So my decision to start this blog was an easy one, writing it has been the hardest thing in the world and after giving birth 21 weeks ago I thought I could do anything. I thought by writing this that I could share my experiences of being a first time mother with a child who has a strawberry birthmark.
My beautiful little girl was born exactly 21 weeks ago through normal delivery (I won't bore you with the details). She is a bubbly, healthy and playful little angel who loves new things, sounds and colours but 2 weeks after her birth my husband and I noticed a red mark appear on her left eye near her lid. As it was monitored it kept growing becoming thicker in size, redder in colour and expanding width wise. After making the decision to take her to the doctors I was told that she had a strawberry birthmark (or medically a Strawberry Nevus (hemangioma)). After a little persuasion the doctor finally accepted our need to see a specialist as reading up on this condition said that the nevus would continue to grow for up to a year and then shrink within 5 years to nothing not even leaving a mark. If it was anywhere else on her body I don't think I or my husband would have minded but as it is on her eye lid it will inevitably cause issues with her sight and 3D development so off we went to hospital 4 weeks later.
Iliana really put on a great show for the paediatrician's assistant laughing and smiling whilst he examined the nevus. His conclusion was that his boss needed to have a look (of course he would not be prepared to make a decision, I don't think I would like that on my shoulders either). So the paediatrician came in full of jokes and put us both right at ease. Again Iliana didn't disappoint she was full of beans but the conclusion was that a referral to Birmingham Children's Hospital (BCH) would be on the cards, GREAT!!!!
Meanwhile I took my daughter to a few playgroups and was fascinated by how interested children were in her and the "button" on her eye. I laughed out loud when a little girl must have been about 3 years old came running over and stopped just before getting to us with an extended finger slowly moving towards Iliana's eye exclaiming "What's that baby got on her eye? If I press it what will happen?" my first instinct was to push her finger away but then I thought bless she is doing what every child does and that's being inquisitive, although it did remind me of ET.
Anyway the appointment came through after chasing it twice. So my husband took another day off work six weeks after our initial meeting with the paediatrician at the local hospital and started the long journey to BCH at 7am in the morning for a 9am appointment. So 3 hours to get there, 30 minutes in the room to be told by an assistant surgeon that BETA blockers would be the way forward and that although he would agree the big boss surgeon would have to see us too.
Moral of this story is I as a mother I am terrified............................... Now I have to take a number of things into consideration like how BETA Blockers are going to affect my little baby, how often we will be at the hospitals for the next six months and will I be able to balance work and home life to ensure my child gets the best start in her life. This is why I have decided to write this blog to share my experiences and hopefully help others going through this with their little ones. Finally the best thing I heard through this first stepping stone on our journey was that they called Iliana's birthmark an "Angel Kiss" which made me think that my baby is something more special than I ever imagined.
Next post will come once I have gone back to BCH to be advised of the next part of the journey...............
Thanks for reading xxx
