Hayley, mum to Ronnie, says,
“After having my first child without any complications, we found out we were expecting just eight months later, yes, a shock!
I wanted a home birth and was hoping with muscle memory our baby would pop out in just a few hours. I was wrong, my labour went on for about 40 hours, lots of complications and they wanted to get him out through the sunroof, although there were no free surgeons to do it. So, we went down to surgery and they gave me an episiotomy and pulled him out with forceps. After a night in hospital, we were discharged with a very healthy little boy!
Two weeks on, Ronnie woke up at 3am for a feed. He had a little bit but was fussy and cried. A few hours later, I phoned my mum to pop down and give him a cuddle; she’s a baby whisperer and can get any baby to sleep! She wasn’t successful this time. He had no marks on him, no rash, no temperature, so I phoned 111 to see what they’d say. They said because of his age he needed to be seen within two hours, so off to hospital we went, thinking that it would be a waste of time.
By the time we got there, it was midday, he’d been awake nine hours and was exhausted and could hardly cry. A lady behind the desk came over as she could hear his cry was tired. I laid him on a bed and his neck had started to swell, so we were very quickly blue-lighted to a nearby hospital. By the time we were in resus, his oxygen levels were very low. He was then rushed to be sedated and put on an oxygen machine. No one knew what was wrong with him and no one thought he’d survive.
A day later when he had blood test results, they confirmed late-onset group B Strep infection. We had no idea what it was or whether he’d survive. The doctor said it was a rare case, as it normally affects babies within 12 hours of their being born (early-onset group B Strep infection).
Ronnie spent six days sedated, then had to be weaned off morphine and oxygen. We were allowed home on day eight. He had to have intravenous antibiotics for two weeks and lots of test afterwards, as they didn’t find out if the infection had spread to his brain after three failed lumbar punctures.
Aged three, he was discharged from the hospital visits. He is now a strapping nine-year-old with only a tiny scar on his leg where the intravenous line was put in. You would never know what he’s been through. Yet the traumatic experience will live with me forever. We were one of the lucky ones and I thank my lucky stars for that!”
