Olivia's Strawberry

You may be wondering about the red mark next to Olivia's right eye.  It's called a strawberry hemangioma, and it's a cluster of bursted blood vessels underneath the skin.  It first appeared at about 6 weeks of age, and it has grown and darkened ever since.  They are very common among babies and near the eye is a likely place for them to occur.  Our first pediatrician told us that 70% of them go away between their first and second birthdays, but if hers didn't then we could treat it.  They used to use a laser treatment on them (ouch!) but have recently discovered that blood pressure medicine does the trick.  So, we had planned on the wait and see approach.

However, Dr. Parvin, our new pedi, wants us to get it checked out by a pediatric plastic surgeon.  He said that because it's on the face, we should be proactive about it and see what we can do, as he'd hate for her to have a permanent mark on her face.  Our appointment is Wednesday March 14 with Dr. Clay in Jackson.  Hopefully he'll be able to treat it and there won't be any evidence that it existed.

I suppose it does mar her face, but it doesn't bother me.  I think she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.  In fairness, Morgan and Caroline also held that honor with me, and I can't honestly say she's more beautiful than them....but I guess it's not a beauty pagent (Toddlers and Tiaras anyone?).  And, they do share some water from a common gene pool, so....

Anyways, here's a good clear pic of the strawberry and also of my sweet girl's face.