Help me bring Lucien home
Donation protected
On October 29th my newborn was rushed to the hospital with extensive injuries. Injuries that I didn't know about. My world was absolutely shattered. On October 31st his father turned himself into the police department and confessed that he had shaken our baby on two separate occasions. Once while I was asleep and once while I was in the kitchen just before he was rushed into the hospital. Lucien was taken into foster care. I am now trying my best to bring him home. I have put in an application with court appointed counsel but I have been railroaded and already had to ask for a continuance during the first hearing due to their negligence. I am a good mother. I love my son. My son's father never ever showed signs of being capable of this. He was always gentle and kind and loving towards me. He was always loving towards his child. I can't speak for him as to why he has done this but I know my son belongs with his mother and every minute without him is an eternity of pain and confusion. I am willing to share more if you are to message me in private but for the sake of brevity in this extraordinarily urgent matter I am going to wrap this up and come back to update and add more context. Please help me bring my world home. Please help me get my baby boy back.
UPDATE:
Sorry for the long pause before an update. I am currently scrambling to find a lawyer that doesn't have a conflict of interest nor is booked out too far into the future. For now I do not qualify for a pro bono lawyer because they are counting Michaels income as my own. (We are not married and I have never had access to his accounts. Also I believe he has been terminated so I am trying hard to get his workplace to send a letter confirming his termination).
Last friday a family friend was rushed here from VT to act as a temporary supervisor while Lucien is placed back into my care after being discharged from the hospital. This was a stipulation of a safety plan put into place while the police officer wraps up his report. After a lot of railroading and jumping through every hoop CYS claimed that by the time he arrived from VT the doctor would be going home and no other doctor would give us discharge instructions. They forced the matter into an emergency custody case pending a hearing that took place on Monday. I was assured that the hearing on Monday would result in Lucien being in my care again and was simply to explain that the doctor couldn't stay for discharge instructions. When I showed up to the hearing on Monday I was immediately met with hostility and told that he would not be coming home with me and that this was not the plan at all.
Lucien is safe in a foster home with an incredibly nice woman who has been sending me updates but Lucien and I have a bond that no one can replace. I don't want to miss his first laugh. I don't want to miss anything. The petition that children services has against me is flimsy. They are claiming 3 events of which 2 are untrue and can be proven untrue (via medical records and hopefully I can also obtain some video footage). The first reason is that I cried and yelled for someone to help my baby when we first rushed him to the ER and that I slapped Michael in the face. I did cry and yell (I had just seen my baby have a seizure or a stroke I couldn't help it) but I did not slap Michael in the face in fact the triage notes make no mention of me slapping Michael. They only say I was yelling at the hospital staff and crying. The second reason is claiming that I was present at Walmart when a bag ripped and resulted in Michael accidentally dropping a bottle on Lucien's head. This took place while I was actually being seen at the local hospital for severe dizziness and I can prove I was via text messages and hospital records. I also called the pediatrician after learning of the incident to get advice about whether or not he should be seen immediately. The 3rd reason is that I have had to take my dog out back to go to the bathroom while Lucien is safe in his crib sleeping and the door is locked.
These are the 3 things they have outlined against me in their petition to keep me away from my baby. 2 are untrue and 1 is absolutely ridiculous. I love Lucien and I don't want to be replaced. My home has always been very clean, Lucien has always been well loved and well fed. I have even participated in something called Nurse Family Partnership since I was about 30 weeks pregnant. This program has a nurse/midwife come on a weekly basis before and for up two years after you have your first baby. The nurse can speak to how excellent I have been with Lucien.I have been a good mother. I just want my baby boy home. I don't want us to suffer any longer for someone else's wrongdoings. We can safely heal together.
Organizer
Caitlin Horgan
Organizer
Bloomsburg, PA