Nearly missed the party

Coral Wilson

Turning 1 year old may be small accomplishment for most children, but

not for twins William and Hayden Hurray. The birthday celebration on

Sunday in Bonita Canyon Park in Newport Beach was a day parents Mark

and Erin Hurray thought would never come.

A crowd of about 100 -- friends, relatives and their children --

gathered to admire William and Hayden’s glowing skin and pink cheeks.

A year and three months ago, the unborn twins were within a day of

being overwhelmed by a rare fetal condition.

“They are very good, very lively, always smiling,” said June

Jones, 92, the twins’ great-grandmother on Sunday. “They are smiling

all the time and laughing. I very seldom hear them cry.”

Erin Hurray’s eyes were wet with tears as she thought back to

April 2002, when she and her husband boarded an airplane for

Wisconsin. Just 22 weeks into the pregnancy, William and Hayden were

slowly dying inside her womb.

“I was exhausted, delirious,” Erin Hurray said, describing that

day more than a year ago.

Mark Hurray described his feeling as “controlled panic.”

Just a month before, at 18 weeks, the couple had discovered the

identical twins had twin to twin transfusion syndrome, a disease of

the placenta that causes a disproportionate transfer of blood. Hayden

was getting too much blood, overloading his cardiovascular system,

and William wasn’t getting enough. Both babies were in danger.

“The whole problem with the disease was we were not sure what turn

it was going to take,” Erin Hurray said. “They describe it like a

tornado.”

Mark and Erin Hurray’s intense research had already taken them to

San Francisco and Tampa, Fla. in search of a solution. On Monday,

April 21, doctors said the babies had three days left to live. It was

Tuesday, and Wisconsin was their last hope.

At 6:30 a.m. the next day, placental laser surgery was performed

at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Milwaukee by Julian De Lia,

a pioneer in the field. The twins and their mother survived.

“When Erin and Mark came to see me, they were suffering, and their

babies were suffering,” De Lia said. “We changed the course of events

for them, which was very satisfying.”

Twin to twin transfusion syndrome occurs in about one out of 1,000

pregnancies, De Lia said. William and Hayden’s case was one of the

most severe. Not all cases require surgery -- if the condition

develops late in the pregnancy, for example, they can survive through

to birth.

While laser surgery is successful in saving at least one twin 90%

of the time, abortion has become an easy solution in dealing with

such complications, De Lia said.

“Not all couples elect to fight the fight,” he said. “So long as

the babies are still alive, no matter how sick, we have a chance of

saving them.”

The twins were born Aug. 5 in Hoag Hospital, weighing more than

five pounds each. William had a ruptured lung that was unrelated to

the disease, but he was fine after some time spent in intensive care.

Their continual health in the last year means they are probably

not at risk for cerebral palsy. The disease has a higher occurrence

in twins, particularly in cases of twin to twin transfusion syndrome.

“Looking back at everything you’ve been through and knowing one or

both of them might not make it, it is indescribable how you feel,”

Mark Hurray said.

The twins’ big smiles on Sunday showed no sign of the trauma they

had been through. Many of the guests still did not understand the

disease.

“It was a miracle,” is how most people simply described it.

For many, the story was one of hope and inspiration. Some women in

Erin Hurray’s situation would have accepted the doctors’

recommendations to terminate the pregnancy, they said.

“I think it is difficult to act against medical advice,” friend

Christa Francis said. “It gives you faith in [the Hurrays] and faith

that they knew all along. ... They beat the odds more than winning

the $60 million lottery.”

The couple was an example of strength and courage, said friend

Linda Siegel of Costa Mesa.

“I think she opened a lot of doors for a lot of women,” she said.

“She wasn’t afraid to get out there and try new things. That’s

impressive.”

Grandmother Pat Hurray, 60, of Balboa Island, said she was proud

of Mark and Erin’s determination.

“They were going to do everything they possibly could, there was

no doubt about it,” she said. “They were just real strong together

and they were going to fight all the way.”

Friend Karol Hatch of Newport Beach said she has made it her

mission to tell Mark and Erin Hurray’s story to anyone who will

listen. Many mothers lose their babies, unaware of the possibilities

that are out there for saving them, she said. With the spread of

information, she said she hopes it will reach other couples in need.

“It’s a good story with a happy ending,” she said. “It’s a good

story to tell.”