Faye Gardiner, 33, of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire said doctors gasped when they first saw the size of her sons Joseph and Luke, who weighed 8lb 7oz and 7lb 11oz respectively.
An average twin newborn weighs just 5lb, and Gardiner and her doctors expected her twins to weigh the same. But when Gardiner gave birth, her sons ‘size’ caused sʜᴏᴄᴋ all around’ the ᴏᴘᴇʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ room.
Gardiner, who lives with 32-year-old husband Simon, an insurance ꜰʀᴀᴜᴅ investigator, had been thrilled to discover that she was pregnant. But weeks later, doctors told her they ғᴇᴀʀed she was suffering from an ᴇᴄᴛᴏᴘɪᴄ ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ, a lifeᴛʜʀᴇᴀᴛᴇɴɪɴɢ ᴄᴏɴᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴ where the developing fetus gets sᴛᴜᴄᴋ in the ꜰᴀʟʟᴏᴘɪᴀɴ ᴛᴜʙᴇ. It was then that she learned she was pregnant with twins, but doctors ᴡᴀʀɴᴇᴅ that one might ɴᴏᴛ sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ the pregnancy because it was so sᴍᴀʟʟ.
She said: “I had been getting a lot of ᴘᴀɪɴ, so doctors were worried that I had an ᴇᴄᴛᴏᴘɪᴄ ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ. When they scanned me, they told me that the developing fetus was alright, but there was also another tiny sac there too. They told me it was possibly a twin pregnancy, but not to expect the other twin to sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ as it was so sᴍᴀʟʟ, and much tinier than the other one. Little did they know that they would both go on to sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ and be so enormous when they were born. It was ironic that one of the twins started out as almost too tiny to survive.”
At her final growth scans, the doctors told her to expect the twins to weigh between five and six pounds each. The twins were delivered by C- section and exceeded everyone’s expectations. She said: ” The doctors had expected the boys to weigh about five or six pounds each – so when they were delivered weighing much more than that it caused sʜᴏᴄᴋ all round. I was lying on the ᴏᴘᴇʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ table and I heard the sᴜʀɢᴇᴏɴs gasp as they delivered the boys. At that point I didn’t know what had happened. I was just praying that they were both healthy. When they told me their weights I couldn’t believe it. My babies weighed over 16 Ib’s between them. Other members of the hospital staff came to see them because they were so big. No-one could quite believe their size.”
The twins were allowed home after just a few days in hospital and are already thriving. Luke has now even overtaken his brother in weight. Gardiner said: ” We had bought tiny newborn clothes to take to the hospital, so none of them fitted. We had to buy them bigger ones from the start. They both have healthy appetites so they are gaining weight fast. They already have different personalities. Joseph is a real mummy’s boy whereas Luke is the laid back one.” Now at five months old, Luke weighs 16lb 8 oz and Joseph weighs 16lb 2oz.
