My son Max was born at 39 weeks weighing 4lbs 11oz. The doctors thought he was just small for dates and would soon show signs of “catch-up”. During the next few days Max lost weight rather than gain, he went down to 4lbs 3oz so they transferred us to SCBU. We stayed there for a further 7 days until Max had gained most of the weight he had lost and then we went home under the care of my health visitor and monthly check-ups at the hospital.

Max continued to feed poorly and I was soon referred to a dietician who prescribed Duocal to add to Max’s milk feeds and shortly after recommended Paediasure Plus, a high calorie milk. This helped but Max’s weight still remained below the .4^th centile in my “little red book”. I became very worried about his poor weight gain and wondered if it was something I was doing wrong. I must have tried every feeding bottle and teat on the market to see if this was the problem.

At around 7 months old the paediatrician Max was under at our local hospital suggested doing some blood tests. When the results came back Max had tested positive for Russell Silver Syndrome. Over the next few months Max continued to gain weight slowly but he was gaining and was learning to chew certain types of food. I became quite disillusioned with the support I was receiving from the hospital. I never saw the same doctor twice and always had to repeat old history again and again. One doctor suggested a nasalgastric tube, which I decided against as I felt it would be a backward step for Max as he was doing quite well chewing and swallowing. Soon after this I heard about the Child Growth Foundation who gave me some good advice and through them discovered Dr Richard Stanhope whom I made an appointment to see. Max’s weight at this time was still below the .4^th centile as was his height.

Dr Stanhope was the first person I had seen who was understanding and positive about Max’s progress. He advised me to continue as I was with the feeding and recommended starting growth hormone therapy when Max was around 2 years old.

During this time I took Max to several toddler groups and it never ceased to amaze me that complete strangers would comment on how small Max was. I would never dream of saying to a complete stranger that her child was fat! Although he was considerably smaller than the other kids he had heaps of energy and never let his size stop him climbing anything the other boys were. It was me who stood there gasping for breath as he charged around with the other children.

At the age of 2 years and 1 month Max started growth hormone therapy. He is now 3 and half years old and is around the 9^th centile for his height. He seems to be growing out of his clothes and shoes at a much faster rate than I have been used to which is fantastic. Meal times are still a battle as Max would much prefer to eat chocolate buttons for breakfast, lunch and dinner! I am so proud of my beautiful little boy as he has to endure so much more than other children, all he asks is that mummy gives little injections so they won’t hurt him as much. He attends a nursery school now 3 mornings a week and has made a lot of friends. The girls fuss around him a little too much for his liking but in time I’m sure he won’t mind!