Victoria was born was a hemangioma on the left side of her forehead. We knew immediately that there was a red mark there, but to be honest – we were told it may be a bruise from birth and to wait a few days and see. The mark never went away, it remained right there on her beautiful little head… not getting any bigger, not getting any darker – just remaining the same. Victoria was a c-section baby, so we stayed at the hospital for 5 nights as I recovered. On the 4th day I remember one of the pediatrician’s saying to me, “Hemangioma.” WHAT? Hemangioma? We had a close family friend who had a daughter born with one, but I didn’t know much about them. I immediately went to google (which the pediatrician told me not to do right away!) to see what I could find out about everything related to hemangiomas. Hemangioma growth progression and regression is something you really don’t want to read about when your child is 1st diagnosed with one. There was so much scary information and it really put a ton of fear within me. This isn’t something you want right away, especially with a brand new baby girl.

I decided to start sharing Victoria’s hemangioma growth progression and regression early on the blog. There were 3 things that really made me what to do it:
1. I needed to share our story because there weren’t many moms at that time doing so on blogs. I would find forums and chat rooms, but there wasn’t any follow-up. A mom would pour out the details and her fears… and then that was it. I wanted to know her story, what happened, how did it go??? I thought it would be a good place for me to be open, honest and real and raw about our journey.
2. I wanted Victoria to have this chronicled for herself. She may not care that I did it, or she may be thankful that I did. Either way… I wanted her to know that we did everything we could to make sure it was taken care of and followed up. When she was a baby it was very apparent that she had one, it’s regressed tremendously over the last 5 years… but those early years, there’s not one photo where you can’t see her without it. I want her to have this story of the beginning.
3. I wanted to other moms and dads going through this to not feel alone. I felt very alone that first full year and only had a handful of people to call and talk to about it. I wanted to be someone’s deep breath, to know that all will be fine… and that what you’re feeling is normal.

Recently I was just in my local supermarket where a mom stopped me and asked if I was Victoria’s mother. She had just had a baby that was born with a hemangioma on her arm and a friend had suggested she reach out to me in town. I was happy to hear that I was going to be able to help someone out, just be there for support and share our story. I told her to head over to my blog and search “Hemangioma.” I told her this is where she would see all the content that I’ve shared over the last 5 years.

I wanted to make it easy for any new parents, grandparents or caregivers checking out our story about Victoria’s Hemangioma Growth Progression and Regression. I thought it would be easier to share our videos in order for you to see how she’s been doing throughout the years and how we’ve dealt with her hemangioma.

Victoria at 2 months

Victoria at 3 months

Victoria at 6 months

Victoria at 15 months old

Victoria at 23 months old

Victoria at 2 years old

Victoria at 2 1/2 years old

Victoria at 3 years old

Victoria at 4 years old

Victoria at 5 years old

As you can tell, it’s been something that’s passionate for me to share throughout the years. Please feel free to check out the other content I’ve shared and provided regarding HEMANGIOMAS.