My phone just rang, at 9:24 on a Sunday night. I picked it up, and it was Iyyar's ENT.
"Hi, this is Dr. ENT!"
"Hi. Uh-oh. You're calling me on a Sunday night. This can't be good."
(I know, friendly, aren't I?)
"Actually, no, it is good. I'm calling because I just read the sleep study and it's good news."
"Really?"
"Really. I have the report right here and I can read it to you."
"Um... but why are you calling me at 9:24 [I was in the kitchen looking at the clock on the stove] on a Sunday night?"
"Because I knew you were worried."
WOW.
How's that for nice?!
Remember how annoyed I was at this doctor the first time I met him? We still have pretty incompatible personalities--I don't deal well with any kind of jokeyness where my kids are involved--but I hereby fully and finally retract anything negative I might ever have said about him.
Wow. So so nice!!!
Results, he said, showed "resolution of severe obstructive sleep apnea." AHI (obstructive episodes per hour, overall) was 4, down from 24 before. (Anything over 5 is a problem.) He spent all but one minute of his study with oxygen saturation over 90, and one minute below. He said, "This is what I would call borderline normal. It's not perfect, but as long as he feels okay, is waking up well rested, and seems okay to you, it's good enough." We talked a little bit more about his GI issues, and he mentioned that the GI tract and the airway are related, so if his GI tract is inflamed that can cause airway tract inflammation as well. But if anything, he thinks it's the GI causing the airway inflammation, not the other way around.
Bringing him back in on Thursday for a followup checkup (as already scheduled), and a hearing exam (ditto). And tomorrow, Abba's going to take him to get his blood drawn for the celiac disease test.
In other exciting news, when Iyyar woke up this morning, I asked him, very casually, if he wanted underwear or a diaper. He wanted underwear. Fine. Breakfast came with juice, and after breakfast I asked him to go sit on the potty. He didn't want to, but a dramatic reading of Commander Toad and the Space Pirates (formerly Barak's favorite book, now Iyyar's, and I could probably read it in my sleep) convinced him. Just as the door of the Star Warts whooshed open for the pirates to come whooping hopping slithering sliding in, he looked up, startled. "I pishing!" And indeed he was. Chocolate chips all around. And another round of juice, too, to keep things, ah, moving along.
Forty minutes later or so, I suggested another potty trip. He said no, but then I found him in the bathroom, tugging at his pants while peeing on the floor. A step in the right direction, surely. I went to get clean underwear and pants and in the meantime stood him on the stool and asked if he wanted to try pishing standing up (which he's never managed before, despite multiple attempts under Barak's enthusiastic tutelage.) And then--eureka!--"Imma! I pishing!" I'm sorry if this is a little too graphic, but the look of total delight on his face as he watched the pee arcing into the toilet bowl was something to be seen. It was absolutely, hey! Look what I can do!
He went three more times today, twice actually getting his clothes out of the way first, and then once more at bedtime--earning himself a pullup to sleep in, for the first time ever. You cannot imagine--or maybe you can--just how exciting this was. Of course, he then promptly pooped in it, and then when I changed him pooped in the next one. But I am not worrying about that. One thing at a time.
5 comments:
Hurray hurray on all counts! What a good day!
I'm impressed, truly. My kids can do the peeing and even sometimes the pooping, but taking off their own underpants? Apparently way too much to ask.
Which is one reason we're still doing naked potty practice. You think it's going to be a problem if they're trained by the time school starts, but only when not wearing any clothes?? ;)
Persephone, having an older brother around is really, really helpful. He demonstrates the fine art of potty-peeing in a way that I am not, ah, equipped to do. As in, shows how much fun it can be to pish in the potty when you are a boy. I admit, they do have it all over girls there.
And I know better than to think that a good day today will equal a good day tomorrow, potty-wise. Still. Just the development of being able to pish standing up--so much less trouble--is huge.
One thing I found helpful with Barak was buying elastic-waisted comfy pants. I got some flannel ones that look like PJ's, and also some similar gym shorts. Much less help needed that way--no fiddling with snaps, zippers etc.
Fantastic news on the ENT front and the potty front! I remember Commander Toad well.... we've got a couple of those around here somewhere.
Older brothers are great for "helping" with potty training..... right up until the moment one tries to teach your daughter how to pee standing up. We catch her trying to pee standing up every so often, just in case it might work now.
And hey, he waited for the pullup to poop in (not the underwear, not the floor), and wasn't constipated, right? Sounds like 2 steps in the right direction.
YAY!! (Even the steps and stages along the way deserve recognition)
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