Thankfully the brave youngster battled through to become a ‘right little character’. Louise tells their story here.
“I met my husband Robert through work. We were together for seven years before we got married in 2011. After several years of fertility issues and a few heartaches along the way, we were over the moon to find out we were expecting a baby after a holiday in Turkey in October 2015.
“After an up and down pregnancy, including finding out I had Group B strep, our baby boy Lewis Robert Brown was born on 12 June 2016 (two and a half weeks early) weighing 6lbs 8oz. Lewis was poorly when born and taken to neonatal care to receive c-paf for his lungs and, despite me being treated for Group B strep during labour, Lewis was given antibiotics for the infection. He was finally discharged at three days old to come home and we were over the moon.
Seemed very unsettled
“On the night of Thursday 7 July 2016 Lewis seemed to be very unsettled and I was convinced he had colic, so tried him on some gripe water. On the Friday he seemed to pick up but on the Saturday, around 5pm, he was again unsettled and crying in pain. It was mid-July and we thought he was hot with the weather. He took his bottle at the time and eventually settled down.
“We struggled to wake Lewis for his next feed at 10pm and he still felt very warm. After checking his temperature, which was 38.9, we phoned 111 right away and were asked to go to Stirling Minor Injuries. When we got there his temperature had risen to over 39, his oxygen levels were 75% and his heart rate was over 200.
“We were asked to take him straight to Larbert Hospital A&E and as soon as we arrived Lewis was taking away from us to have a lumbar puncture. I've never been so scared in all my life!
Strong enough to kill a grown man
“The doctors then came to tell us that Lewis had suspected meningitis and septicaemia and was already receiving four different types of IV antibiotics until they knew what infection it was. The level of infection Lewis had was strong enough to kill a grown man.
“This all happened at 3am and by 8am that morning all our immediate family arrived at the hospital. Our little miracle boy put up an amazing fight and he continued to take his milk. Each day his temperature dropped and his heart rate improved. We eventually found out that Lewis had a rare type of Group B late onset bacterial meningitis as well as septicaemia.
Meeting his milestones
“After 10 days we got to take our little fighter home. No one could believe how a little boy of four weeks managed to come through this. At this point we didn't know what the future could be for Lewis but so far he is meeting his milestones with 100% hearing and no signs of brain damage from the infection. Lewis did not have a rash from this infection.
“Lewis will continue to have regular appointments to monitor his development. He has become a right little character and we are just so proud of him and love every minute with him - he is everything and more than we ever hoped for. He is one very loved son, grandson, great grandson and nephew and we are so blessed to have him in our lives.”
