Those of you who have been reading for a long time (or have read my archives) might remember that Madeline had a large hemangioma on her back. Hemangiomas, for those of you who don’t know, are (to put it simply) blood vessel tumors. They usually appear on babies within weeks of birth and tend to resolve on their own within five years to ten years. They are very scary-looking but technically are benign (although a hemangioma on an internal organ can lead to a multitude of complications).
Maddie’s hemangioma developed when she was six weeks old. I remember noticing it and grabbing a nurse to ask about it (she was still in the NICU at the time). It looked like a blood blister on her shoulder-blade. The nurse was kind and explained that it was harmless, and I remember her saying specifically that Maddie was “lucky” because her hemangioma was on her back and not her face.
The hemangioma on Maddie’s left shoulder-blade grew bigger and bigger, and even though it never bothered her, I was a bit scared of it. It just seemed so big and angry – I used to have nightmares that it would burst. But her pediatrician, Dr. Looove, told me it was nothing to worry about.
Some of you with eagle eyes might have noticed that James also had hemangiomas. When he was about seven weeks old, I noticed a cluster of about seven freckles on his neck…except when I looked closer I immediately recognized the angry red color of hemangiomas. Our next visit to Dr. Looove confirmed it, and then it was just a waiting game to see how big they would get. I feared that each spot on his neck would get as large as the hemangioma on Maddie’s back, and I was worried that, because of their location, large hemangiomas would make it hard for him to move his head and neck.
Luckily for James, while a few of the spots merged, they never got much bigger than the size of a pencil eraser. They were located near the base of his neck, and most shirts covered or camouflaged them. Occasionally strangers would notice the spots when we were out, and they’d yelp, “He’s bleeding!” which was always super-fun.
I made the decision to not write much about his hemangiomas as they grew…he was already strikingly similar to Maddie in a lot of ways, and for my own emotional well-being I didn’t want to add one more thing to the public list. But whenever anyone asked me about them, I always up-front about what they were and was happy to answer any questions about the spots.
So why am I bringing it up now? Well, a lot of people lately (in real life and online) have noticed that the hemangiomas are gone, and have asked if we had them removed. Nope! They have mostly resolved on their own, with no intervention from us. If you look closely at his neck you can see discoloration on the skin (almost like scars) where the tumors were, but the lumps and angry red color are completely gone.
From a medical standpoint, I think it’s fascinating that two of my children developed hemangiomas. There’s no known cause for them, but some doctors theorize that they’re hereditary and our family would certainly point to that (although there are no other known cases of vascular tumors on either side of our extended families). They’re more common in preemies and females, which can definitely explain Maddie, but not James.
James’ hemangiomas faded so gradually that I didn’t even realize they were gone until a few months ago when I looked at an old picture of him. Now that they’re gone, I almost miss them—their disappearance is just another sign that my baby boy is growing up. Although, I definitely do NOT miss strange ladies screaming at me that my child’s neck is bleeding! So I think everything worked out for the best.
Jenny says:
He looks so grownup.
I have twin sisters and one of them had one of these right at the top of her head. It actually came in handy because it was an easy way to tell them apart. You can look at pictures when they are babies and can easily see her bump. It became less helpful as she got more hair and eventually disappeared.
Sarah says:
My daughter developed a big one on the back of her head, starting at about 8 weeks of age, and I used to fret about it constantly, no matter what they said. It grew to about the size of a quarter and looked angry red and very bumpy. We even treated it for a while with a special prescription, but once her hair grew out enough to cover it, it wasn’t that visible and I stopped worrying about it. Now she’s 5 and a half, and it’s almost entirely gone. It’s crazy to see how different it looks now. There will probably always be a fatty spot there, but the color is all but gone, I never thought it would happen, honestly! It took a long time.
Now I’m about to have a boy imminently, but if it happens again, I’ll already know what to expect!
Cheryl says:
I developed one on the bottom of my foot when I was 7 months pregnant. Not fun, because of the location they had to cut it out before it grew too big. Have not had one before that or since. Weird
Jennifer says:
I completely understand the worry you went through. I have twins and my son developed a hemangioma in his nose. At first, I thought it was dirt on his nose, but after a week, it had grown and his nose started to deform. He was only a few weeks old. The doctors told us that most hemangiomas will resolve themselves by age five, with the rest by age 10. Given that it was on Lucas’ face, I felt helpless. Other people already stared at him and it broke my heart. We tried steroids, but they made him fussy and angry and disrupted his sleep. He also retained a ton of water. We took him to UCLA to have an MRI. Because the hemangioma was not causing problems with his breathing or anything else, we were advised just to leave it alone and we decided to stop the steroids entirely.
Then, one day, when he was about four, I noticed that his nose looked smaller. The red/purpleness had even faded a little. By five, it was completely gone. His nose is still a bit misshapen, but as he has grown, it has become less and less noticeable.
Of all the things I worried about, this is something I really regret. I did not trust anyone and I agonized over it. I wish I could go back and tell my younger self to relax! It was a great lesson for me in having a tad more trust that my doctors know what they are talking about.
Glenda says:
One of my nephews had one on his forehead and it always looked like he had a bruise, and the other had it on his top lip. We got so use to them being there and one day they disappeared. James is such a big boy! and oh so handsome! I love when I spot him in target
Katrina says:
Interesting! and I never noticed in the photos. I guess his gorgeous eyes just distracted me
Annalisa says:
That sounds about right.
A college friend of mine had a daughter with a rather large, almost strawberry shaped hemagioma that appeared around the time she was four months old. It covered half of one of her cheeks. Lots of people would ask if she had fallen on her face while attempting to crawl and gotten a boo-boo (myself included). Her mom would just laugh it of and call it a “strawberry beauty mark”.
Fast forward two years, there’s no sign of it. It just quietly faded until her cheek was all the same color.
Holly says:
My daughter had one about the size of a pea, right on the very top of her head. I usually had hats on her when out of the house since she’s so fair skinned, and I wasn’t too worried about it. It was totally gone by the time she was 2. My son did not have any. Her daycare providers – the very first time they met her, one said “oh! A strawberry mark! I love those!” and that has always made me feel better. She didn’t need to mention it, but she did.
Jeanie says:
Oh, the cuteness of that little guy!
Kim says:
I had a student who had a large vascular birthmark on her cheek right below one of her eyes. She was 10. We all got so used to it that it was not noticeable anymore. It just became part of what made her who she was.
Terri says:
He is the cutest little dude! Love the hair do.
Auntie_M says:
Johnny-come-lately here…I always loved James’ little red love spots…but have to be honest about not noticing their disappearance. So much for noticing things!