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When Alison Hill was pregnant with her third child, she guessed before the birth what weight the baby would be.
Alison and her husband Simon, 30, a café supervisor, had been married on the 8.8.08 - and their two older children had been born weighing 8lb, 8oz.
When her third baby Teagan was born in March, she guessed what the weight would be even before the midwives put her on the scale. And little Teagan didn't fail to go with family tradition - in an unbelievable coincidence, she also weighed in at 8lb, 8oz - exactly the same as her brother and sister!
Alison, 25, who lives in Manchester, says: "I can't believe that my three children have all been born weighing exactly the same weight. The chances of it happening must be unbelievable.
"Eight really is our lucky number. When Teagan was born I instinctively thought she must be 8lb, 8oz - I had a feeling that she wouldn't let us down. The midwives went to weigh her and then came back and told us the news. They couldn't believe it either."
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When Alison was pregnant with the couple's first daughter Brooke, now six, the doctors warned her she was carrying a big baby. They told her to expect the birth weight to be around 10lbs.
Doctors wanted to carry out a caesarean section at 36 weeks into the pregnancy so that she wouldn't grow any bigger before the due date: "The doctors told me the baby was going to be over 10lb, so wanted to do a caesarian section. But I didn't want to have the operation and wanted to give birth naturally, even if she was going to be a big baby.
I was nervous before the birth in case she turned out to be enormous, but I'm glad I trusted my instincts as she was born healthily weighing 8lb, 8oz.
Alison fell pregnant again a few months after Brooke's birth and midwives told her the baby had a big head, so she was expecting a bigger birth weight the second time around. But Logan arrived a week early in August 2006 weighing 8lb, 8oz- exactly the same as his sister:
"Brooke had been a week overdue and Logan was born a week early, yet they both weighed exactly the same. It was uncanny. The midwife laughed about it and told me that I should have put a bet on it."
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The couple's wedding day took place two years after the birth of Logan. They had got engaged three years earlier, but Alison had been determined to get married on the 8.8.08.
"I've always felt that eight has been my lucky number and that has certainly been proved," says Alison. "Simon proposed to me on Christmas Day in 2005, but I looked at dates and decided that the only day I wanted to get married on was the 8.8.08. He didn't want to wait that long, but I was insistent. I just knew it was our lucky date to get married on."
The number eight is considered a lucky number by the Chinese. In China you have to pay extra to have the number eight in your phone number or license plate. Home and business owners like to have the number eight in their address.
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After they celebrated their wedding day, the couple decided that they wanted to try for another baby. Alison pregnant for the third time in July 2010, and their baby daughter Teagan was born in March last year. When the midwives weighed her, they were astounded to discover she also weighed 8lb, 8oz - exactly the same as her brother and sister:
"We had all joked throughout the labour that she was going to be 8lb, 8oz. I had a feeling that she was going to be, even though she was a week overdue.
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"I knew that it would be almost impossible, but I just thought that she might be. The midwives took her away and then came back and said that she was. We thought they were joking at first, just to wind us up, but they showed us on the scales.
"We just couldn't believe it. I really wish I had placed a bet this time - we could have won a fortune. Number eight is definitely our family's lucky number."
Words: Lucy Laing at Worldwide Features