When Ashley Morin gave birth to her son Nolan in 2023, something felt off almost immediately.
The newborn wouldn’t eat much and cried very little during the first few hours of his life, and having already welcomed two children before Nolan, Morin could tell something was wrong.
Doctors ultimately declared that the baby had been born with high bilirubin levels – a common and often harmless condition in newborns also known as jaundice that is easily treated with specialized blue lights – and discharged them two days after he was born.
But when he continued to have no appetite, Morin’s fears only intensified. She decided to bring him back to the hospital but was completely brushed off by the doctors and sent home.
Unfortunately, Morin’s intuition was correct and just five days later, her son was left fighting for his life in a coma due to a serious bacterial infection.
She was told even if he woke up, Nolan had permanent brain damage and would likely never live a normal life, forcing her to make a decision no parent should ever have to make: should they continue care or stop interventions and let him die.
Thankfully, she chose to keep fighting and despite some developmental issues, Nolan is now a bubbly two-year-old.
Morin, 29, from Spanish Fork, Utah, laid bare the traumatic and terrifying ordeal exclusively with the Daily Mail.
Ashley Morin gave birth to her son Nolan in 2023, and just five days later he was left fighting for his life in a coma due to a serious bacterial infection
Nolan had a rare and ‘extremely aggressive’ type of bacterial meningitis called citrobacter koseri, which has about a one in three mortality rate
She explained: ‘After I gave birth I didn’t get that feeling of relief that you get after you finally get to hold your baby.
‘I felt heavy and like something was wrong. Nolan wasn’t obviously sick [but he] wouldn’t really eat much or cry very much.
‘He had high bilirubin levels but [doctors said] it was all still in the “realm of normal.” We were discharged and told to return to the hospital over the next few days to check his bilirubin levels.’
Morin explained that after they got home, ‘things got more intense.’ Nolan would ‘hardly eat’ and would ‘whine and sleep all day,’ only heightening her fears that something was wrong.
She brought him back to the hospital two days later, and when she explained his symptoms, she said doctors told her it was ‘normal for jaundiced babies’ to act like that.
His bilirubin levels had risen but they didn’t want to ‘re-admit him to the hospital’ and sent them back home.
But the next day, things took a turn for the worse when the five-day-old newborn had a terrifying seizure.
‘He turned red, got really stiff and his body was crunched sideways in a “C” shape,’ Morin recalled.
Thankfully, Nolan opened his eyes three days after he fell into a coma and a few days after that, he was able to eat and breathe on his own
‘And he screamed a really distinct, scary scream. He did that for less than a minute and then just stopped. His eyes were stuck to one side.’
Morin rushed him to the ER but according to the mom-of-three, doctors completely brushed off her concerns once again.
‘I told them everything and was dismissed pretty quickly. They [once again] said that it’s normal for jaundiced babies to be lethargic and not eat much,’ she said.
‘They told me babies eye muscles are not developed yet and that’s why his eyes were moving weird. I told them this is my third child and nothing seemed normal to me.
‘They agreed to run some labs to test for infection, but they went ahead and started the discharge process.’
When they were getting ready to leave the hospital, Morin said Nolan started seizing again, and the infant ultimately had three seizures in a row, with ‘each one progressing in severity.’ Finally, doctors began to take her concerns seriously.
‘It went from, “That was weird,” to, “He needs to take an ambulance to the children’s hospital,” to, “He needs to be life-flighted to the children’s hospital,”‘ Morin explained.
‘It was terrifying. I had never experienced anything like this and we had no idea what was going on. Being five days postpartum and seeing my baby suffering with no explanation why was so hard.’
Nolan was ultimately flown to the nearest children’s hospital and, on the flight over, he continued seizing and had to be intubated.
‘He was hooked up to a million machines and wires. He was just this tiny perfect sleeping baby in the middle of so much chaos,’ recalled Morin.
Nolan, whose third birthday is coming up in a few weeks, ultimately recovered from the meningitis, but the brain damage has had serious long-term affects on him
Nolan poses with his mom and siblings. He has drug-resistant epilepsy and vision impairment, as well as some development and speech delays, but his mom calls him the ‘biggest miracle’
Doctors still weren’t sure what was wrong with Nolan, and it took an agonizing two days for Morin to finally get answers while her baby lay in a coma.
It turns out Nolan had a rare and ‘extremely aggressive’ type of bacterial meningitis called citrobacter koseri, which has about a one in three mortality rate.
Morin shared about the moment they got the diagnosis: ‘I remember so clearly, when we walked into the room the nurse had literal tears in her eyes as she said, “It’s not good.”
‘We have no idea how he got it. But in his five days of life, it had attacked his brain significantly. It essentially ate away his frontal lobes and his left occipital lobe.’
Because of the severity of his brain damage, doctors told Morin they didn’t think her baby would ever wake up.
And if he did, she was told he ‘wouldn’t have a good quality of life.’
‘[They believed] he wouldn’t be able to eat, breathe or move on his own. He wouldn’t be able to talk and he would have severe cerebral palsy,’ Morin said.
‘Then they told us we had to decide if we wanted to continue care or not. They said we could let him “be comfortable,” stop their interventions and let the bacteria continue killing him.
‘It was devastating. It is not something I would wish on any parent. My whole world just stopped. I couldn’t believe I was in this situation.
‘He moves his body so well. He walks and runs and loves to play baseball and soccer. He is so social and says about 50 words,’ Morin dished
Ultimately, Morin said she wants to remind other parents to advocate for their children if they feel like something is wrong
‘How was my baby this sick so fast? And now I have to decide if he lives or dies? How unfair is that?’
Morin ultimately decided not to give up on her baby, explaining: ‘We did not want him to have the life they were describing. But I knew that Nolan was meant to be here. It did not ever feel right to let him go.’
Thankfully, Nolan slowly started getting better. He opened his eyes three days later and, a few days after that, he was able to eat and breathe on his own.
Nolan, whose third birthday is coming up in a few weeks, ultimately recovered from the meningitis but the brain damage has had serious long-term effects on him.
He has drug-resistant epilepsy and vision impairment, as well as some developmental and speech delays.
But even so, Morin describes the toddler as the ‘biggest miracle.’
‘He moves his body so well. He walks and runs and loves to play baseball and soccer. He is so social and says about 50 words,’ Morin dished.
Ultimately, Morin said she wants to remind other parents to advocate for their children if they feel like something is wrong.
‘You don’t have to take doctors’ words as gospel. Ask questions and advocate for their child, especially if you feel like something is wrong,’ she urged.
