Sedated ABR-Jackson's day in the hospital

Thank you all for all of your encouraging comments on my post about Jackson's speech delay.  Your comments really help me to know that all children are different and ease my worries. 

Many of you suggested that Jackson get a hearing test, just in case.  At the time, Jackson had already gone in for a typical hearing test, and the results were inconclusive.  He hates doctors.  As soon as we step into the medical clinic he starts screaming and doesn't stop until we leave (unless they have Dora on the TV!) So when we went in for the hearing test, he was fine until the doctor started messing with his ears, then we just could not calm him down.  They did the test anyway.  He responded to the louder noises, but since he was crying so much, they couldn't tell if he wasn't hearing the lower noises because he was crying or because he literally could not hear them. 

So we were waiting for them to do a sedated ABR on him.  The best way that I can explain this, is that after they sedated him, they attached electrodes to his head, then played sounds and tracked his brain waves so that they could see if he was hearing them or not.  I was nervous about letting them put him to sleep, but so many doctors thought it was necessary, that I let them do it.  Luckily, my MIL came to town to help me out. 

The test was on Thursday.  We were at the hospital for almost 7 hours.  The test itself only took about 45 minutes, and I had no idea that the whole process would take that long.  As soon as we changed Jackson into his hospital gown, he got upset.

and tried to leave...

The doctor who came in to inspect Jackson before they administered the sedative announced that Jackson has "the tonsils of a 4 year old" and he told us that this would increase the chance of something going wrong during the procedure. More specifically, there was a chance that Jackson would stop breathing.  My MIL and I were understandably upset, and honestly, I just wanted to leave right then.  No matter what the doctors said, I was convinced that Jackson could hear just fine.  The doctor and nurse calmed us down and convinced us to go through the procedure, telling us all of the things they have in place to keep that from happening.  They actually came in and measured him for oral airways while we waited. 

In the end, the test went perfectly.  The audiologist told us that Jackson slept fine (apparently some children wake up during the procedure) and that he has perfect hearing! (You don't know how hard it was for me to shut my mouth and not yell TOLD YOU SO!) We were extremely happy about that, but we still had to wait around the hospital for him to wake up and make sure he could drink juice without vomiting before they would release him.  This turned out to take a long time because they had to give him an extra dose of sedation to get him to go to sleep. 

Trying to calm him down (it didn't work!)

I cannot tell you how glad I am that this whole ordeal is done! And now when Jackson does something he knows he's not supposed to do even while I'm telling him no, I yell "I KNOW you can hear me!"