A new mum has told of the unusual reaction she faced after sharing a video of her holding her twin girls online.
Alexis LaRue, 22, went viral after posing with her seven-month-old twins, with viewers left stunned at their size.
She was accused of overfeeding the girls – who are both 21lbs – and had to share a video of her weighing her babies to prove their size.
Alexis, from Minneapolis–Saint Paul in Minnesota, USA, weighed 108lbs (49kg) and 5’3″ before she became pregnant, but at 38 weeks along she’d increased to 180lbs (82kg).
She gave birth to her baby girls in March with Camila arriving at 9:52 am weighing 6lbs 6oz and Elena one minute later at 6lbs 7oz.
Alexis with her seven-month-old daughters
Twins Camila and Elena
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Now, at nearly seven months old, the cute tots have already tripled their birth weight at almost 21lbs each.
Alexis said: “They just really seem to enjoy trying new foods. Whenever I am eating something, they always stare at me as if they’re waiting for me to give them some.”
Alexis was 21 when she found out she was pregnant with fiancé Leo Mejia, 23, and was overjoyed.
“My one goal in life was to be a mum so I was incredibly excited it was coming true,” she added. “I was only six weeks along when I had my first ultrasound and we saw two little sacs on the screen.
“Not having any twins in our families, I was completely shocked, but I was also so excited.”
The stay-at-home mum added: “In the twin community, it’s pretty normal to expect babies around 5lbs or less.
Dad Leo with the twins
Alexis was stunned by the reaction on social media
“I had already bought preemie-sized clothes for the twins, as I thought they were going to be very small.
“However, with the combined weight of almost 13lbs, the girls went straight into newborn and have been growing very rapidly since.”
Camila and Elena are eating 6oz of baby formula every couple of hours, and have just started moving on to solids.
A video of Alexis holding her daughters racked up more than 40 million views (
The mum was stunned to discover she was carrying twins
Dad Leo is 5’11”, so the fact the twins have shot to 2’5″ in just over half a year has come as a surprise to the family.
“They are both at the top of the percentiles for weight and height,” said Alexis. “I do find myself having to buy them new clothes quite frequently – they are very fast growers.
“At seven months, they can wear anything from 12 months to 18 months clothing.”
As soon as the twins were born, Alexis started making videos with them for her TikTok account, @themejiafamily_ when bored at home.
But they never imagined the attention the videos would bring.
Alexis had to post a TikTok video of her weighing and measuring her babie
She caused a stir on social media (
Image:
Alexis LaRue / SWNS)
The mum said: “It’s funny because when I posted that video, I didn’t think much of it. I actually didn’t think my babies were that big until I started reading all of the comments.”
Comments from astonished viewers include “those are eight-year-olds” and “if they were standing on top of each other they would be taller than you”.
There also comes some accusations that Alexis edits her videos or uses a filter to make the girls look larger, but says this is not true.
She said: “I can say, the angle of some of the videos does slightly exaggerate their size.
“I actually posted a video not too long ago weighing and measuring the babies so people could get an idea of how big they actually are.
Camila and Elena are hitting all their milestones alongside being the video-sharing app’s most famous twins.
Alexis said: “If there is one thing I would like everyone to know, it is to remember that all babies are different. They all grow at a different pace, mine just happens to be growing very quickly.
“They are very healthy, happy, and full of personality. Always remember to be kind.”