A two-year-old girl who has been identified as having a rare form of dwarfism weighs only 7 lbs. and must wear newborn-sized clothing. Due to the unusual ailment known as Microcephalic Osteodysplastic Primordial Dwarfism Type II, Abigail Lee of Louisiana will only reach a height of about 24 inches.
Her mother, Emily Lee, 25, was first made aware that her baby was not growing at the normal rate during pregnancy and when Abigail was born by c-section, she weighed just 2 pounds 9 ounces.
The mother of two said, “Abigail is growing two grams a day versus an ounce a day, so she will still weigh 7 pounds for her next birthday.
‘She only just fits into newborn clothes so I don’t know what we’ll do when she gets old enough to tell me that she doesn’t want to wear onesies anymore.
‘My best friend has a two-year-old and seeing them next to each other is mind-blowing.
‘Toys for kids her age are gigantic next to her. She has a table and chairs for her Barbies that she can sit in herself.
‘She eats like a normal kid but there are a lot of things that a two-year-old would be doing that she can’t and it’s her size holding her back.’
Emily said: ‘When I was pregnant, she was always three weeks behind in her development.
‘I had a c-section at 36 weeks and she went straight into intensive care.
‘She was doing everything normally, she was breathing and eating fine but she was tiny.
‘When she was diagnosed, we’d never heard of this type of dwarfism so had absolutely no idea what it was and for months I struggled to find anyone who had been through the same and could help.’
Now two, Abigail has a few issues caused by her condition.
Abigail was not formally diagnosed until she was eight weeks old, despite her parents’ knowledge that she was growing significantly slower than typical. During that time, Abigail had to stay in the hospital, but she was finally allowed to return home with her mother, Bryan, 25, and elder sister Samantha, four, who does not have the disease.
Emily added: ‘She is healthy but she has complications because she was born with dislocated hips and she can’t walk but she crawls and she’s going to therapy.
‘She’s also got really bad eyesight so we’re having trouble finding glasses that fit her.
‘It’s hard to balance out a child with special needs and a child without because Samantha knows her sister needs more help.
‘Samantha is an absolute rock star, she gets involved in all of the therapy and she’s really protective.’
