In July all three of my boys were diagnosed with meningitis. Apparently this is very rare indeed!
My 11 month old baby was the first to fall ill. He came down with a fever and a spotty viral rash one afternoon. Instinct told me that it wasn't just a standard viral infection and we took him to the emergency doctor. He was prescribed an antibiotic for a sore throat and sent home.
Two days later my middle child showed similar symptoms. I took both to the GP to be told, once again, that they were suffering a viral infection. The rash - which was still prominent on my baby - was put down to being a reaction to the antibiotics and I was told to wait until he had finished the course to see if it eased.
It was two days after that when my eldest fell ill. He complained of a headache at first - something from which he had never suffered before. Then came the fever, followed by vomiting. To be honest, I didn't think much of it at first... but then I saw the rash on his neck. It was unlike any other rash I had seen before and I instinctively knew what it was.