Baby Ashlynn

This is Ashlynn, the daughter of Breann, a mother I met about 3 years ago in an online pregnancy group. She has two daughters whom she dearly loves. In May 2012 her life was about to change. Breann decided to leave Ashlynn with her biological father and to spend some time with her oldest daughter. It wasn’t the first time she dropped her off at her dad’s and he had shown no signs of being abusive. However that night something tragic happened.

At around 11 pm Breann saw Ashlynn’s father come into her house with Ashlynn in her car seat. She immediately knew something was wrong. The dad was hiding the car seat from Breann and told her that “something was wrong with Ashlynn.” When Breann finally got around looking at her baby she says that  “Ashlynn was blue, covered in a multitude of dark bruises. Her lips quivered as she gasped and fought for air, her blue eyes rolled in her head and she was sweaty.”  She was dying.

They rushed to the hospital. On their way there, Ashlynn stopped breathing. Breann reanimated her while the father drove. As soon as they got there, Ashlynn was taken care of, they got her IV’s and the nurse shook her head and said “this baby is victim of child abuse.” They had to fly Ashlynn to another hospital where they told Breann that “there was no hope of controlling the swelling of her brain and she would need a craniotomy.” After she passed an MRI the family learned that she had severe brain damage and that if Breann choose to keep her alive she would be a vegetable. Breann didn't want to let Ashlynn go. So she told the doctors to do whatever they could to keep her going.

Ashlynn has severe brain damage and skull fracture. She gets fed through a g-tube, cannot hold herself up, has to wear body braces and has to have Botox injections. She sleeps a lot, some days she has seizures and other days she is fine. She is still a beautiful baby.

Ashlynn is now a toddler, she will never be able to grow up to be a regular toddler. 70% of her brain is no longer functional. All this could have been avoided. It happened because of a little moment of anger and it took away years of possible happiness for Ashlynn and her family. The abuser is now in jail for 20 years and will no longer be able to contact Breann and her family.

Remember that if ever you feel frustrated because your baby is fussy, crying, annoying or whatever else, please just put your baby in a safe place (crib, pack’n play, etc) and go to a place where you can no longer hear your baby for 0-15 minutes as you need. Just check on them every 15 minutes and perhaps call help if you need. Do not, in under any circumstances, shake, throw or injure a baby.