When baby Paisley was born, it was obvious that there was something different about her right away. Protruding out of the tiny baby’s mouth was an adult-sized tongue.

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Paisley was born with a rare condition called Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome which causes abnormal growth and a higher risk of cancerous tumors. In this case it caused Paisley’s tongue to grow until it was twice the size of her mouth.

The poor baby couldn’t eat and could barely breathe because the tongue was crowding her throat. She couldn’t even smile.

She was put on a ventilator to help her breathe – although she was able to breathe on her own after a few days – and doctors inserted a gastronomy tube to take milk directly to her stomach because she couldn’t fit a bottle in her mouth.

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When she was sixth months old Paisley underwent surgery to have the size of her tongue reduced. Doctors removed the middle of the muscle and portions of each side, removing almost two inches altogether.

Unfortunately, her tongue continued to grow and was soon back to its original size, so they had to try the surgery again four months later.

Thankfully, this time the surgery appears to have worked and Paisley can get on with her life.

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Her mom, Madison Kienow, is overjoyed at the change in Paisley.

“I couldn’t believe it and was shocked by how beautiful my little girl looked,” she said.

For the first time in her life Paisley can smile, and she’s been doing it a lot!

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While her condition can lead to speech troubles, Madison said Paisley is already taking steps toward saying her first words.

“She couldn’t even make the sounds to say words like ‘mama’ and ‘dada’ before because of the size of her tongue, so this feels like a massive achievement,” she said.

We’re sure this precious little girl has a bright future ahead of her!

Were you glad to see Paisley finally be able to smile? So share this!