Aspen RayAnn Loycano
Daughter of Shelly and Brandon Loycano
Born March 13, 2021, and gained her angel wings on March 15, 2021
Written By: Shelly Loycano
When Brandon and I decided to start a family, we agreed to have one child.
My first pregnancy sadly lasted only a few weeks when I miscarried in the winter of 2019. A few months later I was pregnant with Aspen and carried her through to full term, my pregnancy normal. We were both carefully monitored, and all tests looked good. However, the doctors recommended I be induced a few days before my due date.
Brandon and I went to the hospital as planned where the fetal monitoring appeared normal, and labor began. However, when my water broke, I spiked a fever and became very ill. I was immediately given the two types of antibiotics that treat the most common infections. However, I became too weak for a normal delivery, so an emergency C-Section was performed.
Our beautiful daughter was born on March 13, 2021, slightly listless and heartbeat a little elevated, but neither symptom was necessarily abnormal. Aspen had a fever like me (not unexpected) and couldn’t breathe on her own. The neo-natal team intubated her, took blood cultures, and started her on the same antibiotics as me. Since Methodist Hospital didn’t have a neo-natal unit, she was transported to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. And because the Methodist team was confident Aspen would be healthy, my doctor performed the tubal ligation according to our plan.
The neonatal team at Children’s worked tirelessly to help our precious daughter recover. The official diagnosis was chorioamnionitis, a condition where bacteria seeps into the amniotic fluid, affecting 1-4% of all births. By the end of the first day, Aspen seemed to be improving. However, the next day, she took a turn for the worse. The blood test results came back with devastating news. In a cruel twist of fate, Aspen was resistant to one of the antibiotics being given to her. This is extremely rare, and the doctors were shocked.
By this time, too much time had passed without the correct medicine and Aspen was now septic. The wonderful care team at Children’s tried a variety of life-saving measures, but Aspen was too sick and too weak to fight anymore. On the evening of March 15th there was nothing left to try. Aspen was then baptized, life-saving equipment was removed, and she passed away at 11:24 PM.
Aspen, our precious angel, you were so wanted and we had such hopes and dreams for you. For three short days her on earth, you brought a lot of love into this world, and we will hold you in our hearts until we can hold you in heaven.
