Abigail, mum to Lyra, says:
“My pregnancy was low risk and, other than pelvic pain, I had no issues. Lyra was born without any complications and was a healthy baby.
On day six, we were admitted for jaundice, and she spent 18 hours under the light to treat it. On day 17, we were discharged by the midwives as Lyra was above birth weight.
Day 18, we put Lyra to bed after a feed at 9.30 pm. At 10.15 pm she woke up screaming. It was like she was in pain, and we assumed she had wind. She screamed a lot from 10-12, and we were massaging her tummy, doing bicycle legs, and trying to ease her discomfort. She did poo but still seemed in pain. I took her downstairs, and she fell asleep on my chest and kept making a little whimper when she moved.
By 5 am I was messaging the midwife to ask for advice as she hadn’t fed since 9.30 pm and was still either crying in pain or making this whimpering sound. The midwife advised to phone the hospital’s midwife helpline, they advised to see the GP.
By 9 am we were at the GP. He checked her temperature, heart rate, felt her tummy, and looked her over. He said he thought she was fine and to keep an eye on her over the next 8-12 hours. I made sure to ask, ‘But how long do I let her not feed, it’s already been 12 hours?’ he said he thought she would probably feed when we got home and, if not, give it the 8-12 hours. He also agreed with me that she did look a little yellow.
We arrived home and my sister arrived. As I got Lyra out of the car she was whimpering again and my sister could hear her and said, ‘Oh, poor baby’. Again, we still were thinking this was to do with the wind.
We sat down on the sofa, and I laid her on my lap with my legs up. She was whimpering, and I started to think she looked more yellow. I decided to phone the helpline back. I said that, although the GP had said she was fine, I just felt like she looked more yellow, she still wasn’t feeding (signs they tell you to look out for with jaundice), and she was also whimpering still. I didn’t really know what was going on, but I just knew something wasn’t right. This time, we were told to go to A&E.
When she said to go to A&E, I didn’t feel panicked, I just felt like we were being precautionary, and it’s always better to get checked. I left my husband and son and headed to the hospital with Lyra and my sister. It felt like we were seen within about 10 seconds of arriving. The next thing I know, a doctor comes in, looks her over, and then another doctor. I was told they needed to take bloods, so I followed the doctor to this room, where he bent her wrist over and started putting a cannula in (not just a heel prick like they have done before). As he was taking blood, the room filled with doctors, probably five of them, all looking at her and talking in doctor code as if I wasn’t there. I realise now they were just trying to decide what to do urgently. I cried into my face mask, feeling overwhelmed. One of the doctors then said to me that they were treating her for a severe infection and needed to stabilise her.
We were moved to our own room on the ward, and my husband came to meet us. We sat waiting to hear more, and all I could say to him was, ‘This feels serious, doesn’t it?’ and we stayed silent. A doctor came in and asked to scan her brain. He was looking for a bleed. Luckily, he couldn’t see one.
Over the next couple days, we were told they were pretty sure it was a bacterial infection looking at the blood cultures. It had entered her bloodstream, and they needed to check the fluid around the brain. Lyra had to have four lumbar punctures to be able to get the fluid. At some point during this time, we were told the bacteria had been confirmed as GBS. Up until this point, I hadn’t even attempted to google on my phone what she might have had – I was too scared.
When I did google GBS, I saw the statistics and couldn’t help but think, what if that is going to be us?
She had a very high temperature that took a couple of days to manage but, other than that, she responded well to the antibiotics. We were told that looking at the cells in the sample of fluid around the brain, they were diagnosing meningitis as well, so she would need 14 days of treatment. Luckily, we could do the last six from home by just going in once a day as she moved to a one-a-day antibiotic.
Lyra having late-onset group B Strep sepsis and meningitis was a terrifying time and one that will stay with us forever. I feel so incredibly lucky that she responded as well as she did to the treatment, and the doctors acted so quickly at the hospital.”