I made my grand entrance into the world on July 11^th 2004.  Mommy and Daddy had been worried that I would come early because both my sister and brother tried to come early but the doctors made sure they didn’t.

 I didn’t give my mommy any trouble during pregnancy but after I heard the doctor say that it was ok to be born I didn’t wait around. Mommy went into labor 3 weeks before her due date and headed to the hospital. 

When mommy got to the hospital she was only dilated to 5 so they thought they had plenty of time yet (boy were they wrong!).  I decided not to wait around for the doctor or for mommy to get any of those drugs she was asking for, I was just too excited to meet my family. 

The nurse caught me on my way out after mommy’s second push!  I was just a little peanut buster weighing in at 5lbs 8oz and 18 ½ in long.  I had a little trouble catching my breath because I scurried through that birth canal so fast, so I spent a little time on oxygen.  Then I was brought back to my mommy and daddy, they were (and still are) so proud of me!! 

 

During the first couple weeks all of my grandparents, my auntie Jenna and cousin Garrett came to meet me. My daddy is in the Air Force so we live along way from my grandparents and other family, but it makes for a very special treat when they come to visit or when we go to visit them. I was a very happy and healthy baby for the first couple months.  The day after my 2 month well baby check and vaccinations I started staring sharply up and to the left with my eyes, mom just thought I was trying really hard to see something in that direction because I would only do it for a couple seconds.  She would later find out that it was seizures. 

When I was 2 ½ months old my Auntie Amy and her friend Kurt came to visit, two days after they arrived (September 25^th, 2004) I slept through the night for the first time!!  Mom thought that was a good thing and was excited, but I also slept a lot the whole day and I heard Auntie Amy and Mommy talking about how much I was sleeping while they were busy getting things ready for my big sister’s birthday party.  Mommy even had to wake me up a couple times to feed me.

At one point during the day Mommy thought my lips looked a little blue and asked Daddy what he thought, they moved me in a different room and decided that it was just the light that made them look that way. 

It was a very busy day for everyone with the birthday party and I decided that I needed some attention too. After the party when we were all waiting for parents to come and pick up the kids is when I had my first noticeable seizure.  Mommy was the only one in the house with me and she scooped me up and took me outside and told Daddy that something was wrong.  I rolled my eyes back, tightened my arms and legs up, started shaking and spit came from my mouth.  It all lasted about 30 seconds or so and then I arched back and began moaning. 

Mommy and Daddy decided to take me to the ER and were getting my car seat ready when I had my second seizure.  This time Daddy was holding me and ran to Mommy because I wasn’t breathing well. Mommy called 911 and I slept until the ambulance got there. 

We probably scared some of the parents coming to pick up there kids having the ambulance there but it was a good thing they called because I had another seizure in the ambulance and yet another in the ER. 

My seizures were then stopped with medication and the Dr. decided to get a picture of my brain (CT scan) to see what was happening.  Mommy and Daddy were so scared but were sure that everything would be fine.  They said I needed to stay overnight to watch me, so we got all settled in a room and waited for the results. 

The doctor finally came in and told Mommy and Daddy that the pictures weren’t good.  We would have to wait until the next day for another picture (MRI) but it looked like I might have something called Lissencephaly.

It was a long night and wait for the MRI and EEG but I slept through it all.  The tests came back showing that I did in fact have what the doctors suspected.    Mommy and Daddy were sure glad that Auntie Amy and Kurt were there to help them during this difficult time!!!  Mommy and Daddy say that it was a blessing.  And so began my journey into a whole new world.

 

Being seizure free lasted only two weeks and I began having a different type of seizure called Infantile Spasms.  They got pretty bad, I was having up to 11 a day lasting up to 20min long so I had to start a daily hormone shot called ACTH (I didn’t like that at all!!) but it brought my seizure down to about 4 a day and only lasting a few minutes, so I guess it was all worth it.

Since then I have struggled with seizures daily and just like any other kid, I have good days and not so good days. 

My Story