Charlotte Hawthorne, 23, and her 26-year-old partner, Matthew Williams wanted to have a child together. Hawthorne’s unexpected infertility meant they had to change course and go for IVF, but thankfully, the process was smooth – Hawthorne became pregnant after the first round, and all was well after that point.
At Hawthorne’s 12- and 20-week appointments, baby Rory was measuring normally. At 27 weeks however, the scans suggested that he would be larger than average.
Hawthorne simply assumed Rory’s size was because of her own large frame. She herself was 5’11.” “I think people expected that Rory would be big,” she commented.
This was the only sign that Hawthorne’s pregnancy was anything out of the ordinary. She had few other complications to note and planned for a natural delivery.
The day of Rory’s birth, however, was a different story.
Hawthorne was already two weeks past the predicted due date, so on May 3, she went into the hospital to induce labor. When she could finally begin to push at about 7 am, the midwife in the room immediately called for backup.
Already, Rory’s head was much larger than anticipated.
At 9:04 am, two hours of strenuous labor later, Rory was finally born. And he was big.
Hawthorne expected him to weigh around nine pounds, but when the doctors actually weighed him, he came in at 12 lbs., 7 oz.
Everyone was stunned, including Hawthorne and her partner.
Immediately after birth, Hawthorne’s best friend rushed out to buy larger clothes for Rory. Because no one had anticipated that Rory would be so large, they hadn’t prepared clothes of an appropriate size for him to wear.
Anyone in the hospital who saw Rory – including other mothers in the maternity ward – couldn’t believe that he was a newborn.
“People do not believe me when I tell them how old he is,” Hawthorne says. “It’s only when you see him move that you know his age. He’s our little miracle now in more ways than one.”
