Spent 11 Years And £50,000 Trying To Become Parents, Was Born Twins At 23 Weeks With Zero Chance Of sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴀʟ Thriving 111 Days On
Minuscule Harley and Harry Crane weighed 500g, or 1.1lbs when they were born at 22 weeks – doctors initially told mum Jade that she was having a ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ and gave them ɴᴏ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ of pulling through.
The weakest of cries from the tiniest of tots signalled a medical miracle as ᴘʀᴇᴍᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ twins Harley and Harry Crane entered the world. The mites, weighing just 500 grams, or 1.1lbs, arrived when mum Jade was 22 weeks and five days pregnant. Barely 15cm (6ins) long – the length of a king-size Mars Bar – doctors gave them zero chance of sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴀʟ as Jade went into ᴘʀᴇᴍᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ labour. They told the desperate mum-to-be she was having a ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ.
In a flash, medics ʙᴜʀsᴛ into action to save what are believed to be the most ᴘʀᴇᴍᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ twins to be born and sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ in Britain. They were delivered more than week before a foetus is deemed medically viable. And their gentle sobs were music to the ears of Jade and husband Steve, who had spent 11 years and £50,000 trying to become parents. Early pictures show just how tiny the babies were – their arms barely the size of their dad’s finger.
“At birth they were smaller than an elf on the shelf. There wasn’t a nappy small enough. The smallest clothes are for babies up to 1.5kg – well mine were 500g.” Jade explains.
When at 16 weeks, Harry and sister Harley could be discharged by their due date on February 24. NHS worker Jade beams: “I’m so proud of my babies – they’re little Fɪɢʜᴛᴇʀs. For them to get through everything and still be there just smiling away is incredible. If they can do that, they can do anything.”
In their quest to be parents, Jade and Steve, 52, endured 11 years of ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛs – including eight cycles of I.V.F and several implantations of frozen embryos. They tried to conceive naturally for three years and Jade suffered an ectopic pregnancy before they began I.V.F in 2010. The couple took out loans and worked hard to pay for £50,000-worth of ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ – which “nearly bankrupted us”. By late 2014, Jade had another three ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇs after I.V.F and was told she had an overactive immune system causing her body to reject pregnancy. But Jade and Steve, who works in sales, refused to give up hope. “We just wanted a family so bad and I’d had embryos frozen so we had a need to use them,” Jade says.
The couple, who live in Derbyshire, made contact with another fertility clinic – in London’s Harley Street and reputededly one of the best in the world. Jade was ᴘʀᴇsᴄʀɪʙᴇᴅ ᴍᴇᴅɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏᴍʙᴀᴛ ɪᴍᴍᴜɴᴇ sʏsᴛᴇᴍ problems. Then, last May – I.V.F cycle number eight – the couple had two embryos transferred. Both worked and they were told they were expecting boy and girl twins.
On October 26 Jade went to get checked out after leaking fluid. An examination revealed she was experiencing membrane ruptures that happen before the onset of labour. Doctors are not required to medically intervene with babies born prior to 24 weeks as they are not considered to be viable.
At the time of going into labour, Jade was 30 hours away from the 23-week mark and was told she was likely to lose her precious twins.
“The doctor kept saying it was a ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ 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 sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ at this stage of gestation. Labour happened really quickly. I was denied pain medication and monitoring during labour as I wasn’t viable, which was awful.” she said
Harley and Harry were incubated and whisked to the NICU – Neonatal Intensive Care Unit– where they remained on ventilators as doctors worked hard to save them. Two hours later, Jade was wheeled to the unit to meet her miracle twins.
“I was in disbelief, It was amazing. But seeing them so tiny and fragile in the NICU was scary with the doctor’s ᴘʀᴇᴅɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴs in my head.” she says.
But things took a bleak turn at a week old when the twins were ᴅɪᴀɢɴᴏsᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ɢᴀsᴛʀᴏɪɴᴛᴇsᴛɪɴᴀʟ ɪʟʟɴᴇss ɴᴇᴄʀᴏᴛɪsɪɴɢ ᴇɴᴛᴇʀᴏᴄᴏʟɪᴛɪs. It can be fatal and the parents were told to prepare to say goodbye. It was a hellish time. Jade says: “We were told to get the family in and have a christening. I kept referring to the christening as ‘the funeral’. It was just ᴀᴡꜰᴜʟ.”
But the little Fɪɢʜᴛᴇʀs pulled through. Jade got to hold her twins for the first time when they were four weeks. But the siblings – who now weigh 2.4kg, or 5.3lbs – have ᴅᴇFɪᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴅᴅs ᴀɴᴅ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜʀɪᴠɪɴɢ in the NICU, where they have now spent 111 days.
