By the Grace... Doctors Said She Wouldn’t—But She Did

In July 2018, Megan Jones Pierce gave birth to twin daughters—Jaylee and Laylee—at just 23 weeks. Jaylee weighed 1 pound, 3 ounces. Laylee weighed 1 pound, 2 ounces. Tiny, fragile, and barely developed, both girls were immediately rushed to the NICU at Huntsville Hospital.

Jaylee’s fight was short but fierce. She battled bravely for two days before passing away due to Potter’s Syndrome, a rare and often fatal condition. Megan said goodbye to one of her girls before she ever had the chance to hear her cry. But in that same NICU room, Laylee was still holding on.

And her fight was just beginning.

From the start, doctors warned Megan not to get her hopes up. With her twin sister gone, Laylee’s odds weren’t promising. But what followed was a 117-day NICU journey filled with miracle after miracle.

Early on, Laylee suffered a Stage 4 intraventricular brain hemorrhage—the most severe kind. The neurologist was stunned when it resolved completely in just two weeks, something he said he had never seen happen so quickly.

Laylee coded multiple times. Nurses had to bag her to get her breathing again. She was placed on oxygen for the first 8 months of her life, and for the first 4 months, she also wore a heart monitor. Her tiny body carried a heart murmur from birth, and doctors feared she would need open-heart surgery. But just as they were making plans to intervene, the murmur closed on its own—no surgery needed.

Doctors told Megan that even if Laylee did survive, she might never speak. She might not even be able to scream.

Today, Laylee can scream just fine.

She thrives in everything she does—a bright, bold, determined little girl who beat every expectation set for her. She carries her sister’s memory in her heart and lives her life like she’s doing it for both of them.

In 2019, Laylee was chosen as the March of Dimes baby for Publix—a recognition of the incredible journey she endured and the miracle she is today.

By the grace of God, she’s here. And she’s not just surviving—she’s thriving.

Thank you to Megan Jones Pierce for sharing Laylee and Jaylee’s story with us.

👉 Do you know someone whose life is a testimony of divine healing, strength, and survival? Send us their story for a future edition of By The Grace... — honoring real-life miracles from Lawrence County.