The Fading Birthmark

When Alexander was born, he had a huge red birthmark all over his face:

Fresh from the oven

Jaundiced Newborn

I was used to seeing stork bites on my other babies, but they were tiny on the eyelid or back of the neck.  I was worried about his marks, and asked around for what we could do about it.  My midwife said it occurred because of the position his face was in as he grew in utero.  The consensus was to just wait it out.  My sister, a dermatologist, said that we could try a laser option but suggested to wait until he was a year since it was a minor surgery.  And so we waited...

6 Months

9 Months

At nine months, upon our pediatrician's recommendation, we took Xander us to Boston Children's Hospital to be checked out because sometimes marks like his can be linked to a seizure disorder.  I remember ta the appointment, the doctor asked us if he favored one side of his body over the other.  Phil instantly replied that he does everything with his left hand (he did indeed turn out to be our only lefty so far) and I was quick to try and talk over Phil saying "No no no, he uses both hands well!", knowing that only using one side was a symptom of something they were looking for.  The doctor decided not to do an MRI, which would have meant sedation, and we were sent on our merry way.

His birthday is In July, and I think even as the birthmark/stork bite was fading, it would sometimes be more visible when we spent time outside or he got mad or overheated. 

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Like most things in life, time heals all wounds.  I honestly don't even notice it anymore...whether that's just because I'm used to his cute little face or it's really faded almost completely is hard to say.  I think if I focus in on the areas it used to be, I can tell that there's still something there.  But it doesn't affect him at all and nobody asks us about the marks anymore.  They used to when he was a baby!  I always felt so sad when someone would ask, even though they were just being curious.  Instead, we are now dealing with molescum on his neck for the past year, and everybody asks about that too!  We finally have a derm appt. for him next month to talk about removing them...we've tried the tea tree oil route, and also waiting it out, but they are stubborn.  Poor kid and his skin issues!