These are some questions I got asked a lot.
Q. What is it?
A. It's a birthmark (technically a benign tumor). They usually grow for about 9 months, and slowly go away over the next 10 years. On some rare occasions, they ulcerate. This post explains it in more detail.
Q. What's on her back?
Q. Is it gone/does she still have it?
Q. When will it go away?/Will she have it forever?
A. Hemangiomas start to 'involute' (go away) when the baby reaches about 9 months (this happened with Dahlia). It will then take about 10 years for the hemangioma to completely be gone, and there may be some left over scarring, depending on ulceration.
Q. Is her back better yet?
A. I got this one a lot. Every time I talked to a distant family member. I had to explain over and over that it takes a long time to get better. The Regranex works, but it takes a little bit.
Q. Does it hurt her?
A. YES. Ulcerated hemangiomas are one of the most painful things a baby can go through. Our dermatologist said it was about the equivalent pain level as a third degree burn.
Q. Why can't i hold her?
A. This one was hard. We go to church every Sunday, where there are so many wonderful, loving ladies who want to love and cuddle babies. I had to tell them they couldn't hold Dallie. The location of her hemangioma (which is actually considered a good location) made it so you had to pick her up just right, or else you would poke it, and she would scream. Eventually I got pretty good at saying no, and pulling the neck of her shirt open a little bit to show them the hemangioma (I usually had to be fairly quiet - being church and all). Then i would explain a little bit about what it was later on, when we had a moment. I am pretty sure I offended a few people. Maybe one day they will understand.
Explaining to relatives was easier. I would show them my special holds/methods of picking her up. Eventually they would get it. Dahlia suffered a few thumb jabs (from me too!) but it got easier with practice.
