A few days ago I was ranting about mosquitoes in my neighborhood and how they disturb so much at night and how I worry for my baby hoping he doesn’t sent get malaria from their endless bite.
Well, my fear became reality🥺.
For a week now , I have noticed my son has this regular spike in temperature from time to time, and according to other mothers and doctors I was told high temperature, fever, or stooling could be signs of teething and as a 7month old, with the way he wants to grind on anything we could be expecting a tooth at anytime.
Whenever I feel a temperature rise, I only think of teething and the next thing I think about is giving him panadol, immediately I administer the drugs in a few hours he is up and about with the temperature back to normal
So obviously nothing to worry about. I thought
One particular night, the temperature was so hot that I was worried we won’t make it for our appointment the next day, I even made a joke that with the increase in temperature I was sure the teeth were coming this week. I just. Hoped he was ok by morning for our appointment.
we booked an appointment with someone to help us with quick registration for our baby so we can get his NIN(national identification number), we came across this opportunity by chance
We were all fascinated by the light,so was he
we have been wanting to get this done for my baby for a while because it has been delaying a lot of plans, but the process of getting a verified NIN in Lagos can be hectic and I wouldn’t want to put my baby through the stress but when this opportunity came we jumped on it . I wasn’t sure I wanted to take my baby out feeling like that but as luck will have it, in the morning he was back to his usual self.
After so many take, we settled for this picture
That night after the registration was done, I saw my friend's post on her status thanking God for her son’s life. My baby was born exactly one week after her son’s birth so most times we share experiences and things about our journey. I sent her a message to enquire what was wrong and she explained how her baby has been having a high temperature for weeks, loss of appetite, and stooling but she assumed it was teething as I did. Earlier that day she was with him in the car going to pick up her older son when the baby started convulsing out of the blues, with no warning and she didn’t know how she picked him up and ran to the nearest hospital abandoning her car. Thank God for her nanny who went to pick up the older son afterward.
I had to call to asked her what he was doing and she was in tears and shaking, he was on oxygen and had lots of drips. She felt like a bad mother for not noticing on time, I had to do everything I could to calm her down. We prayed together and I ended the call
I became so restless about my baby’s health, but at that time he was still playing so I just had to get the thoughts out of my mind At about 3 am that night the temperature started again, I became worried and scared, I couldn’t wait for dawn to rush to the hospital, with my friends' experience I wasn’t taking any chances, immediately it was 6 am I woke my husband up to take us to the hospital, he didn’t even question me, he stood up brushed his teeth and drove straight to the clinic.
We got there ran some tests and found he has severe malaria and some infection.
You could imagine my shock, I had no idea, but he only had a high temperature and he was eating and playing like he always does.
The doctor said most children cannot express how they feel inside yet, they get carried away with playing or other things that it is never noticeable till it becomes severe.i was just grateful I took him to the doctor on time before it got worst.
lessons learnt ; never again will I assume when it comes to my baby’s health.
Thankful We have completed our treatment, Leroy is fine And completely clear of the infection and malaria, extra measures are been put in place to keep my space mosquito-free.
Dear Mothers, please no matter how little the symptoms can be, consult a doctor. do not assume and self-medicate your children.
All images were taken by me