Sleep Study

Ares' sleep study was last night, so we packed our bags and headed to the downtown campus of the Cleveland Clinic.  First, I cannot say enough good things about the two technicians that worked with Ares.  They were absolutely PHENOMENAL.   I also cannot say enough good things about Ares. He was such a trooper.  He allowed them to put on all of the electrodes without a fight (OK, all but one).  The chin one he didn't like because it itched, so he kept scratching it, but he didn't fight them.  The rough one was the one that the poor kid had to keep on his lip/in his nose. 

The nose wire, he fought - but politely. He kept squirming and turning his head saying "no thank you" while whimpering.  Mind you, at this point, he already had about 20+ strings hanging off of him, including a very ticklish one on his big toe (and the itchy one on his chin). Broke my heart.  One of the techs suggested putting one on mousie too, and all was well in the world (OK, that, and bribing him with a chocolate donut with sprinkles).
He had wires on his toe, legs, sides, stomach, around the waist and chest, arms, chin, cheeks, nose and all around the head.  He still didn't like it, but he was soo good, we read some books, watched some videos on daddy's phone, and he went to sleep around 9.  My. Amazing. Kid.  He slept about 9 hours, until they woke us up around 6.  Me, on the other hand, heard every time he made a noise or each time a tech came into the room to move a wire, not such a good night's sleep.

Adam stayed around until 11 and was a huge help for my sanity and for keeping Ares entertained while I filled out paperwork and while he was getting the wires put on.  He then made the hour-ish trek home (no highways nearby the Hospital) to let the dog out, and get some sleep, because he had to be up early for work, (I took a few hours off). Ares asked for him once, around 2:15, but was otherwise OK. 

My biggest fear was of him waking up (enough to be completely aware of what was going on) to go potty never happened.  He slept the entire night. (Otherwise, we would have had to call the tech's, unhook the wires form the machine, carry him and them to the bathroom, hoping none disconnected, and then back to bed, all while him keeping the one obnoxious wire up his nose - haha, that would have NEVER happened).

I thought that removing the electrodes would be good in his eyes, except, -oh Lordy- All. That. Tape.  I still don't have all the adhesive off his body, after a long shower.  The wires on his head were put on there with a Vaseline like putty.  About a half tablespoon for each of the wires (5? 6? 7? A lot).   That, plus the red paint they put in his hair was fun to get out this morning, before I dropped him off at school, ran to Starbucks, and got to work (all by 9:45AM). 

Alas, here's a picture of my cutie-patootie.  Again, I cannot say enough, how well this kid did, I am so proud of him.  (And yes, he did get his chocolate covered donut in the morning.)

We had to keep Ares up all day without a nap.  Fortunately, the weather was near 70* (in March!!) so we played outside all day long.  He got a little tired, however, we had some 'quiet cuddle time' and all was well in the world. 

Saturday, Adam, Ares and I ran the St. Malachi race in downtown Cleveland.  Adam ran the two mile with me, while pushing Ares (I beat my goal of 22 minutes, by an entire minute!!) and then Adam ran the 5 mile one ahead my Brother, and finished in 35 minutes 46 seconds.  That was wild!  He's so fast!  Justice finished in 44 minutes - awesome!!