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Chester mother welcomes new baby just a month after fiancé was killed in car crash

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CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- In July, CBS 6 met with Shelby Guydan, who recently lost her fiancé, Derrick Carlisle in a head-on collision just days before.

Now, Guydan is not only adjusting to life without her fiancé, but to life as a mother to her and Derrick's young daughter, and their newborn Tinsleigh, who was born weeks after Derrick's tragic death.

Carlisle's family held a viewing in the days after his death, and four days later, Guydan gave birth to their baby girl.

Now, Shelby and Derrick's daughter, little Tinsleigh, is three weeks and one day old and is continuously getting bigger.

While Tinsleigh is doing well now, the moment she was born she was brought to the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.

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"Straight to the NICU. She was not breathing when she was born and she had pulmonary hypertension," Guydan said.

Eventually, time would reveal that Tinsleigh was a fighter, and nine days later, she was headed home from the hospital.

"She's actually really good. It's a roller coaster," Guydan said.

One of the low peaks of this roller coaster happened just two weeks before Guydan gave birth, when her 26-year-old fiancé Derrick was killed in a traffic accident while on his way to work.

"One of the worst things I've been through," Guydan said.

However, she says now, time is what she needs.

"Right now taking the time to take care of my newborn and grieve when I need to grieve."

As well as planning what she will one day tell her daughter about her father, starting with her name, Tinsleigh Jean-Marie Carlisle.

"Before we found out we were pregnant, he picked out Tinsleigh," Guydan said. "Her middle name is his grandma's middle name, who raised him and my mom and my grandmother's middle name, hyphenated."

She says Tinsleigh will learn how much Derrick loved her, and that her father always had a sense of humor.

"He always made sure everyone was laughing, always."

Guydan says Derrick was extremely proud of the four years he spent in the U.S. Navy.

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"He was very proud of how he was in the Navy and what he did. He used to tell me he was a boatswain's mate, and the boat he was on was the biggest aircraft carrier in the world," Guydan said.

Today, both Guydan and Tinsleigh are physically doing well, with both getting stronger every day.

Depend on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for in-depth coverage of this important local story. Anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.

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