Ever since Quayd was born there is a question everyone, young and old, asks as soon as they first see him. “What is that redness on his face?”
At first everyone just assumed it was bruising from the birth. In fact, when he was born I myself didn’t even consider that the redness could be anything other than bruising until the nurses pointed it out and told us it was called Stork Bites. They said this is common and tends to go away or lighten in color by age 3, but a couple of Quayd’s marks are very dark and might not go away. The marks on the back of his head, neck and back won’t be going away.
Now I’m getting the question “Were you sad when you saw the stork bites and found out they might not go away?” The answer to this is simply, no. To be honest, I was so in love with my new little boy, it didn’t occur to me that being sad about his appearance was even possible! Actually, I thought they were pretty cute. It’s just part of how my little Quayd is made and it doesn’t bother DH or I at all. Now, as to whether it might bother Quayd someday, I don’t know. If the marks never lighten or go away, he might not like them, particularly if he gets teased about them. But I hope he will see them as something that makes him unique in a good way. In fact, in some cultures, stork bites (which are also commonly called angel kisses) are actually seen as a sign of good luck!
So, a few things to know about stork bites:
- They’re not contagious.
- It’s not rash.
- They become darker when Quayd is hot or when he cries.
- They are super obvious if we use the camera flash or if he’s in bright lighting. For this reason you might notice them more in some pictures than others.
- I’m not sure exactly what causes them but I’ve read online that they are composed of hyper dilated blood vessels.
- No, it’s not from our rapid birth experience. Quayd already had these marks prior to birth.
- And last but not least, it doesn’t hurt my feelings that people are curious about why his face has redness on it. I am surprised by the shear number of people who stop to ask about it, but I think at first everyone just assumed it was bruising from the birth.
Journey For My Baby 
Josh had those too in the same place. Can only see them now when he’s screaming! 😂
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My daughter had them all over her face as well, they also never bothered my husband and I and they faded mostly by a year and at 3 you can only see them when she’s really hot or cold or mad. My son has the ones on the back of the neck and they have faded a bit at a year but I don’t think they will go away totally.
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Just out of curiosity – how do you know that some will definitely not lighten or go away? My niece had one that completely covered her eye, and it did eventually fade away. I never realized there were different kinds!
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The pediatrician said he doesn’t think the ones on the back of the head and neck will go away. For some reason those tend to be lifelong, although I’m not sure why. The one on his eye is really dark and I read online that usually they don’t go away in the eyebrow area. But, since your niece’s did, apparently they can. So, that’s good news for Quayd!
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My oldest had the redness between the eye brows too, but they weren’t terribly noticeable and have since gone away. But, I can say they do come back when he’s mad 🤣🤣 both of my kids had/have the ones on the back of their neck right where Quayd’s are. I really think they are common 🤷🏻♀️
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My emmy has it on the back of her neck too! And a wine coloured purple one down by her nappy – that new doctors ALWAYS freak out is the start of leukemia. Because it looks like such a bruise. But nope!! Not as visual as Quayds, but I still don’t worry!
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