My name is Courtney.  I was born on May 6th, 1982.  I was born an unusually large baby (weighing in at 11lbs., 5 oz.), with BWS and hypoglycemia.  At birth, there were a lot of complications, and the doctors basically used me as a guinea pig for the first week in the hospital.  It was natural.  I was a rarity, so I don't mind too much when I think about it. The doctors told my mother that I was going to be a huge child.  She pictured a monster that she'd have to re-adjust the doorways for so that I could fit through...what she got was me. 

I had a basically normal childhood.  Besides being extra chunky, I was a very happy baby.  I had to see a bone specialist once a year, for about 10 years since one leg was a little longer than the other.  I now wear a small lift in my shoe.  All through my school years I never had much trouble dealing with BWS.  Besides people being curious, and asking the occasional question or two, I have never been excluded from any group activity, or from having friends of my own.  People seem to disregard it, or forget there is even anything wrong with your physical features after a bit.  Other people's curiosities never bothered me because I was raised with a strong sense of who I am, a good sense of humor, and a loving, supportive family. 

Although I didn't mind the syndrome much, at around the age of 15, I decided that I might want to get corrective surgery solely for my own personal reasons.  My tongue was slightly enlarged, my cheek was a little larger on one side, and I would need braces.  After being evaluated, the doctors informed me that I should wait until I was 18.  I had to bear with the syndrome for another few years.  In the meantime, at one of my yearly sonograms, the doctor discovered 2 spots on my kidneys.  After many CT scans, it was determined that they were only cysts.  I continue to check up on my internal organs every year with a sonogram. 

I am going to be 18 in a few weeks, and am awaiting my graduation from High School, starting college to major in Communications (to be a director), and a second evaluation to begin the process of correcting my BWS. Being one of the older people who have BWS, I just wanted to inform the parents of these babies that I have grown up a very happy, healthy, active girl.  I am proud to say that BWS has made me grow up to be a bit more mature than a person my age usually is.  If anything, after the corrective surgery, I'll miss the thing that separates me from others. 

If there are any questions you might have, please feel free to contact me at SuperUncool@aol.com, I would be more than happy to answer :)  I have also attached a recent picture of myself.

- Courtney

April 2000