After 5 long months at the hospital, ‘the UK’s most premature twins’ have finally left the hospital for home despite their 0% chance of survival. The babies were born at 22 weeks and five days gestation, which is just one week before the legal abortion limit in the UK, which is 24 weeks.
Normally, for babies born at 22 weeks, they aren’t even usually considered legally viable, and most time medical intervention isn’t even offered. But thankfully for these two miracle babies, they proved that they were ready and more than willing to fight for their lives.
IVF babies, Harley and Harry, were their parents’ dream come true after the couple suffered years of infertility and miscarriages. 39-year old Jade and 52-year old Steve Crane had been suffering from fertility woes for at least 11 years before their boy and girl twins were conceived. They had been trying naturally to get pregnant for three years, ending in an ectopic pregnancy, which prompted them to begin their IVF journey sometime in 2010.
But even with IVF, the couple suffered through three painful miscarriages. Jade explained, “Steve and I have been together for 14 years, and 11 of those have been spent doing IVF.” In fact, the couple had done 8 cycles of IVF and many implantations of frozen embryos too. But finally after her third heartbreaking miscarriage, Jade finally found out that she had an overactive immune system where her body would reject the pregnancies.
They decided to move to another fertility clinic in Nottingham to another on Harley Street in London. It was also believed to be one of the best in the world, where Jade was given tons of different medications to help combat the issues with her immune system to help her conceive and stay pregnant.
She shared with publication DailyMail.co.uk, “On our eighth cycle of IVF, we had two embryos transferred which both worked and we ended up with boy and girl twins!”
She continued, “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 labor so we hadn’t bought anything!”
“We’d 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,” she added.
Then when she hit 22 weeks, she began leaking fluid at home for a number of days, which prompted her to get checked at Queens Medical Hospital in Nottingham. When the doctor did an internal examination, it revealed that Jade was apparently having a premature rupture of membranes which was an onset to actual labor.
Jade shared, “The doctor was so shocked – she told me she could see the membrane bulging, so the sac of water was basically showing.”
She was completely distraught because she knew that 22 weeks and 5 days was way too soon for her babies survival and believed that she was going to lose them both.
“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,” she said.
She added, “I knew they were ok but was being told they wouldn’t survive at this gestation.”
Jade had been going to Queens Medical Hospital for her baby scans since she wanted more monitoring for her pregnancy due to her fertility history. Thankfully, they also had a more extensive NICU than her other local hospital did. Plus, the fact that it was also a teaching hospital, it meant that doctors actually do intervene with babies born at 23 weeks and later to better understand and study premature births.
However, when Jade had gone into labor, she was 30 hours away from the actual 23-week mark of her pregnancy. But miraculously, the doctors decided to intervene when her babies were born showing signs of life.
Jade explained, “I was 30 hours away from what they would class as viable and my babies were given a 0% chance of survival. Labor happened really quickly. I was denied pain medication and monitoring during labor as I wasn’t viable, which was awful, really.”
She continued, “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 sac. In Japan, it is seen as being lucky if you have a baby born in their sac, so I held onto that luck!” she added.
As soon as the twins were born, they were intubated and taken straight to the NICU. There, they remained on ventilators as the doctors did everything they could to keep the preemies alive.
According to Jade, “I was told they weren’t going to survive and that I’d have a miscarriage so I was in complete disbelief. 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’d still be there, but they were and still are – 79 days in now!”
Because the twins were very premature, they have suffered a number of health issues such as chronic lung disease, as well as having to undergo many lifesaving surgeries. Little Harley had to have a stoma bag fitted, which has thankfully already been removed, while Harry had injections in his eyes to prevent premature blindness. They were both diagnosed with a very serious gastrointestinal problem named necrotizing enterocolitis as well, which can actually be fatal. In fact, Jade shares that the doctors had even told her to prepare herself to say goodbye to her babies.
Jade shared, “We were told to get the family in and have a christening. I kept referring to the christening as ‘the funeral’. It was just awful.” But despite the many hardships and near death health issues both babies had, while Harry had managed to go home ahead, Harley eventually made it home five months after her birth.
“We’ve waited 140 days for this. It’s really emotional. Sad to leave the team but happy to be going home. After they were born, I was Googling twins who survive at 22 weeks and trying to find any that have to give me hope.”
She continued, “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. I’m really lucky that I went to Queens instead of Derby. If I’d gone to Derby Hospital, I wouldn’t have come home with any babies, and that’s where the ambulance would have taken me because of the catchment area – it’s a postcode lottery.”
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