So Emma's breathing has been better than when I last posted, but last night she was definitely doing some choppy, uneven breathing as we were falling asleep. I heard it on the monitor and went into her room to check it out for myself. Maybe it's just coincidence, but the choppy breathing has occurred on nights that she is wearing a specific mask.
Emma REFUSES to sleep on her back, so sleeping with a breathing mask plastered ALL OVER the front of her face is a challenge. She has three masks to choose from, each with different engineering schemes. Only two work for belly sleepers, and I use the term "work" quite loosely. Those two both leave marks on Emma's forehead that we have struggled with pretty much since she started wearing a mask. We have finally settled on alternating between the two so that her skin will not start to break down. The masks don't really have much to do with Emma's actual sleep, though - the machine does all the work with regards to rhythm, strength, and frequency of blowing air, and the masks are just what the air comes out of. So I have a hard time believing that the actual mask is causing Emma to breathe off-kilter, but I'll continue to test that theory this week. (PS - One reason I don't want to call Emma's sleep specialist just yet is that he'll either a. not do anything about it except keep me out of work for a doctor's appointment or b. schedule another sleep study just a couple months after the last one that will show nothing except that the settings on her machine are correct.)
Sigh. A normal day with Emma is not a normal day for most moms, but at this point, I'd just settle for a normal Emma day.
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