Testing 1, 2, 3...

Laney's EEG was scheduled on Friday afternoon. At nap time. I told Mike he didn't have to come with us, as I was under the impression that only one parent could be in the room with Lane at a time. Boy, was I wrong. I wish Mike had been there with me because not only was the test traumatizing & tumultuous, but it was also exhausting. Physically and emotionally. We were only at the office for 1.5 hours but it felt like days.

Upon picking up Bug from school she had a present awaiting her from her best buddy, Sammy. We had been preparing her for several days that she'd be going to the "fun" doctor (they gave her a quilt and had a waiting room full of interactive, state of the art toys...so it was as fun as a doctor's office can be) to take a nap. That she'd be getting magic buttons on her head with a magic hat over them. No big deal. We just packed a bag full of her lovies and a fan for white noise (Jaime was cracking up when I told her Bug would have to take a nap, "I'd love to see the size of the bag you carry into that office with your jet-engine fan!").

Still happy waiting to be called

We thought we had prepared Laney (and ourselves) for what was to be an hour and a half nap (so we thought). But no amount of reading materials and personal accounts could prepare us for what was to come.

Apparently the entire process was to take 1.5 hours. Thirty to forty five minutes of prep time consisted of the most horrifying 45 minutes of my life. I had to lay Laney on a hospital bed, on top of a white sheet. The nurse then swaddled (I called it a straight-jacket) Laney and I was told to put my entire body on top of her to hold her down to ensure her arms don't come out. Oh, and at the same time hold her head still so the nurse could meausre all the spots the electrodes were to be placed.

Turns out Laney wasn't a fan of being wrapped up, having her mom on top of her, and being marked with a black crayon. Go figure. The screaming ensued immediately. Blood curdling screaming & crying. Her eyes staring into mine (as I was just inches from her face) begging for this all to end. No words I could say, no songs I could sing would calm her. Laney is a finger sucker; she self soothes and was unable to do so as her arms were tied down (by me). Hurt so much knowing I was inflicting all of this pain on my baby. But all the while the nurse said this was completely normal. Wow, sure am glad I don't have her job.

Once all of the markers were placed on her head, the nurse then told me that she will now have to glue all twenty seven electrodes to Laney's head. Excuse me, did you say twenty seven? Those 30 minutes of measuring and gluing were the worst 30 minutes of my life. Pretty sure of it. The nurse wrapped a large bandage around Lane's head, put two more electrodes on her chest (for an EKG) and turned the lights off. By now Laney had worked her hand out and her fingers found her mouth. She was calm and content now. Drifting off into a slumber. One minute later and the nurse said one of the electrodes wasn't working; she'll have to replace it. Are. You. Serious?!

Lights on. Unwrap bandage. Try to get aforementioned glued-on electrode off and replaced. Laney was now woken up by her hair being tugged and her screaming quickly started again. By now my arms were extremely sore from the 30 minute wrestling match we'd already had. Anyway, the electrode was replaced and the lights were again off. All set. Or not...

Since Laney sucks her fingers to fall asleep, as soon as she'd drift off her fingers would fall out of her mouth and she'd quickly jerk them back into her mouth. I didn't notice any of this, but the nurse said she could tell based on her brain patterns on the computer she was monitoring. She suggested we prop Laney's arm up so the fingers don't fall out (and so she could get this testing underway). Propping worked.

This test was not only monitored on a fancy computer, but it was also video & audio recorded. I walked over to the monitor and was blown away at how much was going on. Brain patterns, heart rate, video of my sweet girl sleeping. Was intense. And anyone that knows me knows that I'm a question asker. I was chomping at the bit to ask the nurse what it all meant, but didn't want to wake Lane. Here's what she looked like in the dark testing room:

Fifteen minutes after Laney fell asleep the nurse said to me, "Ok, we can wake her up now." Um, what? I was prepared for Laney to get a good nap in. And now we have to wake her up? Mmkay. And the kicker? She had to be woken up with a strobe light one foot from her face (flashing lights sometime bring on seizures). I once again had to lay on top of Laney and hold her head straight so as to keep her staring at the light. When was this torture going to end? Here's how Laney looked once the strobe light stopped:

Finally it was time to take everything off, which I thought would be the easy part. Not so much. Remember, these 27 electrodes were glued. Onto a head of hair.

Warm washcloth compresses and lots of combing and tugging later, a few electrodes were removed. Laney was less than thrilled with all of this as you can tell from her sad little face:

Finally all 27 electrodes were removed (with much glue still left in her hair for me to take care of at home) and Laney was back to her happy self (with the help of a sucker). We were elated to be walking out of that office.

We were told we'll get the results in the next week. Good news (normal EEG) and we'll get something in the mail. Bad news (abnormal EEG) and we'll get a phone call from the doctor. Either way, we're glad this test is behind us and are just ready to get some answers.