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Mother gives birth to twins weighing in at record-breaking 19lbs
Last updated at 08:07am on 26.10.07Beth Ryder always wanted a large family.
And as she cuddles her newborn twins - who weigh almost 19lb between them - she knows she has more than she ever wished for. Or can possibly carry at once.
Baby Theo arrived at a bonny 10lb9oz while his twin sister Millie tipped the scales at 8lb3oz, making them the heaviest mixed sex twins ever born in Britain.
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Weighty arrival: Baby Millie 8lb 3oz (left) and Theo 10lb 9oz
The previous holders of the title, Thomas and Grace Houghton-Burnett, weighed a mere 10lb1oz and 8lb2oz when they were born in 2002.
Mrs Ryder had more than an inkling her twins were going to be big personalities - her other four children all weighed more than 9lb at birth.
The 35-year-old student nurse was born weighing 11lb13oz herself and her sister Claire tipped the scales at 12lb2oz.
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Double delivery: Theo and Millie
"Large babies run in the family so I knew that they were going to be pretty big," she said.
"But none of us expected them to be quite so large."
Mrs Ryder was in labour for four hours before the twins were born at Burnley General Hospital in Lancashire last week.
She lost almost two stone straight after the birth, a considerable relief after the burden of her ballooning shape during pregnancy.
Big effort: Mother Beth Ryder
"I was absolutely enormous in the weeks running up to the birth and it was so uncomfortable," she said.
Her previous children were all large, with the eldest Emma, now 17, weighing in at 9lb9oz, Leah, eight, born at 10lb11oz, Lauren, five, 9lb11oz and Callum, three, at 12lb1oz.
Mrs Ryder, who lives with her husband Steve, 32, a security guard, in Rawtenstall, said their children were now of average size, despite their large birth weights.
But no matter how they grow, Millie and Theo will always be known for making such a big first impression.
Baby weights vary a great deal at birth but on average a normal newborn baby weighs between 7 and 8lbs. Twins tend to way slightly less.
Big brood: The hefty twins add to the expanding family
