'In the end we decided to go ahead with the Caesarian immediately rather than to go through labour with one twin and ending up having the operation for the other.'
Charlotte was given an epidural and the couple were taken into the operating theatre.
Andy said: 'It was late by then and I remember them looking at the clock and wondering if they would be born by midnight.
'They lifted Alfie out first and then Charlie just a minute later. But it was too late by then and he was born at midnight exactly.'
Alfie weighed in at 5lbs 3oz and Charlie was 4lbs 14oz - and despite being small both were well and healthy.
The thrilled couple did not initially realise the boys would have different birthdays but the staff explained that midnight counts as the beginning of the new day.
'To begin with we found it quite funny and liked the fact it was unique. But then things got a bit complicated,' said Andy.
Tests and routines are carried out newborns on particular days after a baby's birth.
So despite being born just a minute apart, Alfie was being checked, weighed or given an injection on one day - and Charlie the next.
'We then started to think about what it would mean for the boys and for us.
'Would two different birthdays mean two different parties and how would Charlie feel if they were given the same presents but Alfie had already opened his the day before?~ said Charlotte.
The gobsmacked couple left hospital to go home and consider the astonishing situation.
'We had been thinking about it a lot and eventually decided to register both the boys' births as August 17.
'Alfie went down at 11.59 and Charlie as 11.59 and 30 seconds,' she said.
'We had decided we would celebrate both birthdays on that day and that when Charlie was older he could choose whether he wanted his own day.
'But since then, we have found out there might be a problem with this and that we might have to change the birth certificates back so that Charlie is registered for August 18,' she said.
But regardless of their birthdays being days apart, both boys are doing well.
With support from Andy's mother Janice and Charlotte's sister Amy, who does baby massage, the couple - neither of whom have twins in their families - are not finding it too tiring looking after them.
'The boys are very easy really. It is only hard work because there are two of them,' smiled Charlotte.
'We are both very happy and, yes, I think we would do it again.'
(Edit:Ruby) | 
