IT was a whirlwind few weeks of appearing in national newspapers, BBC show Kilroy and even a request from The Big Breakfast show after Terry Woodey and Lisa O'Loughlin went into labour.

But 18 years on from welcoming to the world their two beautiful daughters, the two sisters say it feels like two minutes ago.

The pair hit the headlines in 1997 after giving birth on the same day in the same delivery room with just half an ounce between the birth weight of Lisa's daughter Shannon and Terry's daughter Kirsty, from Great Sankey.

Terry, aged 41, said: "My waters broke on April 1 but I was determined not to have a child on April Fool's Day so I held on and she was born at 12.50am the next morning.

"My sister was brought in later that morning to be induced and then Shannon was born at 11.40pm that night.

"We told the Warrington Guardian and our picture was on the front page and it escalated from there."

The sisters appeared on Granada News, every national newspaper and even helped end an episode of Kilroy about sibling rivalry 'on a nice note'.

But they drew the line at Channel Four's The Big Breakfast when things 'got too much'.

Terry, who works on the A&E department at Warrington Hospital, added: "It was getting out of control and we wanted to be able to enjoy our baby.

"We had been trying for four years so initially my sister was scared about telling me she was pregnant as she knew we had been through so much trying but then I found out I was 18 weeks pregnant."

Their two daughters, who celebrate their 18th birthday today, Thursday, have been the best of friends, just like their mums, since they were tiny and are now both at Priestley College doing the same courses and both attend army cadets.

They plan to celebrate with a family meal while Kirsty hopes to take her dad for a pint and take her mum to the bingo.

Sister stats:

Terry and Lisa beat odds of more than 1,000-1 to both give birth to girls on the same day

The pair may well have coped better with their media whirlwind than two brothers as according to a study at Brigham Young University, siblings with sisters have better mental health.

On July 24, daughters Shannon and Kirsty will have another reason to celebrate as it is National Cousins Day