Hemangio....what?

When we finally brought our little girl home from the hospital, we were too excited to notice a small red mark on her forehead. It wasn't until we took her newborn photos that we realized it wasn't just a scratch from her tiny fingernails, but was a mark on her skin. Thinking it was probably just a small birth mark, I made a mental note to ask the pediatrician about it, but really thought nothing of it.

Then, it got bigger and darker. So at our 2 week appointment, I asked the doctor what it could be. He explained that it is a strawberry hemangioma, more commonly known as just a strawberry. They may appear anywhere on the body, but are most common on the face, scalp, back, or chest. They consist of small, closely packed blood vessels. They may be absent at birth, and develop at several weeks. They usually grow rapidly, remain a fixed size, and then subside. Our pediatrician said that, in most cases, strawberry hemangiomas disappear by the time a child is two and, if not, there are laser removal procedures that can be done. According to our research, they are most common in Caucasian, white, female, premature infants, all of which our C is.

More importantly, it is harmless. She feels no pain and really has no idea it is there, which did ease my anxiety greatly. Still, it's never easy to learn your child has something for which you can do absolutely nothing to fix.  

At almost six weeks, it is a protruding red bump a little larger than a quarter and it will most likely get bigger before it gets smaller. Overall, it really just looks worse than it is, but I would be lying if I said it didn't upset me. It breaks my heart that our beautiful baby girl has to deal with this big bump on her forehead; and I hate that for as long as two years, I will have to explain to nosy strangers that I didn't hurt my child.

Luckily, it should be gone by the time she is old enough to care and we will just rock some cute headbands until then!