this sleep study issue and your continued prayers for Noelle's health.  We are incredibly grateful from the very bottom of our hearts.