It’s hard to put into words Rose’s story. I’m not really sure where to start! From the moment I knew I was pregnant to now, its been a journey. We witnessed miracle after miracle while I was pregnant that is in itself a story all on its own. So I just wanted to share some tender moments I’ve had that really left an “imprint” on my heart and changed our life.
Our fourth baby Rose was born October 11, 2013. A few weeks after she was born we noticed some redness on one side of her face. It looked like little dots on her temple, corner of her eye, and on her lip (almost like a rash). As she grew, these marks grew as well. Her doctor believed it to be infantile hemangioma or “strawberry mark” and that it would eventually disappear completely on its own. But to be sure, she referred us to a children’s dermatologist, an appointment that was scheduled three months out. During those three months, the mark grew rapidly (you can see the transformation at rosesangelkisses.blogspot.com under “photos”). Waiting for that first dermatologist appointment was extremely difficult. We felt helpless to do anything for our daughter because there is not much out there about hemangioma’s because most go away on their own. For Rose, that wasn’t the case.
The mark was very large, swollen, and the first thing you saw about Rose during those three months. We had comments from “Oh my gosh! What happened to your baby!!” to “Look at that disgusting baby!” wherever we went. I dreaded going anywhere because I knew I would be bombarded. Some days I was really good about putting a smile on my face and a shield on my heart to politely handle whatever came. Other days, I was not so good. All I could do was pray. Pray to “let go” of the comments, pray to love every part of my beautiful baby, pray for answers to medical questions, pray to get through being a mother of 4 and handle just the daily responsibilities.
One day, I had a much needed answer to prayers/miracle. I was yet again at the grocery store, feeling good because my mom was with me helping me tackle a large grocery shopping day. A lady approached me and said “Oh, your daughter has what my daughter had”. At this time, Rose’s face looked the worst its ever been and I was feeling very emotionally “done”. She pulled out her phone and started showing me tons of pictures from her daughter at birth to her daughter now 10 years old. The transformation was amazing! She was left with nothing, not a single mark! She explained the medicines and procedures her daughter had and the hope that it would completely go away. I asked her a million questions but really only needed an answer to one question- “How did you handle the comments?”. She told me something that has changed my life. She said, “Whenever someone made a comment I just explained that the marks on her face were her angel kisses”. I’d never heard anyone call them that and what she said to me that day left a huge imprint on my heart.
In the following months I decided to create a blog called “Rose’s Angel Kisses” to update anyone who wanted to follow Rose’s journey, as well as educate people about infantile hemangioma’s. I’m also in the process of creating a community where other families can post their stories on my blog of their children so they can have a support group. I don’t want anyone to feel alone or helpless. I stopped posting negative Facebook comments about the negative things I experienced to the positive updates about how Rose is doing. She is truly an angel in our lives! We had her first dermatologist appointment and her transformation is still ongoing. Our lives are full and busy with raising four children as well as keeping up on all of the care that Rose needs. We had 8 doctor visits alone last month!
Rose has taught me so much about what true love and beauty is. Her beauty is in the twinkle of her eyes and in her contagious smile. She is resilient in all that she has dealt with and experienced as a baby. I’ve overcome some very personal and deep moments of depression and sadness and now am able to look outside myself to think of others. To focus more on what I can do more for my children, husband, and others around me. My ultimate goal in all of this is to change one comment from “look at that disgusting baby” to “Hey! That baby looks like Rose”. I also am working on overcoming something very simple, but big to me, and that is hanging an updated family picture on our wall. With so many comments of “it will go away completely” I’ve avoided getting a family picture taken. Through all of this, I’ve realized to just seize the moment and not worry about all those “silly” things we worry about: from being the perfect weight to take a picture after baby to waiting till it “goes away”.
Thank you realimprint readers for meeting Rose. In all that you have going on in your life, I hope Rose’s story brings a little more perspective, insight, and brightness to your day. There are angels and miracles all around us. Thank you again for meeting mine.
Follow Rose’s journey on Jessica’s blog: rosesangelkisses.blogspot.com
Story written by: Jessica Hernandez
This story was seen first on Real Imprints.