KAITLYN'S FIRST ILLNESS

I started this week feeling quite good about my abilities as a new Mum – kind of in a groove with little Kaitlyn and looking forward to the week’s worth of activities I had planned.

That was until Sunday night, when my little one had a lot of difficulty settling down for her big sleep – not being her usual easy going self, I started to worry a little, especially considering the nasty patch of dry skin on both ears turning an unpleasant looking (and smelling) yellow colour.



For the last few weeks, Kaitlyn’s skin has been less than perfect (unlike the rest of her) with blotches of little pimples and dry skin all over her face and body (which, according to the Baby Love book, and my informed diagnosis is hormone rash). However the skin on her ears was different altogether, and it was when she awoke on Monday morning that I realised there was a clear liquid in her ear drum. After questioning myself for another 24 hours, I went in to see the doc, who quickly pronounced Kaitlyn’s ears as infected, and with it being highly unusual for someone so young to be so sick, we were to head off to the Children’s Hospital immediately.

Was I terrified? Absolutely. But at the same time, Kaitlyn was in remarkably good spirits for someone so sick, so I felt positive everything was going to be ok. After a five hour wait, we got in to see a doctor who took a good look over our little baby, and prescribed some ear drops and cream until the cause of the infection could be identified.

Now while the Doctor told us we were very unlucky that Kaitlyn caught a serious infection so early in her little life, you can’t help but feel exactly the opposite when you see some of the kids walking in and out of hospital. If this is the worst we ever go through, we are very lucky parents indeed.

It turned out Kaitlyn had contracted Golden Staph – highly unusual for an 8 week old to have had exposure to, as it is a bacteria that is resistant to some antibiotics and is mainly found in hospitals. While we remain in the dark as to its origin, Kaitlyn is well on the mend, and coincidently the rest of her skin in beginning to clear up too.

Of course she doesn’t seem too affected by all the drama – there’s too much sleeping to do!