Diary of a Boho Baby: Kirsty 'The Fright of my Life'

Today we are back with Kirsty and baby Kailin. We met Kailin a few weeks ao when she was just 3 weeks old. She is now 13 weeks old and coming on in leaps and bounds. However it hasn’t all been plain sailing! Kirsty had the fright of her life a few weeks ago when she found her self in hospital with her baby girl, something I’m sure every parent dreads!

I’ll pass you over to Kirsty to tell you what happened…………

My last blog post was when my gorgeous little button Kailin was three weeks old. I was wrapped up in a baby bubble and so content with my life and my little family. My two daughters were perfect, my husband was loving and my life felt complete. The following week I got .

One Tuesday evening I was giving Kailin her usual bath before her big sister, got her into her jammies and ready for bed. She usually drifted off to sleep after her bedtime bottle at 7.15pm but this night she never. She let out a low, strained cry and seemed in obvious distress. Wind was my first thought. After rubbing and patting her back for what seemed like an eternity she still wasn’t settled. I tried her with a dummy, tried cuddling her, tried leaving her in her cot all swaddled up…nothing worked and she was getting more and more agitated. It was then I noticed she was hot, very hot, and a rash had developed over her chest. By this time it was around 2am and I was worried sick. She hadn’t slept a wink and was refusing her bottle too. I phoned NHS24 who called me back within the hour and told me to make my way to the nearest emergency department. When I answered the call I was already in the carpark at the hospital – I wasn’t going to risk waiting for them to return the call.

Upon examination my the out of hours GP I was sent to Ninewells hospital where Kailin was born. They have a designated childrens ward and I was told it was important she was seen by a paediatrician as soon as possible. The twenty minute drive to the hospital had me in tears – everything seemed to flash before my eyes. Four weeks earlier my husband and I drove this same road in darkness knowing we would meet our baby girl in a few weeks. Now I was taking her to the childrens ward. My heart was beating so fast while she as silent in the back of the car.

As soon as we arrived Kailin was taken from me and surrounded by a number of doctors and nurses. Her rash was worse, her temperature was 39’c, her skin was mottled and she was motionless. This was it, I thought I was losing my baby. My little angel was hooked up to lots of machines while the doctors carried out lots of tests including a lumbar puncture. Possible meningitis. We were then admitted to the high dependency unit. Heartbroken.

After a long night, floods of tears and a lot of medicine Kailins temperature started to decrease and the redness was disappearing from her rash. Her abdomen didn’t seem so painful to touch either, as it was during the night. The pediatrician visited around 7am and told me we had to stay in the high dependency unit for 48 hours to monitor everything however it is unlikely to be meningitis. I cried again. Happy tears this time. I looked over at the cot with cold, metal railings and cried again. Sad tears that my little angel was still hooked up to the machines, still filled with needles and wires and still poorly.

After a total of 6 days in hospital, the results came back that Kailin had been fighting a nasty infection, doctors just didn’t know where it was located. By day 5 she was bright as a button, feeding well and started to smile. My heart melted and I cried again. Happy tears this time, my angel was getting better and was going to be ok.

Fast forward almost eight weeks and Kailin is the perfect picture of health. She is smiling constantly, is starting to babble those beautiful baby noises and can almost roll over! She is thriving and I couldn’t be happier. It is at times like this you realise truly just now precious these little babies are and how easy it is for things to go wrong. I thought I was a protective mother before but now I am even more so. My girls are my life and I would give my last breath to them if I ever needed to. They have made me who I am today and I’m forever grateful. Forget the dirty nappies, sleepless nights and loud cries of a baby and tantrums, naughty behaviour and mood swings of a toddler – these girls are my girls, these girls are my world.