Doctors even warned her devastated parents Geoff and Diana Moore that she was unlikely to live through the night after she was born. So getting married and having children were never really on Amanda’s radar.
Until she met 6ft 1in Steven who is 25 years old. She had never dared dream of saying “I do” in a church full of family and friends, but as her new husband carried her onto the dancefloor for their first dance, she realised she had finally found her happy ever after.
She said:“It sounds cheesy but I really have found Heaven with Steven.
“When I was younger, I was so scared I wouldn’t be able to find a boyfriend because of my size. "But all my dreams have come true and I’ve met the perfect man. He’s never cared about my height and loves me the way I am.”Although she was unable to stand on her big day it was proud dad Geoff who walked alongside her as she made her way down the aisle in her wheelchair to marry Steven.
Geoff said: “I’m very proud of what she has achieved. When I saw her looking amazing in her wedding dress, I was overwhelmed. It was one of the proudest moments of my life.”The couple first met in 2007 when they worked for a taxi firm, but they did not date for two years.
“At first, he irritated me. He was really sarcastic and always making silly jokes. But I warmed to him and we eventually agreed to go out. “I invited him round to mine. I didn’t want to go to the pub and have everyone staring at us because he was so much taller.
“First dates are stressful enough.
“I’d had a few relationships, but when I was younger I’d worried that I wouldn’t find a long-term partner as I looked different from all of my friends.
“We watched a film but he was quite shy and didn’t kiss me. I had to make the first move the next time we met up. "I joke that if I hadn’t, we still wouldn’t have got together as he’s so laid back. “We then started going out for dinner and going to pubs and clubs after we’d had a few dates at home. Some people looked at us, but we just ignored them.
“His mum was actually my boss at the taxi firm where we worked so I was a bit scared of what she would say when we got together. But she was really nice.
“I made Steven wait four weeks before we slept together. I was nervous, but he made me feel really at ease and comfortable and it was great.”Amanda added:
“Steven and I are just like any other couple. We have a good sex life and I feel more relaxed with him than with previous boyfriends.
“Although my bones break easily, it’s not dangerous. He makes me feel really comfortable and he’s gentle.”
She said: “It occurred to me to take a pregnancy test. I had always been told it wasn’t possible for me to have children, so when I saw that it was positive I was in floods
of tears.
“When I discovered I was expecting Aidan, I was in total shock. "I worried Steven would run a mile as he was only 18 and we hadn’t been together long but he really stepped up to the plate. That’s when I knew he was The One.”Aidan, now six, is already taller than mum at 3ft 2in and acted as ring bearer as well as page boy and at the couple’s church wedding in Oakham, Rutland, in July.
In May 2012, Steven, who now works in purchasing for a plastics factory, proposed over a romantic dinner at home.
“At first, I thought he was joking but then I said yes straight away,” Amanda said. “He didn’t buy me a ring as he knew anything he chose would be too big for me. We went shopping soon afterwards and picked out a ring with a solitaire diamond specially resized.”After setting a date Amanda asked sister and bridesmaid, Amy Rowan, 34, to help her choose her wedding dress.
She said:
“I tried lots of dresses and most looked ridiculous. Some of the bodices were so big, you couldn’t see my head.
“But then I picked out a gorgeous, strapless ivory gown and I fell in love with it. It was huge but the sales assistant said I could have it altered and the train cut off. “I don’t get teary often, but I had a lump in my throat when I looked in the mirror. It was a moment I never thought I’d see.
It was a big moment for my dad,” “He’d been told I wouldn’t live more than a few hours and now I’ve given him a grandson and he’s got to walk with me down the aisle.”However, the day was tinged with sadness due to the absence of Amanda’s mother, Diana, who died from kidney failure in 2009.
Amanda said:
“I’m not emotional, but I broke down a few days before the wedding because it was so hard to accept my mum wouldn’t be there. "She would have been so proud. “She was my rock and best friend. Thanks to her, I had a happy childhood and was able to take my health problems in my stride. She always told me I was beautiful.
“In the end, I had a brooch made with her picture on it and my dad sat it next to him during the ceremony.
“When we were driving to the church in the wedding car no one could see me through the window as I’m so small. "My dad joked that people would think the bride had gone missing.”Steven, 25, admits that he was blown away when he saw his new wife.
“Amanda looked beautiful. It was a magical day. The height difference has never been an issue to me and I’ve always said Amanda is out of my league. “When we’re out together I joke people must be wondering how I managed to pull someone as gorgeous as her.
“I love her eyes and her smile but she’s beautiful on the inside, too. Amanda has always made me laugh.
"She’s got a great sense of humour and that’s the first thing I noticed about her – not her height. “I was only 16 when we first met at work and I remember her having this really infectious laugh.
"Even though she’s small, she’s got such a presence when she comes into a room.”Now the couple are looking to the future, and won’t rule out more children.
Amanda said:
“My health has been good over the past few years. I haven’t had a broken bone for nearly four years. "But it might be a bit risky to go through another pregnancy, though, especially as we have Aidan to consider.
“I loved being pregnant but I had to be monitored constantly and I couldn’t give birth naturally as my body would have been too small to cope with labour.”She added:
“We’re looking at other options and we’re considering adoption, as we’d love to give Aidan a brother or a sister. We have so much love to give as a family.
“Aidan takes everything in his stride. When he was a bit younger, he would ask me why people were staring at us all the time. “Apart from the fact that I’m a bit smaller than most mums, we are just a totally normal family.”
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