The Barrera Quads

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read about my friends and this cause. I had the pleasure of meeting and becoming great friends with one of the most giving and selfless couples I've encountered in April 2011. Hope and Jereme Barrera have been phenomonal friends and extended family of sorts to my family and I since meeting them. We celebrated holidays together, had "family dinners", cookouts, pool days and movie nights. They were one of the few couples that we whole-heartedly trusted to watch our precious daughter when we would have a rare date night.

Hope (23) and Jereme (26) met in Memphis, TN and were friends and then dated for a couple of years before Jereme joined the USAF. They were married in July of 2010 and were stationed in Las Vegas, NV at Nellis AFB for their first duty station. Jereme worked as a crew chief on the F-22's (Raptor) and Hope worked full time at the Nellis CDC (Child Deveolpment Center).

Hope came forward about a year ago and expressed to me that she was having trouble getting pregnant. I had no idea at the time that they were even trying, so as excited as I was to hear that they were trying to extend their family, my heart was heavy for them. Fertility issues are so common, more common than I could've ever imagined before getting to the age where all of my friends were ready to grow their own little families.

Hope saw a doctor on base in the summer of 2013 and was diagnosed with PCOS (read about it here: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome on Web MD) and was told that she had probably never ovulated before. As hard as this news was to hear, the Barreras stayed positive and pushed forward. They talked about their options and decided after a few months to look into fertility. Once their insurance approved the fertility treatments, Hope had to give herself a shot in her thigh daily. This shot contained the hormones necessary to make her body ovulate. The shot came with risk factors and even odds that the Barreras would become pregnant with multiples. As scary as this all was, they moved forward with treatment and by fall 2013, Hope was in and out of the fertility clinic multiple times a week. After a couple of failed attempts with her dosage and negative pregnancy tests, the Barreras received news that they were pregnant on December 10, 2013. They were seen for an ultrasound two weeks later which confirmed that they were pregnant with FOUR Barrera babies. 

In a normal circumstance, I would be throwing the Barrera's a baby shower, but I have since moved from Nellis AFB and am living in South Carolina. In addition, Jereme received orders to Shepherd AFB in Wichita Falls, TX in January 2014. He was granted the opportunity to become an instructor at the base and teaches new airman about the F-22 and being a crew chief. Hope is now unable to work and will probably be on bedrest within the next couple of months. Since the couple is new to that area, they don't know many people there; however, they have been fortunate enough to have some family members and friends throw a shower for them later on this month.

The Barreras are ecstatic and sometimes overwhelmed, as you can probably imagine. Being blessed with four babies, at once, comes with many financial responsibilities. Anyone who has or knows of someone with children can empathize that necessities like diapers and formula come with a large price tag.

The Barrera babies are expected around the end of June, as Hope will then be 32 weeks pregnant and that is the longest pregnancy record for quads.

You may be lucky enough to have met this beautiful couple or you may have stumbled upon this page from a friend or family member. Either way, I hope you can appreciate that this is a great cause for a deserving family. I can vouche that had they come across a page like this for someone else, they would be moved and would give. If you are unable to give, please pass this cause along with a prayer.

Again, thank you so much for your time and consideration in donating to Hope and Jereme Barrera. 

Sincerely,

Alyssa Williams