Another Sleep Study...

The sad thing is that the picture of Nathan tells a little too much about how he knew this was his 4th sleep study! Its the "I can't believe you are putting me through this again!" putout look! He was such a trooper getting the probes on. He didn't fight it or anything. He just sat and played with Woody from Toy Story and watched "Cars".







Last night I took Nathan up to Primary Children's for hopefully our last sleep study in a while. This study was to check the status of his severe obstructive sleep apnea post mandibular distraction.

I hate that they call it "sleep study". Neither one of us slept great... but the good news is that Nathan did not need oxygen at all last night! That is such a big step forward for this little guy. They said his oxygen sats were around 88-90 which is awesome for Nathan at night! If a child drops below 85 then they are required to put oxygen on him. I hope that this is an indication of good things to come as we won't find out the results of the study for another 2-3 weeks. I have an appointment with Dr. Park on August 25th to discuss the results if we don't recieve a phone call from him before then.

Wish us luck that the jaw problem is over with for a while! With the jaw problems out of the way it would do a world of wonder for his heart and particularly his pulmonary hypertension.

The Museum of Science and Industry

The day after Jake came to Chicago, we decided to go see the Museum of Science and Industry. We thought the science museum in Seattle was awesome; this place made the one in Seattle look like it was put together by amateurs. Jake, the textbook version of what a science teacher should be, was in seventh heaven!

There were so many things to do and see in this place. My favorites were the sections on the human body and the weather which included the transfer of energy. The human body section should what the body parts looked like without the skin and muscles. It also had a human heart that had been donated. There was a section that showed the growth of babies in the mother's womb. All of the babies had passed away at different gestational ages and had been preserved for people to see what forms at what stage during a pregnancy. It was very interesting to see.

My other favorite part was the wing specializing in weather. They had a movie on how lightening is created and then had a demonstration on the ceiling above us. Ellie and Nathan LOVED it. We could have spent days at that place. We visited this place on the first Thursday we were there and had previously decided that we would go to Hannibal and Nauvoo on the weekend. If we ever got to go to Chicago again, I would make that the top priority of places to see.

Tap, Tap Tap.......

Does this blog actually still function?

On some level it does. I should do better, but oh well.


For work I had to spend 2 weeks in June auditing companies in Chicago. Jake and I figured that he would not enjoy taking care of the kids for 2 weeks by himself so we opted to make this our "family vacation" for the year. We couldn't afford to fly, so yes... Kathleen (Jake's sister) and I braved the roads and the kids for a 2 1/2 day drive I hope not to repeat for quite some time. The kids were actually very good travelers, but 2 days in a car can be LONG. Jake's sister came out with us to help tend the kids because Jake's work decided that he would have to attend a work retreat for the first few days I was supposed to spend working in Chicago.

Before Jake flew out from Utah to join us, Kath and I decided we had to do a few fun things that Jake wouldn't want to do. The main event was the American Girls Doll Place. Wow! The dolls were incredible! I never had one when I was a girl, but I wish that I had. I bought Ellie the friend of Kit Kitredge (Ruthie) I believe. She has loved that doll and taken exceptional care of her since bringing her home. The store also had a doll salon, a doll hospital, and room for tea parties. It was AMAZING! Ellie has named her doll Emma Lynn Ellinger so it would be the same initials as her.

After the American Girl store we hopped on a bus and visited the Adler Planetarium. It is located right on the shore to the lake. It had such a fun children's area to play in and the kids had a great time. Who knows? Maybe someday one of them will be an astronaut or fly to the moon!