How do I make a plyr load from checkpoint with the amount of lives i had prior?

the variable that stores the player's life needs to be a global.

reloading the layout resets sprite objects. So if the variable you were using was player.lives, it will be reset to what the default is when the layout is restarted.

you should use a global instead, those are not reset on reentering a layout.

if you are able to start the player at a different location on each layout restart, you must already be doing something globally??