One Month Down

It's a shock to me that a full month has past since Anika's arrival. Anika, however, is daily changed. She's gained a whopping two and a half pounds (which is above average) and grown two inches. She's spending longer periods of time awake during the day, has a surprising amount of strength (she can hold her head up during a burping), and is generally more aware of the world. Her mobile, a striped monkey toy, and our faces are fascinating. It's only a matter of time before she deliberately sends that goofy grin of hers our way.

From our visits to the doctor, it would seem that she's a very healthy little babe. She does, incidentally, appear to have inherited Andrew and Grandma Mary's skin condition (Dermatopathia Pigmentosa Reticularis) because, like her daddy, she developed blisters on her feet during her second day of life. The blisters themselves weren't all that bad, but likely condemn her to a life without fingerprints and difficulty sweating. We're going to see some hot-shot pediatric dermatologist at NYU later this month and hopefully get an official diagnosis. There are only something like 10-15 documented cases of this condition, and since Andrew and his mother are not among them, we're interested in having the three of them noted by the people who've studied it.

Also, I'm not sure if it's apparent from any of the previous photographs, but Anika developed a red spot on her right eyelid about two weeks ago. At first we thought she'd just scratched herself, but it turns out she has an Infantile Hemangioma (also known as a Strawberry Hemangioma). It's a birthmark of sorts that develops a few weeks after birth. Fortunately, it's not permanent, however it will stick around until she's 5-7 years old. We're not thrilled about it, but all things considered it's not so bad. Apparently these things often continue to grow for the first three months and then remain roughly the same size thereafter. Because it's on her eyelid there's a chance that it will cause her eyelid to droop, which could affect her vision. If this happens, she may undergo treatment to shrink or remove it, but otherwise we'll just let it disappear of its own accord.

Interestingly enough, these birthmarks seem to be estrogen fueled (they happen more to girls than boys) and often occur in children who had placental abnormalities. I haven't been able to access much information on this subject, but it might be that this mark, my endocrine problems, and her velamentous umbilical cord having something to do with one another. Weird, eh?