8 months old: The Twins First Ilness

We got so far! 8 months with no illnesses! 


It all started when I came back from my first visit to baby group. A few days after both girls were a bit full up. Snotty noses, sneezing, phlegm, you catch my drift! Then, two days ago, both girls threw up in the evening. I didn’t think much of it as it was a one off that day. Yesterday however, both girls couldn’t keep any milk or food down. They were both upset, tired and inconsolable. By 5pm, we decided to call the out of hours doctors as both girls seemed to have taken a turn for the worse.


I am appalled at how I was treated by the person who answered the phone at the out of hours call centre. I explained at the start of the call that the twins were 8 months old and I listed their symptoms. The lady said she would have to take the girls details one at a time, which was fine, I didn’t have a problem with that. So, after repeating everything twice she then said she would get a doctor to call me in an hour. 


I expressed my concern that the girls had basically not eaten anything all day as everything we had offered them came back up almost immediately and I explained that I would like to be called back a bit sooner than an hour. The lady on the phone was so rude! She said she had followed her policies and procedures and that again a doctor would call in an hour. 


I went on to advise that they were babies, born premature with very low birth weights and that we were worried they could be dehydrated and loose weight. The woman didn’t show any compassion. 


In the end, twin daddy and I took the girls to A&E and it was a good decision. When we arrived we were seen straight away and taken to a private room on the children’s emergency ward. A nurse took their temperatures and some blood. She said that they both had temperatures but their blood sugar levels were good. She gave us two syringes and a cup of Dioralyte which replaces body fluids and salts. The nurse asked us to give the girls 5ml every 5 minutes to see if they could keep it down. After the first 3 syringes, both girls became wise to what we were doing and in between crying, refused to open their mouths. 


A doctor came to have a look at them both and checked their fontanels to make sure they weren’t sunken (a sign of dehydration), that they didn’t have a rash etc, along with a few other checks. The doctor then asked us to give the girls their bottles and see if they could keep it down. Neither of them did. Twin daddy and I thought we would be in for the night because the doctor was talking about keeping them hydrated with a drip overnight.


Luckily, a few hours later another doctor came to see us and said it was good that both girls were ill, as it was likely to be a gastric virus and nothing more serious. He gave us some Dioralyte sachets to take home and said to keep them hydrated with small, regular feeds.


We got home around 10pm. R was very unsettled and wouldn’t go down in her cot, so twin daddy and I took it in turns to sleep with R on the sofa and we fed her 30ml more or less every hour. M slept well until around 2am, when she awoke and after giving her a small bottle of milk we brought her into our bed because she couldn’t settle in her cot either. 


After a very long night, we woke today and both girls do appear to be better. M I think is over the worst of it but R is still suffering and has been quite tired  and irritable but they are both keeping milk and food down, so they appear to be on the mend. 


Two hours after I called the our of hours GP, a doctor called. 2 hours!