Leo Jude Brierley
October 3, 2020

Matt and Renée found out they were pregnant on April Fool's Day! And shortly after, they experienced complications in which it was difficult to see a future. Pregnancy after loss is such a blessing, but as you can imagine brings its own anxiety and can raise previous PTSD symptoms. With the already fears of PAL and our high risk pregnancy, it was difficult to share our hope and excitement as it was shadowed by fear. Although the Fear was and still is daunting, they chose and continue to choose to sit with Jesus and breathe in our Faith. Choosing Faith over Fear is their Strength and we Praise Him in all circumstances.

And Strength & Praise is exactly what we are doing with our Leo Jude. They believe there is a lot to be said about the meaning behind names. Leo means Strength+Bravery and Jude means Praise. How perfect is that? We chose his name before we knew of any of the complications in this pregnancy and we know he is most definitely Divine Intervention.

Leo Jude was born premature at 30 weeks gestation due to Renee’s diagnosis of Placenta Accreta. We rejoice in our blessings and ask for your continued thoughts and prayers as Leo is an amazing little fighter and is still growing in the NICU. Our family and Big Sister Olivia can not wait to love on our baby boy and we are hopeful Leo will be home and safe in our arms soon!

Matt and Renée have been by Leo’s side daily since his birth on a October 3rd.

Here is a day in their life for the past 2 months:

Matt heads to the hospital each morning leaving at 5:15am for the 6am feeding, the hospital is 40 minutes from their home. Renée arrives at the hospital around 10am and stays all day until Leo’s 3pm feeding and arrives back at home to their sweet Olivia (3 years old) at 4:30pm. Matt leaves work daily for lunch to be present for Leo’s 12pm feeding to give Renee a break and then heads back to work.  They make sure to eat dinner with Olivia and keep a bath/bed time routine and then leave yet again to hospital at about 7:30pm for Leo’s nightly cares routine and feeding. They end their day when they arrive home around 10:30pm. 

They have made this quite a routine and are embracing it with open arms as they know Leo needs them. Their faith is unwavering and they know that God has his hand in everything  

We thank everyone for the thoughts and prayers for Leo and as the months of care in the NICU progress we are asking for a small donation to aid with the medical costs and day to day life expenses. We are uncertain when Leo will come home. We pray by Christmas!