Yesterday morning at 7:00 am I left
my house with Spencer awake and happy with high hopes of a successful feed and
sleep CT scan. First let me explain what a “feed and sleep is”. In order to do
a CT on a baby they need to be asleep so they don’t move. They can achieve this
two ways. One is sedating them with a drug that will put him out for about two
hours or the mother can nurse the baby and try to put him down naturally and
pray that he stays asleep during the scan. We decided after much talking that
we wanted to go the “feed and sleep” route as it is a five minute scan. When we
got there Spencer was exhausted and hungry so I fed him. I swaddled him as I do
regularly for his nap and then I took him into the room with the scanner. You
would think it is loud but in fact it is just a quiet hum so I figured we can
do this. After all, it is only a five minute scan. Of course, Spency will sleep
for five minutes. If it was Eidan (my older one forget it because I couldn’t
even really get him down for a nap in his own crib) Spencer is such a good napper
I figured we had this in the bag. So, I put Spencer on the table, he stays
asleep, phew. They wrap him with a blanket, they put a cover over him so he can’t
fall off the table if he does wake up, then they put the lead on him and me. He’s
still asleep. I’m so happy! The machine starts, he is still asleep. The machine
goes a little louder and faster and starts making cool air. It seemed like it
was eternity but oh oh, Spency is stirring. Oh, no, an arm is out! He’s awake
and he starts to cry. It seemed like such a long time so I was hoping that he
had done it even though he had woken up. The technician came out and said he
was 14 seconds away from being finished so unfortunately we will have to try
again. I am so discouraged. A nurse came
into say not to worry. They have a 99% success rate with the feed and sleep so
not to stress. I got Spencer back to sleep very soon after and decided to try
again. I put him down, the machine started and boom he was awake right away. A
no go! The nurse again comes back told us to go for a walk, feed Spencer his
cereal and we’ll try again in a little while. So Steve and I agreed. We took
Spencer for a walk, we fed him breakfast. We took him to the Family Centre
which is a carpeted library and let him crawl around a bit. He started to rub
his eyes and get cranky so back upstairs we went with serious high hopes. It is
now 1:30 so it is his usually afternoon nap time. This time the nurses decide
that when he is sleeping, they want to take him into the room and try and get
him down. They believe that he smells me and that I am his food source
therefore maybe being away from me might help. I knew deep down that this was very
wrong as I put him down everyday but figured that they were the professionals
and they weren’t really giving me a choice. So after me holding him in a good
sleep for 15 minutes they take him, and sure enough within a minute I can hear
him screaming at the top of his lungs (which he rarely does). I waited a minute
and then decided I am not happy with this so I go in and take him back. Again a
no go! I was seriously getting discouraged. I called my mother who was watching
Eidan and told her what was going on. She was at my sister’s house so that my
nephew and son could play together and she was also upset but convinced us that
all was fine and that we should persevere! As hard and as frustrating it was we
needed to at least give it one more chance. My sister said the same thing so
Steve and I talked and agreed that we would try one last time and if it didn’t
work this time we would rebook the appointment and have to sedate him. Again,
we go downstairs, we eat lunch. I feed Spencer a good lunch of Yogurt and
Fruit. He eats well, he poops, we change him and decide to take him to the “playpark”.
Inside Sick Kids Hospital is an area where parents can either drop off children
or stay with them and play. It is about five little rooms with all kinds of
toys, books, instruments, computers, and wonderful volunteers. We decide to go
in, Spencer has a ball, he is crawling around, he is playing with all kinds of
age appropriate toys, and it is now 2:30. After about 20 minutes he is exhausted.
I figure this is it! We go back upstairs to start the whole process one more
time. This time he falls asleep so so fast in my arms. I wait about 7 minutes
and tell the nurse we are ready to go. This time I am talking to the nurse and
Spency is completely out. I bring him in the room and this time they start the
machine right away. There was a different technician. She was really sweet but stricter.
The man in the morning let Spencer keep the pacifier and this one said we had
to take it out. So my heart dropped figuring that once she takes it out we will
be finished but….I put him on the table, he’s asleep. They wrap him…he’s still
asleep. They put my lead apron on….he is still asleep and snoring away. They
adjust the table…he’s still asleep. Lastly, she takes out the pacifier and my
heart stops but he stays asleep. All the while I am shaking and shushing him at
the same time. The machine starts making that wind again and he’s asleep, no
movement at all…..”Oh my g-d” I am thinking. How much time has gone by? I’m
trying to look at my watch and figure out how much time has gone past. The
machine is moving back and forth but he is still sleeping! Then it stops and I
thought “Are you finished….did he do it?” The technician comes out with two humongous
thumbs up saying he did it! The table comes out and he is still sleeping. The
man undoes the covering with a loud velcro sound and wakes him up! I don’t
care! We did it!!!!! What a relief. Spencer did it! I was
so happy I could have jumped up and down with him (but of course I didn’t. I
felt like a new person and Spencer was looking at me like why are you so happy
and loud and why am I awake again? But it was all good. Steve and I gave him a
thousand kisses and made our way back home.
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