"I will always believe Chris intended to kill me," she said in a victim impact statement read to the court.
"And the way he left without checking on me, he thought he had succeeded."
She still can't understand what sort of man would attack a woman five months pregnant with his own child.
During the attack, she did "all I could" to guard her unborn baby.
Fortunately, the woman managed to protect the baby with her body.
There has been no serious impacts on the baby, the court heard.
The victim says she will never forget Buick's "silent rage" during the wordless attack that gives her recurring nightmares and flashbacks.
She lives in terror of him returning and although she is receiving psychological support, she believes the effects will be long-lasting.
"I'll be afraid of him for the rest of my life," she said.
A pre-sentence report noted that Buick's remorse was "very self-centred", thinking of the affects on his own life rather than the victim and her baby.
Ashburton farm contractor Buick, 32, and the victim, who the Herald has chosen not to name, had been long-term friends and in an on-and-off relationship.
But when she fell pregnant, Buick said he didn't want her to keep the baby as he was seeing another Ashburton woman.
Late on the night of February 4, the victim texted Buick asking if he could visit her to discuss the baby.
They arranged a time and Buick arrived at her Christchurch home at about 1.30am.
He was armed with a baseball bat.
As soon as she opened her front door, Buick raised the bat above his head, and smashed it down across her head.
He struck her in the head and face "numerous times", according to the police summary of facts which described it as a "frenzied attack".
Buick then tried to hit the woman in the stomach with the bat, the court was told.
"The victim put herself into a foetal position in an attempt to protect her unborn child," police said.
"She has covered her head with her hands and has been struck in the head, hands and body with the baseball bat."
Buick hit her so hard that the bat snapped in half.
He then began kicking her around the head and body until she laid on the ground on her stomach "pretending to be dead".
Police say that Buick then fled the home without checking on the woman's condition.
The woman was hospitalised with a fractured skull, severe bruising to her face, in particular her right eye, and a broken eye socket. She also suffered a serious laceration to her forehead, severe bruising to the back of her right hand, and bruising to her right leg.
When police caught up with Buick, who has no previous criminal history, he declined to speak to them.
He earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Defence counsel Craig Ruane today said Buick was known as a "hard-working and well-respected young man" who has no previous convictions.
A series of references provided to the court all suggest Buick's behaviour had been "entirely out of character".
He still can't explain how he thought his actions that night would solve his problems, Ruane said.
Buick, who himself had been adopted, the court heard, made a "serious attempt at suicide" a few hours after the attack and is deeply remorseful, the lawyer added.
In sentencing Buick, who sobbed in the dock, Judge Stephen O'Driscoll described the victim as "a courageous person" who tried to protect both herself and her unborn child during the attack.
The judge hoped that as time goes on, the woman will recover from the ordeal, but noted that such events can stay with victims for years.
He found several aggravating factors including Buick's premeditation and use of extreme violence and a weapon, carried out on a vulnerable victim, 23 weeks pregnant, in the safety of her own home, which led to serious injuries and consequences.
"The violence, in my view is extreme. It was gratuitous, it was brutal and it was callous," Judge O'Driscoll said in coming to a sentence in imprisonment of eight years, three months.
