I am running the Brighton marathon on Sunday 12th September 2021...26.2miles to raise money for the Child Growth Foundation. A charity that’s very close to my heart.

As many of you are aware, I have a little girl called Abbie who is my absolute world (along with her big brother Josh of course!) 

Abbie was born in February 2009 weighing in at a tiny 4lb 11oz and measuring only 40cm in length.

She was like a doll, beautiful and perfect...but Doctors pointed out her unusual features to me. She had a big forehead, triangular shaped face, low set ears and small little fingers. 

We spent two weeks in hospital as she had trouble feeding and she just didn’t seem to be gaining weight like they wanted her to. She was fed via nasal tube until she was strong enough to suck properly. Once we came home she was put on prescription high calorie milk but it still never made a big difference, my baby just wasn’t growing in the way she should.

At 10 months old we went for genetic testing and Abbie was finally diagnosed with Russell-Silver Syndrome, a rare form of dwarfism which affects only one in 75,000 children. 

The relief was amazing, we finally had answers as to why our baby wasn’t growing.

We were told that growth hormones would help her to grow, so at 4 years old we started treatment. Every night she has an injection to help her grow.

At a doctors appointment for Abbie, I expressed my worries and concerns and was kindly informed of the Child Growth Foundation, a charity set up to raise awareness and help for families with rare growth conditions. 

They sent me lots of useful information about Abbie’s condition and informed me of an annual convention they hold where families can meet and share their stories with one another. 

Abbie is now 12 years old and doing fantastic! Treatment is going well and she’s growing nicely. 

She will never be ‘massive’ BUT the sayings in our house are;

“All the best things come in small packages!”

AND

“Small but mighty”

So please help me to raise awareness for rare growth conditions and help other families like the CGF helped me! 

Thank you for reading

Emma xx