It’s passed 1am and I’m up in the dark feeding my perfectly made baby boy, Leonardo Joshua Poidmore. Born on October 18th, 2018 weighing 8lbs 2 oz.
Laying on the operating table I heard, “he’s got a big birthmark on his face.” And I didn’t think much of it until I saw it and honestly was a little shocked. It’s on more than half of his face. Bright reddish purple! So many thoughts ran through my mind. Will this fade? Will it get worse? What will other people think? Will kids at school will make fun of him and can this lead to other health issues? Once we were able to see the pediatrician we heard the name, PWS (port wine stain) which is a vascular birthmark that can lead to some scary things down the road if not treated. One out of every thousand children are born will get this rare feature, then about 5 percent of those children will have further health issues caused by PWS. In our case, we were quickly informed that due to the particular location of Leo’s PWS he has a much higher chance of larger complications (optic & neural) throughout his life.
I immediately started to cry and felt out of control. As parents we want to protect our babies from everything; protect them from getting hurt. However, we forget that ultimately God is in control! I don’t really have the power to protect my kids from everything. God is our protector!
After we came to grips with what we were being told, we did the only thing we really could do, we put it all in God’s hands. Leo is already a fighter (just like his brother) and all the nurses say he has an amazing and moving spirit about him.
John 9:1-3
“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?””
““Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
These were the words my husband was saying to me last night after Leo’s first doctor appointment. It was an emotional moment for the both of us and we sat in silence for some time praying for our beautiful boy.
