Fortunately, he pulled through well. Mum Stacie recounts their story.
“My baby was just 19 days old when he caught meningitis.
“He had such a restless night and had a high pitched cry every time I picked him up. He was burning hot. I stripped him down to his nappy but no matter what I did it kept going up.
“I took him to the GP, who thought he had a viral infection but, as he was so young, he decided I should take him to hospital as his temperature was over 38 degrees.
Floppy and mottled
“When we arrived at the hospital Kaylan became floppy and his skin started going all mottled. He had bruising round his little hands.
“Doctors came in and took blood. Within 25 minutes of being there more doctors came in. They put in the cannula but, because his veins were so small, it took five attempts, eventually going into his head.
“He was then given a lumbar puncture. The first one was a failure as they didn't get enough fluid, so they had to do it all over again.
“Kaylan was in hospital for eight days on antibiotics through his cannula. We then got discharged but had to go back every day until the 14th day of having antibiotics.
“I’ve never experienced anything so scary in my whole entire life. My precious baby is still with us today and, so far, not suffering any after-effects, but has to attend review appointments for two years.
“Reading the stories on the Meningitis Now website and going through my son's experience shows that you don't always look for a rash.”
