The twins who are heavyweight champs
ALANNA Merrie knew her baby bump was pretty big and that twins were on the way but she never imagined just how large they would be.
Troy and Kaius were delivered by caesarean section with a combined weight of 16lb 13oz, which is thought to make them the heaviest twins ever born in Scotland.
Twins usually weigh about 5lb each, but the brothers were 8lb 12oz and 8lb 1oz respectively when they arrived at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on November 4.
Mrs Merrie, 33, a student doctor, said: ‘The staff at the hospital were saying to me that they have never delivered twins this big before.’
The record for the heaviest twins in Scotland was previously held by Mya and Ollie Kennedy, of Edinburgh, who weighed in at 15lb 14oz at their birth in 2010. The UK’s heaviest twins were Kevin and Christopher O’Kane, born in Basildon, Essex, in 1988 weighing 10lb 10oz and 8lb 8oz respectively, a total of 19lb 2oz.
Mrs Merrie, who lives in Newington, Edinburgh, with her husband Paul and daughter Ayla, one, said: ‘All the scans said they were a good size but there was nothing to say they were that big. It was genuinely a surprise.
‘I did have a huge bump, though, and total strangers kept asking me if I was going to give birth on the spot.’
Mrs Merrie and her sons are now back home. ‘They lost a little of their body weight over the first couple of days, which is normal, but they are doing really well,’ she added.