My Baby Is ill – Part 1 can be read here
It was all sureal I was in an ambulance with my poorly baby on my knee, we went directly to the childrens A&E where Thomas remained on oxygen and was given a chest X-Ray,and a blood sample were taken. After around an hour in A&E we were moved up to the childrens unit where Thomas had a canular put into his foot for an instant course of blanket antibiotic the doctors were very worried about him, they didnt want to take any chances or waste any time. The chest X-Ray confirmed that Thomas had Bronchilitius which is the baby version of bronchitus causing the lungs to become infected reducing the amount of oxygen they can provide hence why he needed so much oxygen support. Bronchilitus is very common in under 1′s especially in the winter months some babies dont need hospitilisation as they are just left with a bad cough that can last up to 8 weeks. But Thomas had a particular bad case of it which was made worse by a mysterious 2nd infection identified by his blood test! The concerning thing was that the doctors didnt know what the 2nd infection was so Thomas continued on the antibiotics and further tests were carried out.
During this time Thomas was given a drip for hydration and nourishment, he was too ill to eat himself the doctors wanted him to concentrate on breating and not have to worry about anything else. It was so upsetting to see my baby lay in a hospital cot with wires coming out of him and an oxygen mask over his face. I stayed with Thomas every minute of every day and night we were in hospital. The next day the doctor came in she mentioned wanting to give Thomas a Lumber puncture is a needle put into the lower back through to the spine in order to take a sample of fluid from his spine. Fluid from the spine can be tested for all kind of conditions including meningitis -At that moment it hit me that the doctors had considered that the unknown 2nd infection could be meningitis. I broke down in tears when this dawned on me I felt knumb inside and so helpless. Nathan went in with Thomas for his Lumber puncture, I was advised that it is not a nice procedure to see, my mum and Nathan convinced me to wait outside.
