LIBBY Crew got more than she bargained for when she took her cat to the vets and her first child decided to put in an early appearance.

Mrs Crew, 27, had taken her pet Tosca to the vets and was just getting back into a friend's car when her waters broke, 10 days ahead of schedule.

But it was another 48 hours before 8lb 15oz Tobias came into the world at the Royal United Hospital, Bath.

She and her husband Simon, 34, had picked out three names for a boy and three for a girl but decided not to ask which they were expecting.

Mrs Crew said: "We wanted a surprise. I had an idea it was a boy but my friends did the old wives' tale where you hang a ring over the bump and it kept coming out as a girl."

The new mum had decided she would give birth in Bath just in case, as big babies run in the family - she herself weighed in at 11lb 3oz.

After the long labour and an eventual forceps delivery she and Tobias returned to Trowbridge Hospital to recover, but the couple, who married in June, have not been put off by the birth and hope to have a family of four children.

Born: October 12, 11.55am, Weight: 8lb 15oz, Parents: Libby and Simon Crew, from Trowbridge