Meet Renley 👶🏼

It’s been a tough start for our little man — and for us as first-time parents.

Leesh went through a long and intense labour, starting Thursday night and lasting over 40 hours. Renley arrived safely, but Leesh was exhausted, confused, and seeing double. Watching her like that was terrifying.

Later that night, everything changed. At 10:30pm, Renley began vomiting green. We didn’t know what it meant, only that something wasn’t right. He was taken to special care and, while he seemed “clinically well,” a consultant at Brighton had a gut feeling. She advised he be transferred immediately — and that decision saved his life.

At Brighton, they discovered Renley had malrotation: a twisted bowel with kinks in his intestine. At less than 24 hours old, he was rushed into surgery. He spent 14 days in ICU, and those two weeks were the scariest of our lives.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned that we want to share: If a newborn vomits green, don’t wait. Get it checked.

1 in 20 babies are born with malrotation. It’s often mistaken for “just sick,” but if not caught in time, it can be fatal. The Trevor Mann Unit told us just how lucky we were — 9 out of 10 babies don’t get diagnosed this early. Their team truly were incredible.

And while Renley was in ICU, Ronald McDonald House Brighton gave us a place to stay, right across from the hospital. Being so close to our baby — without the stress of travelling back and forth or worrying about the cost — was an absolute lifeline.

What these teams do for families is beyond words. That’s why I want to give back — because there will be more families who face what we went through, and they’ll need the same support we had.