A mother who was informed she was miscarrying her twins at just 22 weeks has shared the incredible story of how her babies, each weighing little more than a block of butter at birth, are now flourishing.
Jade Crane, 43, from Heanor, Derbyshire, feared she was losing her babies after noticing her waters appeared to be slowly leaking and she rushed to the hospital. After a decade of IVF treatment and multiple miscarriages, Jade had finally passed the 12-week mark and believed her pregnancy was progressing normally.
However, at 22 weeks and five days pregnant, doctors delivered devastating news. "The doctor said, 'I'm really sorry, but you're having a miscarriage,'" Jade recalled. "It didn't make sense to me because I could still feel them moving around and the pregnancy had been perfect."
Moments later, she went into labor. Daughter Harley was born weighing just 500g, followed an hour later by twin brother Harry, who weighed 520g. Now aged four, the twins have defied the odds.
Jade, a former mental health nurse, said: "The children were the size of a Coke can, and their hands looked like Barbie doll fingers because they were so perfect and tiny. Sometimes when I cook a cake I am reminded about how tiny they are - they literally weighed similar to a big block of butter. At Christmas we laughed because they were literally the size of an elf on a shelf."
"They are thriving now - they survived through so much and you see that strength within them," she added.
Jade was taken to Nottingham City Hospital after noticing her amniotic fluid leaking. Doctors initially discussed trying to keep the babies in the womb until 24 weeks, when medical intervention would normally be available. She said the neonatal team hoped to delay labor until she reached 23 weeks, but her babies had other plans.
"They were talking to me about comfort care and how the babies might only live for an hour or a day," she said. "I said if there is any chance you can help them, that's what I want you to do."
Minutes later, Harley was born on October 26, 2021, at just 22 weeks gestation – 18 weeks premature. "I couldn't hear her cry and someone told me I wouldn't at that stage," Jade said. "Then, right on cue, she let out this tiny cry like a little kitten."
Harley was immediately rushed away for life-saving treatment. Just over an hour later, Harry was born still inside his amniotic sac. "He looked very grey compared to his sister but then he let out a tiny cry," Jade said.
Both babies were taken straight to neonatal intensive care, where they would spend the next five months fighting for survival before finally being allowed home in March 2022 – a month after their original due date.
"They were both born with undeveloped lungs, so they had lung bleeds, a hole in the heart each, brain bleeds - they even had to have eye surgery which is very common for babies before 34 weeks," Jade said. "One of the worst was their perforated bowels - both of them had to go through surgery for that. The twins also both had a chronic lung disease so it meant they had to come home with oxygen - normally a child is on this for over a year or two - but my babies are so strong and came off within 4 months."
Jade said leaving hospital with two babies on oxygen was both exciting and terrifying. She said she "felt like she was stealing" her twins. "We actually delayed it because I wasn't ready," she said.
Today, Harley and Harry attend a specialist school. Harley has non-verbal autism and Harry has cerebral palsy, but Jade says their diagnoses don't hold them back. Harley is "feisty" while Harry is "laid-back." Neither of them have had to go back into hospital since their arrival.
"They are happy, healthy children and we've done amazingly well," Jade said. "They really are medical evidence of survival."
