Woman Gives Birth To A 16-Pound Baby In Texas
Now THAT is a big baby! A Texas woman gave birth to a baby boy on Friday, who — get this — weighed in at a whopping 16 pounds, more than double the weight of an average newborn.
Janet Johnson gave birth to her fourth child, JaMichael, on Friday at Good Shepherd Hospital in Longview, who weighed in at 16 pounds and measured an astonishing 24 inches long.
Johnson and her fiance, Michael Brown, were anticipating having a large baby, as Dr. John Kirk told the couple that he expected the baby to weigh 12 to 13 pounds two weeks before the planned Caesarean delivery.
Dr. Kirk managed to underestimate the baby’s weight by over 25%.
“He was much larger than expected,” said Kirk, saying JaMichael was the biggest baby he had ever delivered. “Both his mother and father are large people, and she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, which contributed to the baby’s size.”
Baby JaMichael has earned himself a nickname already.
“They’re calling him ‘Moose’ up here,” JaMichael’s father told ABC News’ East Texas affiliate, KLTV.
“I’m just excited that he’s here,” said Johnson.
Ms. Johnson is diabetic, and children of diabetic mothers often come out larger.
“While infants of diabetic mothers are large in size, their organ function is not more developed,” said Dr. Manuel Porto, a professor and chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at University of California at Irvine. “In fact, their lung development may be delayed. Early delivery can lead to respiratory problems for the newborn.”
Luckily, JaMichael hasn’t had any major health problems yet.
James Gilbert | Elite.
