I know, I know, its a little late but, Halloween!

So we were clowns for Halloween (except for Jadyn, our little Ladybug). We couldn't find noses at first but found some in time for Halloween, just not for these pictures (hence the nose paint). It was a hit.


What a cute little baby girl with her daddy. She could have cared less about Halloween. So we ate most of her candy for her, she loves the suckers though!


Kelly was such a little doll. She has a pair of "wee squeaks" shoes that were perfect little squeakers for her clown costume.


We don't normally dress up really but it was fun to go as a clown family this year.

Infantile Spasms (aka West Syndrome)

Warning! This is a very long post! You will be rewarded with photos at the end!

It has been a scary and interesting journey with Jadyn these last several months. Around 4 months old I noticed her making some odd eye movements, mostly it looked like she was rolling her eyes up (briefly but uncontrollably and in clusters). Our doctor was unsure that anything was wrong and didn't think we needed to take any action. While we were waiting for another appointment to see the doctor the problem got worse. She started having head drop attacks and her arms would jump out (like a startle reflex) and her legs would buckle. After some doubt and frustration we insisted that Jadyn be seen by a neurologist to try and figure out what was going on. The first place we called wanted us to wait until August and we couldn't even think about waiting that long. Luckily when we called Phoenix Children's Hospital they could get us in at the end of April. The first appointment was a little disappointing because the doctor saw her but wasn't worried enough to admit her to do any testing and so we had to make an appointment 2 weeks later for an EEG (electroencephalogram). While we were having the EEG done the tech went out of the room and came back a minute later and said our doctor wanted to see us right after the EEG was over. That made me a little worried, but then I figured that if there was something wrong then that is why we were having the test done, to find out what it is and what we can do to fix it. When the doctor came in he gave us the news- Jadyn has infantile spasms. The indicators for this diagnosis are the seizure spasms, retardation (or regression/developmental delay), and hypsarrythmia (which is found on the EEG). She had the seizures and the hypsarrythmia and to this point, hadn't had any delays in her development. We heard 3 different options for treatment- ACTH, Prednisone (both cortisone steroids), and Vigabatrin (a seizure med). Since this is not your average form of epilepsy regular seizure medications don't usually work (with the exception of vigabatrin). There are lots of different methods for treating it, but ACTH and Prednisone are the front line treatments right now. After a little discussion we decided along with our doctor to use prednisone. Let me give you a little info on prednisone. The regular maximum dose is 60 mg per day. There are tons of side effects including but not limited to: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, serious hunger and weight gain, water retention, extreme mood swings, ulcers, depression, etc. Jadyn was started on 90 mg twice a day (180 mg per day) and also a two doses of infant pepcid to help prevent ulcers. After 24 hours she was seizure free. :) The first couple of days Jadyn was happy and interactive. After the meds built up, she was hungry all the time, depressed, and crabby. She stopped progressing developmentally (she was almost crawling before the meds and she is still not crawling right now, although she is getting closer and closer everyday) and just uninterested in anything, she mostly wanted to lay down or be held and was in a "funk". It was pretty sad, but we knew if it got rid of the hypsarrythmia like it got rid of the seizures it would be worth it. We had another appointment for an MRI scheduled in 3 weeks to check for any brain abnormalities that might have caused the infantile spasms. As we hoped, the MRI was normal, no problems. At that point our doctor gave us weaning orders for the prednisone (actually prednisolone). That day we dropped down to 60 mg twice per day and we had an appointment to come back in 2 weeks for her second EEG to see if the hypsarrythmia was gone. She was still having a rough time on the meds, but with every drop she would have an extra rough day (from withdrawal) and then get a little better. By the time we were down to 30 mg twice a day we were starting to see a little less miserable baby. At her second EEG the hypsarrythmia was gone! What a relief to know the meds had been working and that even while we were weaning the seizures didn't come back and the hypsarrythmia was gone. Later that week on our way to Utah for a family trip she started smiling at me then actually giggled (she was only on 15 mg per day at this point). It made my heart so happy to see her responding to me in that way after her whole life of being cranky, then extra cranky on the meds. Every day after that she just got happier and happier and responded more and more to us. She has now been off the medication for 3 1/2 weeks and is doing so great. She still isn't crawling and is behind on a few other things, but she seems to be learning more each day and making progress each day. We recently had her evaluated to see if she needs help catching up on her milestones. We just found out that she qualifies for therapy services and are excited to see her begin to (hopefully) reach more milestones like crawling, clapping, eating finger foods by herself, and then even cruising and walking. We have been so blessed that she has one of the mildest cases of Infantile Spasms and that she responded so well to the treatment. There are so many things that prepared us to help her through this struggle before we even knew that she would be going through it, and we know that Heavenly Father was watching over our family. That is basically it for now. We have another appointment scheduled on August 9th to see how she is doing and then I think we will have a follow up every once in a while to see how she is doing because about half the kids that have this diagnosis are later diagnosed with another form of epilepsy. We don't think this will be the case with Jadyn, but there is always the possibility. Even though it worked out for our family, lots of other families aren't as lucky as us and my heart hurts for the pain and suffering those kids and their families are going through trying to battle this. Next up are some pictures of Jadyn over the span of her life since the last ones posted are from when she was born. (Sorry about that!) We didn't take a lot of pictures because she wasn't very happy a lot of the time, but hopefully the ones we have will suffice.


This was at Christmas, gotta love the Mr. Potato Head Glasses!


This was around March I think.


This was at Kelly's Birthday party. She had been on the Prednisone for a day and a half at this point and was feeling good because the seizures had stopped and the meds weren't built up in her system yet.


This is about 6 weeks into the prednisone treatment. She was getting on a lower dose and starting to feel better, but you can really see the crazy weight gain.


Look at those crazy eyebrows. They seem to be getting a little thinner again.


She used to hate the jumper, now she loves playing in it.


Hanging out with Daddy during the 4th of July. She had been off the prednisone for a couple days at this point.


She sure loves her Papa. This is also during the 4th of July weekend.


These next pictures are of Jadyn a little over one week off of the prednisone. You can really see a big difference in her face as she is losing the weight. She has been practicing her crawling skills, but still isn't crawling.


I was trying to get some good shots of her chubby little body. She is so cute!




What a cute little chub face!


She is a pro at sitting on her own now. She just went from a crawling to a sitting position all by herself, it was really exciting to see her making that progress.

Baby Jadyn

She has been a fussy little girl from the beginning! She is getting better and better all the time (for me anyway) and is adjusting to life at our house pretty well. The morning she was born I was scheduled for inducement at 7:00 am. Around 12:30 am I started labor and waited until about 2:15 am to wake up Travis so we could head to the hospital. We had to go in through the ER entrance since the main entrance was closed and after we checked in we had to wait for what seemed like an eternity (to a lady in labor) for someone from the labor and delivery to come escort us up (it was seriously like 15 minutes we were waiting though). When we finally got up to labor and delivery things went well. I guess she didn't want to wait for her 7:00 am appointment because she was born at 6:41 am and we couldn't be happier (and never more tired after that early start)! The girls weren't allowed to visit because of age restrictions with flu/sickness problems and they were bummed, but Travis got to show them Jadyn through the window in the door. Luckily we got to go home the next day so they got to hold their little sister and still love holding her.


Jadyn Elizabeth Melser was born at 6:41 am on 9/19/09. She weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. She pooped all over Dr. Coss as soon as she came out as a big thanks for helping her get here.


This shot is later the same evening when my parents came to visit. It is amazing how much they change in such a short time frame.


Grandpa McDowell with his new granddaughter. The girls are in the lead 6 to 5 now.


Grandma McDowell enjoying the new baby.


Lucy loves to hold Jadyn whenever she gets the chance. She is always sure to have her hands washed and ready before she even asks to hold her.


Travis is taking some time off from work to help out with the new baby.


This is a picture of Lucy's handiwork, she loves taking pictures. Although the camera seems to have malfunctioned while in her possession, so no new pictures will be available until we get it fixed or get a new one. Travis is going to take the bigger girls on Tuesday to Flagstaff to the Best Buy and figure out what our options are.

Lucy's Birthday!

Lucy had her 4th birthday July 2nd. She is a great helper to have around the house, when she isn't getting into trouble! She is so funny and thoughtful, just have a chat with her sometime.


The Beautiful Birthday girl


gotta lick the candles


ah, the joys of noise makers, you are lucky you don't have to hear them non stop!


fabulous Barbie scooter from Grandma and Grandpa McDowell


lovely Disney Princess bed set from mom and dad

Kelly's Birthday!

Kelly turned 2 May 17th. She is such a fun sweet girl!



stack of presents


happy girl


ooh, money!


lovin' the Blues Clues dvd


yummy cupcakes!

It's a girl!!

We had our ultrasound today and just found out we are having another girl. She is still due September 14th, my birthday. With my record it will probably be sometime after that though (within a week I would guess). I will try for some ultrasound pictures later if I can figure it out!


Here is a standard profile shot.


This is a profile shot of her yawning.


A crazy looking foot.


I can see it, but for anybody who doesn't know where to look, it is just above the word Girl!

Just a few pictures of the kiddos