Imagine you try for a baby that you long and in the very first month of trying you conceive! This mom, Rachael Moore was over the moon when she discovered she was pregnant the third time.
But the joy turned into horror after her delivery when she discovered the markings on her baby were not normal but turned out to be a rare disorder.
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“At 20 weeks, we found out that we were expecting another perfect little boy, he was growing perfectly and measuring almost spot-on,” Rachael says.
“Never once did it cross my mind that our baby would be born with any problems.”
Baby Isaac was born on February 17th, and Rachael says the markings on the baby were spotted after few hours of birth.
“I didn’t think much of it, I thought it was just bruising from the birth, although his hands and feet all remained really purple,” she says.
Within hours the markings just increased.
“The midwives noted his marking on their paperwork and said they would be getting a doctor to have a look. Within hours, more marks had appeared.”
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She reveals that none of the experts – the midwives, doctors, and pediatricians – knew what the markings were.
“To hear this coming from experts about my little boy sent many emotions and thoughts through me. I was thinking, ‘What is wrong with him? Will he be okay? Is he in pain’?” Rachael says.
Upon doing some research online, she could find her baby was affected by a condition called Cutis Marmorata. It is a skin disorder when exposed to low environmental temperatures affects an infant, a reticulated red and/or blue cutaneous vascular pattern appears over most of the body surface. But it also disappears with age.
The doctors did a thorough examination of baby Isaac and diagnosed him with Cutis Marmorata Telangiectatica Congenita.
The lesions are more intense and persistent on the baby, and it is due to loss of dermal tissue.
“CMTC soon consumed my life. Almost every time I picked up my phone, it wasn’t to message a friend or share a photo of our baby, it was to look for any bit of information I could possibly find,” Rachael said.
“I cried a lot. I would just stare at this little baby, but not at his gorgeous, perfect little face. All I could see was these markings all over his body, the size difference between each arm and each leg, constantly comparing the lengths of his legs.
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“I just couldn’t see past it. I couldn’t understand why my perfect little baby had to be born with such a rare disorder. I stressed about what his life will be like. ‘Will these markings fade? Will this affect his way of life? How will he be treated by kids at school? (We all know how cruel some kids can be). How will I comfort my child when he is upset over the way he looks? Will his smaller leg grow’?”
It was only after accepting the birth defect, she started enjoying everything else. It happened after a nurse came over and told her to accept the baby’s condition.
“I was wasting his first few weeks being consumed by what was wrong with him. I wasn’t enjoying everything else that is just so perfect about him. CMTC is something that is now a part of our lives. We need to accept it,” says Rachael.
Baby Isaac is still undergoing tests and Rachael says how special her little one is for her.
“His markings have faded since he was born, they are nowhere near as dark purple. Hopefully, they continue to fade,” she says.
“But they also do remind me of just how special he is. I noticed this heart shape on his hand the morning after he was born.
“I’ve begun to realize as long as my little boy is okay, it doesn’t matter to me what he looks like.”
