"Alex and Stephen were born 11 weeks prematurely, by caesarean section. "They were fine but had been born early because I'd got an infection.

They spent eight weeks in the special care baby unit. Having had them in hospital for so long it was strange bringing them home. Tom took time off work and I also had help from my parents. "In October I went back to work part time and the boys went to a childminder.

"I felt I needed to do that for my own sanity but also to keep up to date with developments in my industry (engineering). "We did talk about having another baby. We didn't want to have another too soon but then we knew that time was running out. We didn't want to attempt IVF again because it had been a very difficult, disruptive and painful experience, we just hoped it might happen naturally. I fell pregnant much earlier than we'd have wanted - around the twins' first birthday.

 "I did a couple of pregnancy tests because I just couldn't believe it. It wasn't until an 11 week dating scan that I discovered it was twins again. I'd been saying to everyone, 'Of course it won't be twins this time - there are none in the family' but when they told me it was, I was devastated. I knew exactly what I was in for. It was so early to be having even one more baby - let alone two.

"The pregnancy was very difficult. I got to the point where I could hardly leave the house - never mind pick them up - I was so big and so uncomfortable and I think Stephen and Alex missed out on their mum because of that. When Toby and Daniel arrived, they both weighed over 7lbs, so no wonder I'd been so big. "In some ways, I had no experience of having one baby so I was just doing it all again but of course it is hard when you've got the other two who are still so dependent on you.

"And I think as a sort of reaction to their arrival the older boys have taken to wanting us to feed them again. "We're gradually working things out. Tom's a very hands-on father but we'd never have managed without the help of his mum, June.When I've got them all at home she tends to look after the babies for me so that I can spend a bit of time with the boys. "I'll be going back to work part time again and we've worked out a system where three of the children will go to the childminder and each child will spend one day a week at home with their grandma. "

I think it'll be good for them to have time on their own. I'm looking forward to when they're older because being so close in age, they'll all be able to play together. It's been a good form of contraception. There's no way we're having any more. I'd just be scared it'd be triplets next time."

Rachel and Ric Williams' first set of twins, Anna and Kate, (identical) aged seven, were conceived on honeymoon. Jessica and Emily (non-identical) arrived three-and-half years later. Rachel, a paediatric nurse, is now a full time mum. Rachel says: "I burst into tears when I found out I was having twins the first time. I was delighted but really shocked even though I had suspected it might be twins because I was so big. There were no other twins in the family so it was a real surprise.

"They were born at 36 weeks after a long labour. I found it really hard for the first couple of years and at the time I thought I wouldn't have wished it on anyone. I felt a lot of guilt because I couldn't give them one-to-one attention and you don't feel you really get time to enjoy them. "But then it started to get easier. When they got to about two-years-old I suddenly felt like everything was good and we started to think that we might try again. "We thought it would be easy because I'd fallen pregnant so quickly the first time round but nothing happened for a year.

"We started to look into fertility treatment but when the doctor said it was more likely to result in a multiple birth I thought 'we don't want that'. " Little did I know I was already pregnant again. I had thought that it'd be just my luck to have twins again but tried to put it out of my mind. However I was being very sick so I paid for an early scan at eight weeks - supposedly to put my mind at rest. "When I was told, I was absolutely devastated. I really wept.Anna and Katie were three-and-a-half. They'd never had 100 per cent of my time and now I thought they never would.But those negative feelings didn't last long. When I got home and saw them I began to feel happier.

Twins was all I'd known and it was all they knew too. The girls each adopted a baby in the womb - Anna (the eldest) adopted the first born and Katie the second. "Jessica and Emily were born by Caesarian section and I had an infection so it took me a while to get my strength back. It was hard to begin with because I did feel like Anna and Katie missed out on having me there.But they didn't feel too pushed out because they helped by fetching and carrying for 'their' twin. They still do that to some extent. "Whenever I go out in town people stop me. You feel like a celebrity.So many positive things came out of it. The second time around, I feel I've been able to enjoy it a bit more and notice things about the younger girls' development that I missed the first time round."

Sian and Andy Davis's first set of twins Ricky and Nicky, now teenagers, (non identical) were unplanned. They now have Jack and Harry aged seven (also non identical). Sian said: "I found out I was expecting my first twins during a scan at 14 weeks. There have been other multiple births on my side of the family but it wasn't something I'd really thought about although I had been very sick early on. "People were very negative about it when I told them but once Ricky and Nicky arrived we just had to get on with it. A good friend helped me out a lot and other than that we just muddled through. In fact I went back to work as a care assistant for a time.

"When they were six we decided to try again and I fell pregnant straight away. "I was really sick again and it just felt the same as it had before so I knew it was twins. I'd tried to tell Andy that but he was still really shocked when it was confirmed on the dating scan at 11 weeks. "I was worried about how we'd cope because we only had a two-bedroom house. "Also I'd given all our baby stuff away so we had to start from scratch. Jack and Harry arrived and I'd forgotten how hard it could be. We had to move to a three-bedroom house.

"When they were younger and both in pushchairs people stared at us in the street. Because they're not identical it's not so obvious now but they do still look alike and we seem to cause a stir wherever we go. People always ask if they were naturally conceived.I think there are positive things about it though - they'll always have a friend and no matter how much they argue between themselves they'll always stick up for one another. "I would like to have more once Jack and Harry are at school but we've been told that there's a very high chance it would be twins again. I could cope with that but I think Andy worries about how we'd manage financially."

Reproduced by kind permission of   http://www.gotyourhandsfull.com