Multiple Births Parenting

UK Mom Gives Birth to “Supersized” Twins with a Combined Weight of 17 Pounds, 8 Ounces!

UKs Heaviest Twins Hannah & Thomas If you’ve ever had an eight pound baby, you know just how difficult it is to carry and deliver a baby of this size. Sarah Chiad knows that experience times two after delivering twins, Hannah and Thomas, with a combined weight of 17 pounds, 8 ounces. But as difficult as having two babies of that size at once may sound, Sarah the entire experience ended up being a long-awaited blessing.

Sarah has a rare blood condition known as Hughes syndrome. Nicknamed “sticky blood,” the condition causes blood clots in the placenta; the condition is said to be the biggest cause of recurrent miscarriages. Sarah and Thomas know this loss all too well.

Their first pregnancy (also twins) would end in a heartbreaking miscarriage. Then they would welcome now nine-year-old son Christopher, who somehow miraculously survived.

“When he was delivered, the placenta was full of clots and it was a miracle he survived,” Sarah told Daily Mail UK.

UK Twins Hannah and Thomas But UK doctors failed to catch the condition, and no further testing was done. Sarah and Thomas would experience the loss of two more children before the condition was finally diagnosed during the family’s short stay in Austria. Sarah said that, after sharing her medical history, doctors diagnosed her with Hughes syndrome ‘straight away.’ It was because of that diagnosis that the couple was able to welcome daughter Rebekah, now five, into the world.

You see, the condition is easily treated with blood thinners. When doctors learned that Sarah was pregnant with Rebekah, they prescribed the drugs to her so she could safely carry her daughter without the risk of clots. That same prescription would enable her to carry the next set of twins – Hannah and Thomas – almost to term. Both of which are happy, healthy and about twice the size of average twins.

Most twins are born around 5 pounds. But as Sarah watched her belly grow to a full 57 inches, she realized the twins were going to be bigger; she just didn’t realize HOW big. When nurses placed Hannah and Thomas on the scales, they were all in for a surprise! Even having been born at 37 weeks gestation, Hannah weighed in at 8 pounds, 13 ounces; Thomas weighed in at 8 pounds, 11 ounces. Though not the largest, their combined weight of 17 pounds, 8 ounces, makes them among one of the largest pairs of mixed sex twins ever born in the UK. (The world record goes to a set of twins born at a combined weight of 27 pounds, 12 ounces.)

“I knew they were going to be big, but I didn’t expect this,” Sarah told Daily Mail UK. “My health visitor said, in 20 years, she has never known such big twins.”

UK Twins Hannah & Thomas But for Sarah and her husband, Thomas, it’s all about the babies being healthy and happy. And even though they already have very different personalities, the twins, now five weeks, are home and reportedly doing well. And according to Sarah, older siblings Christopher and Rebekah are almost as excited as mum and dad that the twins are now home.

“Rebekah and Christopher wanted one of each, so they were delighted when they found out,” Sarah said. “[Hannah and Thomas] are getting on very well and are good babies. They already look so different and have different personalities.”

Congratulations to the happy family on their most recent additions!

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About the author

Kate

Kate Givans is a wife and a mother of five—four sons (one with autism) and a daughter. She’s an advocate for breastfeeding, women’s rights, against domestic violence, and equality for all. When not writing—be it creating her next romance novel or here on Growing Your Baby—Kate can be found discussing humanitarian issues, animal rights, eco-awareness, food, parenting, and her favorite books and shows on Twitter or Facebook. Laundry is the bane of her existence, but armed with a cup of coffee, she sometimes she gets it done.

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