Be Cool. It's a Hemangioma

"What's that red spot on my baby?!" - this is a common freak-out from many a new parent upon seeing this birthmark. It may be red, raised, and bumpy (also known as a strawberry birthmark) like this picture:

That's my daughter at about 3 months old. I call her my little Queen of Hearts!  Isn't' that the cutest little heart shape? She also has one on her thigh and the most adorable mole-sized one right by her mouth.

 

I noticed when googling, that there was lots of medical info on this topic but not tons of personal stories in existence. So I thought I'd share mine thus far for any parent who wants to relate.

 

Let's just say other's reactions when we are out in public have been anything from funny to cute to downright rude. "What IS that thing!? What happened to her?"  "Mommy she has a heart on her head!" It's been super fun.

 

If your baby has a hemangioma. There is usually nothing to worry about. Our own case was a mild one. But you better believe I googled it and looked at all of the horrifying pictures on the internets.

At first I was a tad worried, but a specialist in pediatric dermatology put my mind at ease.

 

A word of caution: do yourself a favor and DO NOT google the images for hemangiomas. They are terrifying, and very rare. If your baby has a hemangioma, it will most likely never grow into anything like that.

It will just make them a little cuter and unique, like my Hadassah.

Here is everything you need to know about them:

It's just a vascular anomolie. Lots of little veins, all bunched up. These tend to appear on the head or face, and my specialist says they are most common on Caucasian females who are born early.  My daughter was early by a week and a half so... I guess she fits the stereotype there. Some studies suggest that the cause lies within the mother's DNA, and that elevated estrogen around the time of birth plays a part.

The Proliferation stage:

They can appear to grow while the baby is an infant. But then between 4-6 months growth usually halts and the hemangioma will be in a resting stage. By about four years old most of these have gone away. Yay! I personally think my baby's are adorable though.

 

I remember the day after she was born while was still in the hospital with her in my lap, noticing a teeny tiny pinkish dot on her head. It grew into the above picture by 3 months!

The only thing to worry about is possible ulceration but again my doctor said that is rare. For example, he was worried about the one on her thigh because it rubs against her diaper so often.

 

We were also told that if it affects her socially later on (like grade school, in the case that it hasn't already disappeared) then we have the option to get it laser off.

They resolve on their own or with mild medications. We did get prescribed Timolol, a topical ointment - to be dabbed on twice a day.  It's just a beta-blocker that they also use for glaucoma patients. In the beginning I stuck to it religiously. At each dermatology appointment the doctor measures all of her hemangiomas with a special tool and takes pictures of them to document progress. For the first few months all 3 of them shrank only very slightly and the one on her head grew.

 

Once she started teething though at around 4 months I was like "you really think the Timolol will stay on the spot by her mouth? Where drool resides permenantly? You know she chews on everything in sight too right?"

 

The doctor insisted that I apply the ointment but I soon realized I was wasting my time so I stopped. Two months later when she was brought back in and had every spot measured, everything had shrank in the same slight amount. What shrank the most was the hemangioma on her thigh, which I never put Timolol on. Hmmmmm....  After that I concluded that this ointment was stupid ineffective.

 

I stopped using the stuff all together and two months later the same amount of progress was made regardless of the lack of medication. Go figure. But hey, we did the whole just in case thing and that's what matters.

 

The "Rest Stage"

Here she is now at ten months. She just had her bath before I took this pic so... wet hair. But you can see the shape is different and the middle part is fading.

Her Hemangiomas are all in the rest stage because they apparently wont grow or shrink much until she is around two, at which point doctors say they will drastically start to go down, disappearing by age 5. 

Many parents have come up to me and told me about their own children's hemangiomas experiences and they all seem to have been similar. I've had a few moms in the grocery store part their toddler's hair to show me an adorable hidden strawberry. :)

If you have your own Hemangioma experience, feel free to share!