Leo's Stocking Fundraiser

Turning Fear into Hope for Moms & Babies Around the World

Every year, mothers and babies around the world face a rare, life threatening condition called HDFN; when a mother’s blood creates antibodies that attack her baby’s red blood cells. With the right care, babies survive HDFN and thrive. Without it, the outcomes can be devastating.

Leo's story starts at 23 weeks gestation when he was suddenly in active heart failure with hydrops fetalis and dying from HDFN. 

By the grace of God we were sent to an amazing doctor who was able to save Leo's life and performed 6 intrauterine blood transfusions during the rest of our pregnancy to keep him alive and growing. He was born at 35 weeks and needed triple light therapy, a double exchange transfusion due to extremely high bilirubin, and we went on to spend 37 days in the NICU. He had two regular “top up” transfusions before his body began to make its own blood again and we were COMPLETELY cleared of all medical intervention. 

Leo is our God-given miracle and we love him so much. We feel so blessed to share he will turn two on Dec 6th this year. 

Personally, I could not have made it through this experience without the Allo Hope Foundation. 

The Allo Hope Foundation (AHF) provides education, specialist referrals, global access initiatives, and research so that mothers and babies receive the lifesaving care and support they need during their HDFN diagnosis.

This Giving Tuesday and throughout the Holiday season, we are raising money for AHF to honor Leo's battle with HDFN and to help protect other babies from preventable harm. Please join me in sharing hope with those who need it most by contributing to Leo's Stocking Fundraiser.

Your donation today helps:

• Put a support booklet in the hands of a newly diagnosed mother so she can advocate for her baby

  • I literally slept with mine because having this information felt like life or death to me. I will keep it forever. 

• Fund a blood-type test or Rh immunoglobulin dose for a mother in a low resource country.

  • Having access to this medication saves millions of babies lives and it's the reason I donate my special Anti-D plasma every couple weeks. 

• Connect a family with a maternal–fetal specialist experienced in HDFN.

  • Leo's second middle name is "Saul" because that is the name of our MFM doctor who saved his life. 

• Advance research and education to prevent stillbirths and infant deaths caused by alloimmunization and HDFN.

  • My biggest heart cry.

Thank you for helping us honor Leo and for standing with families facing HDFN around the world. Your generosity brings education, treatment, and hope to those who need it most.

From our family to yours, we wish you a beautiful and peaceful holiday season.

Learn more about The Allo Hope Foundation here: https://allohopefoundation.org