When recalling the moment they first saw her daughter, Nicole said their initial thoughts were confusion and concern for her safety, as neither of them had ever seen such a birthmark like that.

She said:” When they first handed her to me, I thought it was a bruise. It was then quickly apparent to my husband and I that it was not a bruise. And like the name, I thought it looked a lot like a mole.” They assumed it was something ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs, but the doctors quickly put their fears to rest. Winry was born with ʀᴀʀᴇ ᴄᴏɴɢᴇɴɪtᴀʟ ᴍᴇʟᴀɴᴏᴄʏtɪᴄ ɴᴇᴠɪ, with a prevalence estimated at around 1 in 50,000 births. They were reassured that the birthmark was most likely purely aesthetic and that any health ʀɪsᴋs would be on par with other nevi or moles.

Nicole a vast sigh of relief, they could finally relax and appreciate Winry’s arrival even more.  Instead of being sad about her daughter’s circumstances, Nicole said she utilized the power of social media to promote awareness and to encourage others that being “different” is your superpower. She said:” For a lot of people, this is the first time seeing a birthmark like hers and that’s part of why I enjoy sharing. This is a good conversation for parents with their children to see kids have differences, or for those parents who do have a kid that looks like Winry or has any kind of a birthmark to see their child represented. Her health and happiness are our top priority. We have to monitor her with sunscreen. I’m careful with hats and that sort of thing. I know our regular dermatology appointment is probably going to be our best friend growing up.”

Aside from that, they’ve been nearly entirely overwhelmed by the compassion of those who have learned about Winry. Every little sister wants to have an older brother looking after her. And in Winry’s case, Asher is a true, helpful, sweet brother. According to Nicole, he is wonderfully unaware that there is anything ‘different’ about her. He knows she has a birthmark on her face, but that is nothing more different to him than having different eye colors. Every single day, Nicole and her husband do everything they can to protect and raise Winry and her brother to be confident in all of their strengths and features. As important as it is for them to constantly check on Winry’s health, they are also concerned about how others might perceive or judge her.

Winry was the first person in the family to have this birthmark. But, Winry’s is what truly sets her apart. Nicole said:” She just radiates joy. She’s almost always laughing or shrieking. She is just the happiest baby I have ever seen. She’s a big talker already. We haven’t got a whole lot of words out, but she tells you like it is and she’s already getting a little bit of sassiness, so I think we’re gonna have a lot on our hands. We’ve got to talk to several people from Brazil with birthmarks. One of them has one that is almost identical to Winry and it’s been so fun to talk to her because she’s almost exactly my age.”