That's exactly what Sleep apnea sounds like. My husband has stopped breathing for upwards of 40 seconds...probably longer - and when they catch that breath finally - it's a HORRIBLE SCARY noise. For the longest time I would jump staight up when he did it.

and no - Mine won't wear the mask. He knows that it's bad but I guess when someone is already as sick as he is - he must feel "why bother?". I've bugged him till I got on his nerves about it. :(

Yorkie3 ...you should look up Sleep Apnea on the net and try to convince him that it IS dangerous....but if it only happens that many times a year - he probably doesn\'t need that mask. My husband does it that many times a night....every night.

The thing is, if he is AWARE that he is doing it, even if it is only a couple of times a year, then chances are extremely likely that he is stopping breathing every single night and he is just not aware of it. My dad was not aware AT ALL the he quit breathing at night...he only went to the doctor because of his snoring. Then they did a sleep test on him and told him that he was stopping breathing dozens of times every night...sometimes for 30 seconds or more. It is very disturbing. I would strongly encourage your hubby to go see a doctor. It will make a world of difference.

I\'ve researched it on the net and gave him the information, telling him that he could die from it, but I think, as with most men, if it doesn\'t happen all the time, they think it\'s okay. I just don\'t understand the way they think sometimes. I\'ve told him to look our son in the eyes and tell him he doesn\'t care if he has to go on without a father, then he just gets mad at me.

I will definitely show him this thread tonight when he gets home from work. You\'ve all said enough to scare me, so hopefully it will scare him too!!!

Just wanted to jump in here and say that I was going to suggest this also. My husband has been using the c-pap machine for several months now and it is a godsend!! When he did his sleep study, he actually had an average of 65 episodes a MINUTE where he stopped breathing. This is one of many possible reasons that people snore. Thank goodness our insurance covers the machine and the sleep study - my dad wants to do it too but his insurance doesn\'t cover it. I would highly recommend looking into this option. It truly did amazing things for my husband! And you know, most people that snore really don\'t realize they are not breathing. They only realize the really bad episodes but it shocked us to learn just how many times my husband stopped breathing. I finally forced him to go to the dr. for it when he jumped out of bed in the middle of the night one time and couldn\'t catch his breath for nearly a whole minute. Almost like he\'d had the wind knocked out of him. It scared him pretty bad. Good luck persuading him to try this!

Oh, and God bless you for doing what you can to help that little girl! It\'s truly people like you that make a difference in these kids lives! Hope that all works out for her.