"Bobby"

Ever since we can remember, Peyton has had trouble breathing through his nose.  His pediatrician said his adenoids were likely to blame-being too large for his little head.  He advised to wait it out, as he might grow into his adenoids by the time he turned 4.  Well, in the past 6 months it seems to have gotten worse.  He snores, he has sleep apnea, and his speech is altered (his M's sound like B's.  He calls me 'Bobby,' LOL). I took him in to see his doc, Dr. Heffernan who suspected enlarged adenoids and referred us to a peds ENT specialist.  Today we took him in and Peyt was such a champ.  The doc looked in his ears, mouth and nose and then talked with us about his symptoms.  Once he learned that Peyt was having sleep apnea due to his adenoids, he advised to have his tonsils/adenoids removed.  He said that since he's not getting a fully rested sleep, it will begin to affect him in a negative way in regards to school, behavior, etc.  He wanted to confirm that his adenoids were indeed enlarged so he had to get this special scope with a light on the end and put it up his nose to take a looksie.  Peyton was so brave! B and I could tell he was SO uncomfortable, it broke our hearts to sit there watching him sit really still as tears ran down his face and his little lip quivered.  SO sad, but he was fine once that thing was out his nose and he got stickers for being such an awesome patient. 
I was kind of surprised that the doctor also advised having his tonsils out, because Dr. Heffernan said his tonsils looked fine and could probably stay in.  But, Dr. Hargunani said that often times, kids with sleep apnea, if the tonsils aren't also removed, the sleep apnea won't go away.  He said he'd rather take both the adenoids and tonsils out so we don't have to take him back into surgery shortly after to take the tonsils out. 
Thankfully, we don't have to schedule the surgery right away..given that I'm due to have this baby anytime.  We'll probably wait until after Peyt's birthday and after we get settled with the baby.  So maybe in March sometime.  It's scary to think of him being under anesthesia and being operated on! But I just want him to breath better, be more rested, and be able to say 'Mommy' like he used to!  :)