Cardiff Mum Elen Naughton's second daughter Nel was born profoundly deaf.

There was no family history of deafness and not only did her parents have to come to terms with how their lives would change, but her big sister Anni learnt her sister had never heard all the times she'd said "I love you little Nel" through her mum's belly.

This, in her own words, is Elen's story:

When I was three months pregnant with my second daughter, I ran the Cardiff Half Marathon.

My pregnancy went really well.

Having failed her newborn hearing screening test twice, and then failing the ABR (Auditory brainstem response) tests, the audiologists confirmed, when she was six weeks old, that Nel was profoundly deaf.

When we heard those words, we were heartbroken. With no family history of deafness, it was a total shock to us.

I kept thinking back to the days when I was pregnant with Nel, and feeling so sad that she had never heard her big sister, Anni, talking to her everyday whilst she was in my belly, and never heard me say “Caru ti Nel fach” a million times to her in the early weeks of her life.

Neither did she hear her Dad sushing her to sleep whilst comforting her in the middle of the night.

One of the first things I Googled after finding out she was deaf was “How to say ‘I love you’ in sign language” and after signing this to her, I instantly felt better.

It was a way of communicating with my daughter, and it made me feel so much more positive about the future. We downloaded an app, and as a family we started learning British sign language straight away.

Nel's big sister, Anni, who was only two at the time, learned BSL really quickly, and regularly signs to Nel, especially when is she is being naughty, and enjoys giving her a telling off in BSL. At nine months old, we were all so excited when Nel signed "milk" for the first time, soon followed by "more" and food".

Nel had hearing aids fitted when she was six weeks old, however they did not give her access to sound.

We were keen for Nel to be referred for Cochlear implant surgery to give her access to sound, and to give her the best chance of developing spoken language.

Nel had bilateral Cochlear implant surgery at the University Hospital Wales in July this year, when she was 15 months old.

The implant is surgically placed underneath the skin on the side of her head, which is then attached to electrodes that are inserted in to the cochlea - the part of the inner ear involved in hearing.

Cardiff Half Marathon 2018:

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The procedure took five hours, and despite being understandably groggy when coming round after being under general anaesthetic for so long, Nel bounced back quickly and was soon signing to her favourite book whilst recovering in the hospital ward.

This amazing technology has given Nel access to sound, and with the help of speech and language therapy, and rehab from teachers of the deaf, Nel should develop speech.

We continue to use BSL, in addition to Welsh and English, and are proud to be a trilingual family.

Nel knows over 30 signs which she uses daily to communicate with us, from telling us she wants milk, asking for her shoes to go outside, or signing that she wants cake when passing a coffee shop.

Four weeks after the operation, we were so excited for Nel’s implants to be switched on.

The Cochlear implant team were very clear in managing our expectations with the switch on, as this is just the first step in a long process of tuning, and adjusting volume to ensure she is able to hear the best that she can.

As expected, she cried at the initial shock of hearing our voices for the first time, but then turned to give me the biggest hug.

She had such a puzzled expression on her face for the rest of the day, trying to make sense of this new sensation.

Nel still has a lot of audiology appointments ahead of her but has adjusted so well to her Cochlear implant and really enjoys the sound of her own voice, and having fun exploring new sounds.

Nel Naughton's mum Elen has written about finding out her daughter was profoundly deaf

Soon after switch on, I was keen to take Nel to the beach to hear the waves.

It’s hard to know exactly how much she can hear at the moment, as it takes time for the brain to learn to process sound and to make sense of it all, but she seemed to be mesmerised by the sound of the waves.

Now, at 18 months old, Nel is turning to sounds, and even trying to copy sounds such as animal noises.

She also turns when we call her name, something that a parent of a hearing child would take for granted, but it is something that we will never tire of, and when Nel does turn to sound we all jump around and cheer, which she now joins in with!

The fact she can hear our voices still amazes us every day, and we are so grateful to all the health professionals who have been involved with Nel’s care and development.

In 2017, when I ran the Cardiff Half Marathon, I was pregnant with Nel.

This year, I will be running it again for Nel and all the other deaf children in the UK and I'll be raising money for The National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS).

The NDCS have been a great support to us over the past 18 months. As the leading charity for deaf children, I know that the money raised will be of great help to them in achieving their vision of a world without barriers for every deaf child.

Elen is running Cardiff Half Marathon on Sunday and is fundraising for NDCS.