Long, long Monday

Our day began when the alarm clock went off at 445a. While I packed the rest of my bags (later to realize I forgot 10 things I needed), AK dressed Annabelle. 

The drive was miserable. I didn't have my coffee, traffic was a nightmare on Monday mornings commute into Washington DC but fortunately, Annabelle slept the entire way! We made it to the airport with 50m before departure. I rushed to checkin and we swiftly got thru security (only to have our bags and Annabelle's formula scanned twice..) 

Reagan National is an interesting airport to fly from. Their process and how we made our way to the plane is much like hurding cattle.. We stand in one area, ushered downstairs to stand in a single file line, escorted to a shuttle bus where we stood for 30-40m in the cold, then dropped off in the middle of the airport to walk in the rain towards a set of stairs where we finally boarded the plane. Annabelle was NOT happy about the long shuttle of movement and excessive standing. She can't stand for long periods of time and she surely cannot walk longer than an hour. I spent much of the time carrying her and pleading she stand and walk on her own. It was a rough start to the day. 

As soon as we boarded, we all exhaled a sigh of relief.. Unfortunately though, we ended up sitting on the plane and in line for the runway for an hour. Our plane departed over and hour late, thus making us land and missing our first appointment of the day. (Landing was long, moving from arrivals to the shuttle was long, my arranged transportation wasn't aware of our flight delay, so we wait for a different pickup, etc.)

 I was disappointed to miss our first appointment of the day, but it wasn't a top priority, it was our GI follow up. Of course there are many things I need to discuss with our GI, but we work well via email so I will contact him later. 

When we got to the hotel, Annabelle and I ordered lunch and took a nap. The day was long and she had no energy left to do anything. I was impressed at how drained she had become .. She was worrying me, so we snuggled and snoozed until our next appointment at 330p.

When we left for the hospital, it began to snow!!!! She couldn't get enough of watching it fall :)

Our 330 appointment was with the Sleep Clinic. We met with a few doctors and discussed our concerns. In my mind, a sleep clinic is for sleep apnea and I don't think Annabelle suffers from that. Our reason for being there is:

- she sleep over 15hrs x day but still falls asleep during passive activities 

- she is terribly behind, academically

- her body fatigues so quickly 

- she cannot do normal activities like other kids, she can't run and play without tiring to the point she cannot stand 

- Annabelle's never slept thru the night. Her sleep is broken and restless

- she wets the bed every night, even when she's woken 3-4x

- ADHD 

- depression and anxiety 

After discussions with the doctors, we decided a sleep study would be the best option for Annabelle. Although they do not always yield an explanation for things like Annabelle is experiencing, it will help if we can uncover something. I will schedule the study for our next trip back. 

When we got back to the hotel, Annabelle was once again terribly sore and tired of walking and standing, we rested for an hour before going downstairs for a delicious dinner. She had a veggie burger and LOVED how messy it was to eat :)

Sweet dreams friends!