THE biggest brood in Bournemouth is about to get even bigger. After producing 12 girls and one boy, Tracy Lewis had pledged to call a halt on her personal baby boom.

But there's more sleepless nights and nappies in store for the 42-year-old, who has just revealed she's expecting baby number 14.

"I know I said I wasn't going to have any more but I started feeling broody again. I am on such a high I feel so blessed to be pregnant again," she said.

For many people though, a big family would be seen as more of a burden than a blessing. So just why does she and her husband Pete, 47, want so many children?

"I have always been maternal from a very young age," says Tracy, who is 12 weeks' pregnant. "I love babies. When they're about a year old I start to get broody again. But I love all my children and I'm there for them all."

Although the family, who share a six-bedroom home in Smithson Close, Talbot Village, attend a local Catholic church, Tracy insists having a big family has nothing to do with religion.

"Every child has been planned. I have been trying on and off for several years for this baby but I think it's nature's way my body just wasn't ready before."

Tracy agreed that some people might think she was mad, although she said she hasn't had any negative reactions so far.

"There are people around who just don't like to see other people happy. But anyone who knows us can see how happy we are and how we bring the children up," she says.

"I can understand people getting annoyed if families are claiming lots of benefits but Pete (a self-employed coach builder) and I have always worked. Financially it can be a struggle at times, but we get by.

"For us happiness is not about money, it's about family and I know we have been very lucky to have had 13 healthy children so far."

A Channel Four television crew is currently filming the family for a documentary due to be broadcast later this year called Ten And Counting.

They were there when Tracy went for an ultrasound scan this week.

"I know there are risks involved as you get older but I'm just going to go with the flow. We will love this child whatever happens."

Tracy also has two grandchildren from her second eldest daughter, Tracy Jnr.

"I helped Tracy with both labours and it was strange for me not to be in the delivery room myself! Although I love my grandchildren it's not the same as having children of your own.

"Each pregnancy is different and the labours do get shorter but the pain is always unbearable.

"The consultant has told me to get to hospital as soon as I have the first contraction because he said the baby could be born in less than half-an-hour!"

Her husband Pete is one of five children and Tracy is one of seven. Her own parents split up when she was young.

"It's important to have a happy marriage and Pete and I are very close he's my best friend. But we are getting older and it has been the most tiring pregnancy I've had so far, but it's all worth it when you hear the baby's heartbeat.

"I know I've said it before but this one really will be our last 14 is a nice even number. And we really don't mind if it's a boy or a girl as long as it's healthy. At the end of the day my family is my life and I wouldn't have it any other way."

Baby number 14, due on January 13 next year, will join Carly, 23, Tracy, 21, Samantha, 20, Charles, 19, Lyndsay, 18, Danielle, 16, Chantelle, 14, Charlotte, 13, Georgia, 12, Candice, ten, Shannon, seven, Shaznay, five, and Porsha, three.