Update

It is late Friday night, and Pedro has called to say that Owen is sleeping soundly. PTL! The girls are also sleeping, so in the meantime I have been doing some research of my own to answer a friend's question as to why exactly Owen was having this sleep study done.

After visiting a number of sites, I think I understand why the ENT doctor wanted to do the study before recommending surgery to remove Owen's enlarged adenoids. According to what I read, adenoids will typically shrink after age five and will practically disappear by the teenage years. So, unless they are continually becoming infected and/or causing recurrent ear infections which could lead to hearing loss, most doctors would probably recommend waiting for the child to outgrow the symptoms rather than having surgery.

That is, unless your child has sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder which causes the child's upper airway passages to be blocked repeatedly during the night, making it difficult for him to get enough air into his lungs. I am guessing that if this study shows that Owen has sleep apnea, his doctor will be recommending the surgery. We have an appointment with the ENT specialist on October 26 and will let you know what we find out ... As always, thank you so much for your prayers!