His little legs and arms were red hot, just like his chest and back. I didn’t need a thermometer to know my three-month-old son had a fever. He had woken from an unusually long sleep and was screaming himself into a frenzy. He was normally so cheerful in the mornings.
I had been drifting off into a breastfeeding daze when I felt the shock of him burning up. I caught his dad's eye - does he normally scream like that?
Today, on the day that the Meningitis B vaccination is added to the National Immunisation Schedule, I can't help but look back at what happened and shed more tears.
It was one year ago exactly. For two hours the screaming and feeding cycle was repeated. I hadn't seen a single smile. With a few nappies and wipes hurriedly thrown into my handbag, I announced that I was taking my baby to hospital. I drove straight to A&E.
The symptoms sounded ridiculous when I said them out loud. I hadn’t taken my son's temperature but I knew he was hot. He was very irritable I said, aware that many three-month-old babies could easily be described as grumpy. He’d had a lot of sleep, I added.
The initial temperature reading was normal and his other stats were fine. I was told he might have an ear infection, or possible a urine infection. Nothing major. But the second temperature reading was slightly raised. He was given Calpol.
The doctor, thankfully, knew something wasn't right. My baby screamed as blood was taken from the back of his hand. It dripped out at a snail's pace. In went the cannula. There were more screams, more agony - and all the time I was helpless. A teddy bear sticker secured the needle. It broke my heart.
A nurse suggested I made myself a cup of tea while my baby was given a lumbar puncture. Even at the end of the corridor, through two closed doors, I could hear him scream.
When I returned he had passed out from the trauma. Stabbed and plastered. Needles and teddy bears. Red and shattered. He slept.
And then the doctor returned with the nurse to tell me the bloods tests were clear but the lumbar puncture showed elevated lymphocytes.
"I'm sorry, your son has meningitis." My tears rolled while my eldest daughter climbed into my lap to wipe them away. "Don't cry, mummy."
The doctor continued: "All signs suggest it's bacterial."
She explained that one in four babies suffered permanent hearing issues as a result of this diagnosis. Later, I consulted google and found out what the doctor hadn't said.
One in ten babies die from bacterial meningitis.
There was no time to lose, despite full cultures taking 72 hours to return. Antibiotics were started immediately and machines buzzed and whirred. There were tests and drugs and isolation signs on room.
"What's wrong with your child?" we were asked. "He has meningitis."
Someone told us her ten-week-old son had it. The doctors had waited for the cultures to come back before they started antibiotics. He died.
Nearly 72 hours after the cultures were taken, we ordered a pizza. And then the door opened, the lights flooded in, and we urged for quiet as our baby had just gone off to sleep.
The results were in, the doctor said. It was viral meningitis. Antibiotics were pointless. The lines were out, the discharge papers were issued, and just like that we were sent home to rest, recoup and recover.
My son experienced huge weight loss after his hospital stay and blast of antibiotics, dropping from the 99th percentile for weight to the 50th. There were screaming 'attacks' of pain over the next few weeks while I watched him arch his back and thrash around.
At his post-meningitis hearing assessment the technician was not happy with his response to tonal notes. He will need reassessing in six months' time and soon we will know whether there is any permanent hearing loss. We will have to tackle it head on.
There were, looking back, so few tears shed in hospital. There have been so many more cried today as I think back to what happened. To other parents - check the symptoms, know the signs, and schedule your child's immunisations. Remember too that not all forms of the disease are covered by the vaccine. So please, trust your instincts, and act fast.
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Guest post: "My baby had meningitis - I was helpless"
MumsnetGuestPosts · 01/09/2015 16:24
I'm sorry you and your son went through this. I hope he fully recovers and has no future problems with hearing. I had my two children, (4 & 7) receive the first of 2 doses of the vaccine on Monday. I'm wishing away the next 2 months until they can have the second dose and I know they are protected against this awful disease. Thanks for your post 
Thanks decanter, unfortunately I don't think we'll be able to afford that 
I am also positive that DD (then 2) had it as well - she had had exactly the same v high temp and misery 3 days before. I didn't think anything of it - I just gave her Calpol and lots of cuddles.
If I hadn't had DS's 6 week check booked at 9.15 the morning he got ill I might not have taken him to the doctor. I didn't know that very small babies just don't get temperatures. I knew he was hot but I tried to take his temp with an ear thermometer and it was too big for his little ears, so it said 37.9. The GP got a temp of 39.9. We were sent to children's A&E with a letter from the GP and DS was given a lumbar puncture. Apparently he fell asleep during it! Naturally it was a Friday and we were admitted but no results came back until the labs reopened on Monday. It was clear by Sunday morning that he was back to normal, but I wasn't entirely convinced he was going to be OK until the formal results came back.
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