What the &%$# is that thing on Maddy's head?

By now most of you have seen what I like to refer to as the cherry on top of our Maddy sundae. What is it? It's called a hemangioma. Hemangiomas occur in about 1 in 10 Caucasian births, and are three times more common in females. I've also read that premature babies have a higher incidence of these little buggers. Maddy's hemangioma is the superficial variety, which is often referred to as a "strawberry hemangioma." It doesn't cause her any pain, it doesn't interfere with her development, and I'm pretty confident she doesn't even know it's there. Maddy's strawberry appears to be at the peak of its growth cycle, more or less, and we know this because its got a pinkish-grey tint (and because it doesn't seem to be getting any bigger). You'll notice in some of the links above that hemangiomas can get big and gruesome, but that's a pretty unlikely scenario for Maddy. Her hair will be growing in pretty soon and will cover it up -- it will probably be gone by time she's 2 or 3. It's rare to treat a superficial hemangioma unless it interferes with vision or causes some other problem. Given how much the babies have been through, we're not inclined to do much more than let it run its course and resolve on its own.

I suppose I could photoshop all of Maddy's pictures to get rid of the hemangioma, but that wouldn't be quite authentic. It's part of the whole great package. That said, we'll probably stick a hat on her -- not because we care so much -- but in order to avoid some the inevitable rude questions. As luck would have it, Maddy can be pretty finicky about wearing hats. Actually, Maddy can be pretty finicky period. On the flip side, I thought about putting it to good use on Halloween by drawing a little eyeball around it and making it the pupil. Elaine wasn't so hip on that idea and I guess it's not a good idea to draw on a baby with a Sharpie. Maybe next year...