Finding out I was pregnant was the most exciting thing that could happen to me.Leading up to the 'big day' was brilliant. Buying all baby things related with my sister who also found out she was expecting too. I loved every minute of being pregnant and even enjoyed going into labour.
Cradling my new born baby girl, Aimee weighing at 6lb 6oz I was over the moon. But on the ward things didn't look too good as my baby was screaming and was not feeding 'what's wrong' I asked. They just told me that she is newborn and is adjusting to the world. The next day I took her home accepting what they had said to me. At home things was still the same as Aimee continued to scream and not feed well. 'don't panic' my mum said 'you have the pedatrition appointment tomorrow, they will check her over' Anxious we went to the three day check with this burning question 'is she ok' They did a heal prick test as Aimee was very jaundice. It took 2 attempts as her feet were very blue and her blood was as dark and thick as tar. As she checked everything we told her about her feeding and her crying and again we heard 'newborn behaviour'. Again we took her home but this gut instinct inside told me to tell the midwife something wasn't right.
As the midwife arrived and held Aimee,instantly she became floppy and very hard to wake up. ' I'm calling an ambulance' a lump came in my throat. The ambulance came and we went straight to the peadtrition ward. The nurse tried her with some milk and she seemed to perk up.'we're just going to do a heal prick test because of her jaundice and watch her feeding and you can go home' For a moment I felt relived, but it wasn't for long. The doctor came back and said 'we will have to do a lumber puncture' not knowing what this was, I agreed. Hearing her piecing screams sent a shiver down my spine. As soon as she come out the room they whisked her away to the high dependency room. 'your baby has meningitis' my world crumbled around me, I was in utter shock 'how,why' all these questions was running round my head. 'the next 24 hours are going to be critical' I did not sleep and sat by her side and did not move from that spot. Tubes was running in her tiny body, pumping anti-biotics and anti-convulsion into her. She had a feeding tube fitted too to give her lots of fluids to make her hydrated.Aimee had 3 fits and they was very scary to watch but as the next few days progressed her stats improved. My little baby girl was fighting back.
They found out what type of meningitis and septicaemia she had,it was bacterial Group B strepticouss and what was worse is that I passed it onto her as I was a carrier!
The next 3 weeks the hospital was mine and Aimee's home. Everyday she showed improvement and signs that she was getting better. She had a few cranium ultrasounds on her brain to see what damage, if any the meningitis had took on her. The results came that she had scarring but did not know what this ment until she was old enough to have an MRI scan to see the brain in full.
The 18th August 2011 Aimee was discharged from the hospital, she had beaten this horrible illness. I needed to know how I passed it on to her so I searched the Internet and found group b strep support group.Which was a group of people ready to answer all of my 'how and why' questions. 1 in 4 women are GBS carriers and do not realise as they are NOT routinely tested. Simple antibiotics as I went into labour could of prevented my little girl from fighting for her life.
Aimee is now 16 months old and the apple of my eye, she is doing well but her consultant has told me that she may have cerebral palsy as a result. She is delayed in her milestones especially where it is concerning her muscles. She is under a total of 15 health care professionals and is has a special chair that is made for her to help with her sitting and has just been fitted for a standing frame and moulded pushchair. Just to think All of this could of been prevented.
