Those nine months a mom carries her baby are filled with joy, anticipation, and a dose of uncertainty. What the new parents hope for is their bundle of joy to be healthy. Sadly, that is not always the case.
Jennie Wilklow, from Highland, New York, couldn’t wait to meet her daughter. She and her husband were over the moon to hold her in their arms. All the ultrasounds and doctor’s appointment suggested the baby was healthy, so they were eased and never thought sweet Anna would be born with a condition that would change all of their lives forever.
Jennie delivered Anna via C-section at 34 weeks. Doctors told her she looked beautiful and that was all Jennie needed to hear at that point.
Shortly after, the proud mom heard her daughter cry, and that was just another sign that everything was right with her little jewel.
When her husband visited Jennie, he was strangely silent and looked worried and puzzled.
“My husband’s silence scared me; he just sat in shock as the doctor left, and I prodded for more info,” Jennie shared with Cafe Mom.
“He just kept saying, ‘It’s bad.’ What does that even mean? I thought in my head. He told me, ‘Jennie, I looked in her eyes, and she has the most beautiful soul.’”
Anna was diagnosed with harlequin ichthyosis, a rare condition that causes thick diamond-shaped plates that are separated by deep cracks. “As they tried frantically to help her, her skin hardened within seconds (of birth). After hardening, it began to split, causing open wounds all over her body,” Jennie told Cafe Mom.
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Although doctors weren’t sure she would survive, Anna beat the odds and is thriving. “She was beauty in the purest form,” her mom said.
There isn’t cure, and the treatment is quite demanding as it requires constant baths and keeping the skin as much moisturized as possible. “Every couple of hours I covered her with Vaseline and bathed her for many hours of the day. I had dreamed for years about the things my baby would wear, and though it seemed so trivial, it was what I struggled with most,” Jennie said.
In an attempt to raise awareness about this condition, Jennie posts photos of Anna on her Instagram page harlequindiva. She opens up about the everyday struggles and what it is like to have a child with harlequin ichthyosis.
“Anna captured everyone’s hearts because she is the purest form of perfection. Doing the work every day is simple when I’m doing it for her, and with every new accomplishment, the world celebrates with me,” Jennie told Cafe Mom.
She adds, “I now understand that I was given her because of the love I already carried in my heart for my daughter. Anna was meant for me, and I for her, and together we will show the world what true beauty is.”
We found out why Carrie Underwood looks different in the new pictures, and it’s not for the reason you might think.
Carrie Underwood often gets dressed up for red carpet events, so it wasn’t surprising to see her wearing a lot of makeup while fishing with her husband, Mike Fisher. In a September 13 Instagram post, Underwood shared several photos of them on a boat, happily showing off their catches. She wrote, “Had the BEST day today fly fishing in Montana! Thanks to our awesome guide, Jason, for the expertise! What a day!” In the pictures, the singer of “Before He Cheats” looked almost unrecognizable, and as someone who knows about makeup, I could tell why.
Carrie Underwood usually has a smoky eye look, but she often adds some light shimmer to soften it. In her fishing pictures, though, she seemed to have used a darker brown eyeshadow that made her eyes look smaller instead of wider. Her eyebrows also looked darker than usual, which changed her overall appearance. One fan commented, “I think she’s great, but honestly, I can’t recognize her. She has always been so naturally beautiful. Has she had a lot of surgery or new teeth?”
Underwood did talk about an accident in 2017 that left her with over 40 stitches on her face, which might have changed how she looks. However, her heavy makeup and fuller lips lately are fueling ongoing rumors about plastic surgery.
Carrie Underwood’s overly bronzed makeup was somethin’ bad
Carrie Underwood looked almost unrecognizable in an Instagram video she shared on September 21. Instead of her usual soft glam, her face had a very dark bronze color that resembled a spray tan that didn’t turn out well. It wasn’t the nice glow that Jennifer Lopez made popular in the early 2000s. It was more like Ross Geller from Friends when he used the spray tan machine incorrectly and ended up way too dark.
We’ve seen Carrie Underwood without makeup many times, and she looks stunning. While we totally support her love for makeup, this time the bronzer seemed too much and gave her face a muddy look. One fan commented, “I know she’s making a video, but seriously!” Another fan noticed, “Her lips are getting bigger.”
It’s true that you can make your lips look fuller with lip liner, different lipstick shades, and gloss. However, many fans believe Underwood might have used fillers to enhance her lips, and there’s no shame in that. When asked about the plastic surgery rumors, she told Redbook in 2018, “It’s a little sad because the truth is just as interesting. I wish I had gotten some great plastic surgery to improve this [scar], but I try not to worry too much about it.”
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