My four-year-old little girl snores. It’s not a sweet, soft toddler snore. It’s a sucking-in-air, very loud, old-man snore. We always thought it was funny, until I read an article a few weeks ago about sleep problems in children.
It turns out that my little girl has Obstructive Sleep Apnea, which can cause a lot of problems with learning and thriving and can even be life-threatening.
My daughter’s symptoms are:
- frequent episodes of obstructed breathing during sleep. She stops breathing for several seconds at a time.
- excessive daytime sleepiness
- snoring – loud
- nocturnal snorting, gasping, choking (wakes herself up)
- restless sleep
- heavy irregular breathing
- excessive perspiring during sleep
- sleeps with mouth open, causing a dry mouth upon awakening
- chest retraction during sleep in young children (chest pulls in)
- sleeps in strange positions arched backward over pillow or head hanging backward off the bed
- confusion upon awakening
- unrefreshing sleep
- is underweight
I knew that she was tired during the day and slept in strange positions. It wasn’t until that I’d read the article that I started watching her a lot more when she was sleeping deeply. I realized for the first time that she actually stops breathing for several seconds at a time. It’s terrifying! I go in several times every night now to check on her and am so worried about her.
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I took her to the doctor on Friday to get a referral for a sleep study. The doctor sent her for an immediate assessment by an Ear, Nose & Throat surgeon the same afternoon. The ENT surgeon wants to schedule a surgery to take my daughters’ tonsils and adenoids out as soon as possible. If she continues to have breathing problems after the surgery, she will have to have the sleep test.
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I can’t believe I didn’t know how serious her snoring was until now! I have to say that I am so thankful to finally know that she has these problems, but I’m so scared of her being put under anesthesia. She’s a tiny little thing and I just can’t imagine having them put her to sleep. When I’ve been put under anesthesia twice before, both anesthesiologists had a difficult time waking me up. What if that’s somehow genetic and her tiny body can’t wake up?
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I am absolutely terrified. We’ll have a meeting with the surgeon in the next week or so, but until then I have so many questions.
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Did any of your kids have a surgery with anesthesia? What’s the process? Do I get to hold her hand while they do it? Will I be there when she’s waking up? Were you terrified too?
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Sarah says
Mickey, I am so sorry that you are going through this. My son had surgery when he was 2 and it was so incredibly scary! I got to hold him in my arms while they put him to sleep (Children’s Hospital Denver). They called me the second he woke up but wouldn’t allow us to be there while he was waking because sometimes kids freak out if they see their parents there and they don’t want them trying to get up to get to you or anything.
It was really hard but the next day he was running around like it was nothing, making me even more nervous! He had no idea that he should be bed ridden and feeling some kind of post surgery pain! Kids recover so quickly!
I will be thinking of you and praying for you (((HUGS)))
Mickey says
I didn’t know that, Sarah! Thank you. I might ask you to remind me again that she’ll be fine right before we go. 🙂
Melissa says
Both my son and daughter were put under for Hernia correction. My son was 2 Daughter was 15 months. With my son I was not allowed in the room when they were putting him under, My daughter I was and I wish I would not have been. Their little bodies react to the meds when they go under and she gasped for air until they could get her regulated. That is the last thing I remember when I left the operating room. Both of my kids were pretty upset and in a little pain when they woke up but nothing that a little mommy love can’t fix. I think in your situation the risks of putting her under are far less than doing nothing at all. She should be fine mama. Lots of love
Mickey says
I’m already in tears reading about your daughter and know I’ll be a wreck when the time comes. Maybe it will be better to not see.
Thank you! ♥
Jenny says
My daughter did not have surgery, she had an MRI, but she was sedated. She was 8 months old. I choose not to see her go to sleep so they gave her some sleepy medicine and then they took her and put her under afterwards. I had anxiety about what she would look like when she went to sleep etc.
Some places allow you to be there when they go to sleep but many I have heard don’t. Some prefer it and some don’t. Depends on the doctors. So make sure you ask 🙂 Start making a list now of all the questions you might have.
My daughter went to a childrens hospital and what I really liked was that they had a woman that was with her the entire time and kind of like her “mommy” advocate. Basically she stayed with her during the entire process when my daughter wasn’t with me.
I was not allowed to see her until she was out of recovery, but the women stayed with her while she was waking up and played with her, etc.
Now I was scared to death also. I don’t do well with anesthesia either…but she did fine. Obviously things are different in that your daughter is older and is getting surgery, but talk to the doctors about what you want and what they allow…way before it happens. It helped knowing exactly what was going to happen.
Also, I was allowed to ask the nurses at the desk as many times as I wanted how she was doing and a nurse would give them feedback. That helped a lot. I didnt have to ask that many times, but i did ask them to tell me how she did with the anesthsia etc.
Everything will be alright. I will tell you this though…the anxiety will not fade until she is out and you know she is ok.
It sounds like she is in great hands and everything will be fine! My good friends daughter just had the same surgery and it went very, very well with great results. Praying for all of you 🙂
Mickey says
Thank you, Jenny. That gives me a lot to think about and ask about. The “mommy” advocate sounds perfect; I so hope we have one.
I know that it’s a fairy routine surgery, but the thought of her out completely is too hard to deal with.
Thank you so much for responding and giving me an idea of what I can expect. ♥
Mandi says
I am so sorry about your daughter having to have surgery. So scary for the both of you. But so glad you caught it. I don’t have any advice, but saying prayers for you.
Sarah says
I should add that I wasn’t there for the actual anesthesia, I was there when he went to sleep. They put some smelly gel stuff (so that he would want to have his face in there) in a breathing mask and put it on his face and gave him a gas that was similar to laughing gas but put him to sleep. It was very calm in the room, he simply fell asleep on my lap with the mask on… the only difference was that he felt SUPER heavy because the sleep was so deep. You may want to ask if they will do anesthesia right away or if they will do a sleeping gas and then anesthesia. I am sure that all hospitals do it differently, Children’s hospital here does it this way to allow parents to feel more comfortable, while allowing kids to be with their parents for as long as possible so they don’t get scared.
I will remind you 😉
Robin Quick says
While my son was never put under anesthesia he was admitted to the hospital with RSV at the age of 6 weeks. At that time I had no idea what RSV was. He had several test & things done while in the hospital that I wasn’t allowed to go with him for. One in particular was when they put an IV in his head.They were just across the hall & I could hear him crying.It broke my heart & I just sat there & sobbed. He was admitted when he was 2 with thrush. I had no idea how serious thrush can be! He was dehydrated from not wanting to eat or drink anything. He was admitted again when he was in kindergarten. He would eat and throw up. He lost so much weight that he didn’t look like himself. Again he had test after test. Some I was there for, Some I wasn’t. But all still scary for this mom! After being in the hospital a week with no diagnosis they said it had to be a virus and sent him home. He was fine after 2 days at home. He is a strapping 6 ft tall 170 pound 14 year old now. So he is fine & perfectly healthy.
Mickey says
When I read the line about sending him home with no diagnosis, I thought the next line would be heartbreaking. I’m so glad to hear he’s fine!
I can’t imagine having to go through so many scary episodes like that. I know that I’ll probably sob the entire time too, but I’ll just try to be as strong as I can and we’ll get through it.
Thank you for sharing, Robin. ♥
julie says
Hi Mickey, First time on your blog, and coincidentally, my son had his 18 month check up last week, and as I talked about his ongoing stuffiness and snoring, our ped asked me a few other questions – does he mouth breathe (yes) and does he sometimes gasp or make a noise in his sleep (yes). She said it sounds like his adenoids and recommended an ENT.
Well, we are now going to see an ENT next week. I fear the dr will want to remove his adenoids. and i really don’t want my little baby to need surgery, the thought of him having surgery is really scary. of course I want him to be healthy and breathe well and sleep well and be okay, but it’s so hard to think about it. so i understand how scared you must be, potentially being in the same boat.
The dr. never mentioned the apnea, but reading your daughter’s symptoms, I wonder if it’s that as well?
Please let me know how it goes with your daughter. I hope all goes well and that she is okay.
Julie
Mickey says
Julie,
Your baby is just a little younger than my baby boy. I can’t imagine having a surgery for him either; that’s so little. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to have any of the problems that his sister does.
We just scheduled my daughter’s surgery for Wednesday morning, so I’ll hopefully be back posting Wednesday night that everything is over and fine.
I’ll keep your son in my thoughts. If he does end up needing the surgery, I’ll be happy to tell you everything I can about what happens. Hopefully he won’t, but I agree that breathing clearly and sleeping well is so important.
Mickey ♥