Martin began writing his blog while Julie was still in hospital

Their struggle to survive was charted in a moving internet diary by their father Martin.

On the website of Action Medical Research, he wrote about the terror of watching them being born early, and the elation of thier final arrival home from hospital, five months later.

The twins - nicknamed Viking and King of the Elves because of their appearance - are now just over a year old.

The whole family joined us live in the Breakfast studio this morning, to tell us about their experiences.

They re-lived the moment when Julie went into labour, at 25 weeks.

"It was very scary," Julie Holdcroft told us "You just have to get on with it and take each day as it comes.

"There were so many ups and downs: they had infections, they were on a ventilator - it was a total rollercoaster.

Now 13 months old, the twins are just starting to crawl

"We have been very lucky to end up with two healthy babies, with not too many complications."

Martin, who's a professional writer, began his blog while Julie was still in hospital, as a way of keeping in touch with family and friends.

It was only later that he was asked to continue it on the Action Medical Research website.

"It was therapeutic," Martin told us. He continued the diary during the twins' stay in hospital - but now they're home, he confesses, he doesn't have the free time to write much any more.

It's now ten months since the twins should have been born - and they're just beginning to crawl. They're also teething, too - as Dermot and Sian discovered to their cost, as the two babies dribbled over their scripts.

Watch Martin reading from his blog, followed by our interview with the whole family