Little Harley and Harry Crane faced terrible odds of survival when they were born prematurely at just 22 weeks – over a week before babies are considered medically viable.
But the twins have beaten the odds, and it’s now hoped they’ll be leaving hospital for their due date.
Mum Jade Crane had spent over a decade undergoing fertility treatments with her partner Steve after first trying to get pregnant naturally for three years, but until the twins, nothing had worked for the couple.
‘Steve and I have been together for 14 years,’ said Jade, ‘and 11 of those have been spent doing IVF.
‘On our eighth cycle of IVF, we had two embryos transferred which both worked, and we ended up with boy and girl twins.
‘I couldn’t let myself believe it, I was so fearful of a miscarriage or something going wrong. I literally didn’t do anything during the pregnancy as a result.
‘I was still in disbelief when we got to 20 weeks, and I hadn’t even hit my third trimester when I went into labour, so we hadn’t bought anything.
‘We had painted the nursery and revamped furniture, but we hadn’t bought cots or thrown baby showers or anything.
‘The few bits of clothes that I did buy made me think that I better keep the tags on just in case – you just don’t want to let yourself believe.’
The former mental health nurse and addiction counsellor took herself to get checked at Queens Medical Hospital in Nottingham on October 26 after leaking fluid at home for several days when she was 22 weeks along.
An internal examination revealed that Jade, 39, was experiencing a premature rupture the fetal membranes, and she was devastated to be told that she would lose her twins.
She said: ‘The doctor was so shocked – she told me she could see the membrane bulging, so the sac of water was basically showing.
‘It was so scary. I knew I was 22 weeks, but I didn’t know about the viability thing. They told me they were going to admit me but that I was probably having a miscarriage.
‘The doctor kept saying it was a miscarriage, but I said it couldn’t be because I could feel the babies moving.
‘I knew they were OK but was being told they wouldn’t survive at this gestation.’
Women can legally terminate a pregnancy up to 24 weeks, and doctors are not required to medically intervene with babies born prior to this time, so the twins being born at 22 weeks didn’t stand them in good stead for survival.
Jade had decided to go to Queens Medical Hospital in Nottingham for her scans due to the fact that they had a more extensive NICU than her local hospital in Derby, and she wanted a higher level of monitoring owing to her fertility history.
Luckily for Jade, the facility is a teaching hospital and doctors intervene with babies born 23 weeks and later in an effort to learn more about premature births.
With Jade just 30 hours away from that 23-week mark, the doctors there chose to intervene because her babies showed signs of life when they were born.
‘Labour happened really quickly,’ said Jade, who lives in Derby. ‘I was denied pain medication and monitoring during labour as I wasn’t viable, which was awful, really.
‘It was only because the babies were born with signs of life that they chose to intervene medically. They were alive, moving around, and they cried. Their little cries sounded like a tiny kitten.
‘I remember saying that I couldn’t hear Harley cry and one of the nurses said I wouldn’t because she was far too early, but then I heard this little cry.
‘Harry did the same when he was born an hour later, still in his sack. In Japan, it is seen as being lucky if you have a baby born in their sac, so I held onto that luck.’
Tiny Harley and Harry were intubated and taken to the NICU where they remained on ventilators as doctors worked to save them
‘I remember getting wheeled round to NICU and the first thing I asked was if they were still here because I didn’t know if they would be, but they were and still are – 79 days in now,’ says Jade.
The twins have had many surgeries in their short lives to combat the health problems they’ve faced as a result of their premature birth, including chronic lung disease.
Harley now has a stoma bag fitted, Harry recently received injections in his eyes to help prevent premature blindness, and they were both diagnosed with a serious gastrointestinal problem called necrotizing enterocolitis, which can be fatal.
As a result of their ongoing health issues, Jade was told to prepare to say goodbye.
‘We were told to get the family in and have a christening,’ she recalled. ‘I kept referring to the christening as “the funeral”. It was just awful.’
But thankfully, the twins continued to beat the odds, and they’re now thriving.
Jade and Steve, 52, are now preparing to bring their babies home, hoping they’ll be able to do so near their original due date of February 24.
Jade said: ‘They’re doing absolutely amazing. They’re doing all the things that we were told they wouldn’t do – they’re crying, they’re surviving.
‘It’s crazy how much has happened, really, because I’m not even at my due date yet. I’m not due until February 24, and yet they’ve been alive for 12 weeks now.
‘After they were born, I was Googling twins who survive at 22 weeks and trying to find any that have to give me hope.
‘I found a set of twins in America who had survived – they’re four now. I’ve connected with their mum on Instagram, and she guided me through the first few days of being in the unit and what to ask for.
‘The doctors are amazed, they’re really rooting for us now. There’s not one surgeon in the hospital who hasn’t heard about our twins.
‘Steve and I are doing great, we’re always at the hospital. We do cares, so changing the nappy, feeding the babies – Steve is doing all of that, he’s really stepped up.’
Jade added: ‘I’m so proud of my babies – they’re little fighters.
‘The doctors were saying the babies wouldn’t survive at this gestation. I was still two weeks away from what the UK classes as viable and the babies were given a 0% chance of survival.
‘It was only because I was at a teaching hospital and that the babies were born with signs of life that they chose to intervene medically.’
