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Couple that with the prospect of having twins and that fear is multiplied.

And when you find out your twins will be among the heaviest pairing ever registered in Scotland, you can forgive Louise Kennedy for saying she won't be rushing into the experience again.

Her newborn duo, Mya and Ollie, weighed in at a combined 15lb 14oz last week, which is marginally short of a national record.

Sitting in the Simpsons Maternity Unit at the Royal Infirmary, Mrs Kennedy, 35, a community worker, revealed the twins had actually been born early, meaning they could have been even bigger.

"There's no way I could have gone on any longer, I was absolutely huge," she said.

"I was bed and sofa-ridden for the four weeks leading up to it, and in the end had to go for a Caesarean because I just was not pushing them both out."

The twins appear not much larger than average babies, but given pairs are usually born far smaller, the combined weight put immense strain on Mrs Kennedy.

Even midwives were astonished when the infants arrived at how she'd managed to cope.

"I am quite proud of it," the Leith woman answered. "When they were born, the midwives were commenting on the weight of the placenta, saying they'd never seen anything like it.

"One told me that, in 30 years of being a midwife, she'd never seen two twins as heavy as this."

And she quipped: "The way I'm feeling now, these will be my first and last babies."

There is a slight weight advantage in favour of the male: Ollie was 8lb 9oz, while his sister was 7lb 5oz.

However, Ollie has spent the last week in an incubator after contracting an infection.

He was allowed out of that environment on Thursday night, when he met Mya for the first time since their birth on August 5.

Father Andy Kennedy, 39, an architect, said: "It was quite funny seeing them back together. Mya went absolutely crazy because he was the kicker in the womb."

And he added that the twins are so big that much of the clothing and equipment they had bought in preparation will be too small for them.

"If they're not getting the record for Scotland's heaviest twins, they'll certainly get it for the heaviest ginger twins."

Yvonne Clarke, labour suite clinical manager at the hospital, said: "Mya and Ollie were both above average birth weight.

"They are perfect healthy newborns and are already showing signs that they will be keeping both mum and dad on their toes."

WHOA

other sites have pictures of him.