19 heartbreaking miscarriages later, an Arizona couple finally says hello to the newest addition of their family last October 4. Cary and Tim Patonai experienced 17 miscarriages between the birth of their kids and two more the past year.
Baby Finnley changed all that, coming out and weighing 14.1 ounces at birth. That’s double of what an average newborn weighs!
“Finnley was a little celebrity at the hospital. Everyone wanted a selfie with him,” Cary recalled. “The OB/GYN who performed the C-section said that in 27 years he had never seen a newborn that size. There was so much excitement in the delivery.”
Finnley was two weeks early, but he measured a long 23.75 inches. Full-term babies average at around 20 inches.
“They got him on the scale like, ‘14.1, I’ve never seen it that big,’” Cary, 36, told ABC 15 Arizona. “The doctor and one of the sweetest nurses there, they were all taking selfies with us. They asked permission of course, but they were just so pumped.”
If he had been born at the right time, he’d have been even bigger according to doctors.
Babies born heavy have “fetal macrosomia” with only around 9% of babies in the world having the condition commonly caused by obesity, maternal diabetes, or excessive weight gain during pregnancy. The babies are also at greater risk of obesity and metabolic disorder.
Doctors had Finnley delivered via C-section. A vaginal birth would have caused tearing and excessive bleeding.
The Guinness World record holder was an Italian baby who was born in 1955 at 22.8 pounds. In New York, a woman delivered a 15.5-pound baby girl in 2019.
Cary knows how to carry babies but Finnley is a different challenge.
“It got to the point where I could hardly move. It would take me 30 minutes to recover from taking a shower,” she said.
Devlen, Cary’s eldest, weighed 8.2 pounds at birth. Everett, her 2-year-old, was 11.11 pounds. Finnley arrived and smashed all those records, even stunning the doctors.
“When [Everett] was born, he was in my doctor’s top five of the biggest and I was like, ‘Just you wait, I’m gonna get to the top of the list, totally joking two years ago. And then we accidentally did it,” she said.
Finnley wears onesies for 6- to 9-month olds, with diapers made for babies at the age of 8 months or more. And then there’s his appetite. Newborns drink about one to two ounces of milk, but Finnley takes four-and-a-half ounces.
Cary describes Finnley as “snuggly” and “a great sleeper.” His dad predicts his heavy son will be into sports.
“He’s gonna be a football player,” the proud father said. “Get him in those pads.”
No details were given if Cary and Tim underwent fertility or other medical treatments but what’s important is after all those heartbreaking miscarriages, Finnley came with a whole lot of love.
You have to admire Cary’s spirit. She’s one tough mom for enduring all her hardships. And Tim was there the whole time, just loving and supporting her and the other kids.
Watch the video below for Finnley’s story!