Build-A-Bear Allegedly Denied Grieving Mom Who Wanted ‘Pay Your Age’ Bear In Baby’s Honor

She's a mother who lost her second kid in a sad incident in 2019.

She began her story on Love What Matters by describing how she and her husband were surprised to find out they were expecting their second child.

Love What Matters

"We hadn’t planned on having another baby anytime soon, but at the same time we were excited to have a sibling for Carmen to play with," she wrote.

Everything about the pregnancy went according to plan.

Unsplash | Anastasiia Chepinska

They learned they were expecting another child in July of that year. Dahlia was chosen as her name.

"We thought it was just so beautiful and perfect. The perfect name for the perfect little girl."

Facebook | Dream of Dahlia

They decided to perform another C-section with Dahlia because their first daughter, Carmen, was a high-risk pregnancy.

While the procedure went off without a hitch, Ashley sensed something wasn't quite right when she overheard the nurses conversing.

Facebook | Dream of Dahlia

"She was limp and blue. My heart broke when I heard them say she needed to go to the NICU," she wrote.

While she was reunited with her kid a few hours later, their struggles were far from over.

Facebook | Dream of Dahlia

It turns out that their little girl was born with a genetic abnormality that causes "low muscle tone, epilepsy, delay in eye contact, delayed development, and an array of other things."

She was released from the NICU after three months of fighting for her life.

Facebook | Dream of Dahlia

Unfortunately, she contracted the rhinovirus while at home, which progressed to pneumonia.

Her little body couldn't handle it — she declined rapidly. "We knew her time was near. We had our whole family come and visit her," she wrote.

Unsplash | Dmitry Schemelev

"The next day, around 3:30 in the morning, her dad and I held onto her while she took her last breath."

Losing a child was gut-wrenching: "It was the worst day of my life," Ashley wrote.

Facebook | Dream of Dahlia

Just when it couldn't get any worse, she received a "stab to the heart".

It came in the shape of a Build-A-Bear response on Facebook.

Facebook | Ashley Guevara

She detailed how she had signed up for their "Pay Your Age" ticket in her message.

She wanted this to be a time for her daughters to bond.

Facebook | Build-A-Bear

"The day she died was the day we got the email that we had won the tickets for our girls," Guevara shared. She waited a few days before asking if we could still use it "for my girls even though one was now my angel baby."

 "I explained how she unexpectedly passed the day we received them. It felt like the perfect thing to do to honor and remember her."

Unsplash | Marina Shatskih

The reception she received from the toy store was not what she had anticipated.

They wrote: "Thank you for reaching out and for being our Guest. We are so sorry for your loss."

"This is designed to be an in-store experience for our Guests."

"Therefore, the Guest must be present to pay their age. ... Our thoughts are with you and we are sending Bear Hugs your way."

"A simple no would have been okay with me, but their words felt like a stab to the heart," she shared.

Unsplash | MChe Lee

"They told me I couldn’t because ‘the guest must be present. That was their response when I told them my daughter passed. Their words shattered me. I chose to not respond."

Although she may not have answered, random people did.

"I started getting notifications and comments on the post," she wrote. "Then shares. People began messaging me. Somehow people got wind of their response and came to my defense."

As a result, Build-A-Bear, as well as the company's CEO, reached out to her via Facebook.

Unsplash | Maxim Tolchinskiy

"They offered to have Carmen come in and make a special bear for herself and Dahlia," she shared.

That didn't sit well with her, though.

"But honestly, after everything that happened, the bear lost its meaning to me."

Although her heart still hurts for her daughter, she takes solace in the fact that she is no longer in pain. "She isn't in any discomfort. She is free."

Facebook | Dream of Dahlia