Pregnancy can be an exciting time, but it can also be pretty scary. Your body is experiencing things it has never gone through before, and throughout all these changes, a tiny life is growing inside you that you have to protect and keep healthy. With every doctors appointment over the course of 9 months, there is always the potential that something could go wrong, or you could find out something about the baby’s health that you can’t even control.
One common occurrence when it comes to pregnancy is prematurity, when a baby is born much earlier than planned, and they’re so underweight that they have to spend time in the NICU before they can go home. Something that doesn’t happen as often are babies born much heavier than expected.
This is exactly what happened to an expectant mother named Christine Corbitt from Clay County, Florida. Christine was used to having a big belly, as her previous children were delivered at around 9 and 10 pounds, but during this pregnancy, her enormous belly was undeniable. Her daughter, Carleigh, was due to arrive any day. Christine expected her daughter to be on the bigger side, like her other children were, but she was not prepared for what actually happened.
“I’ve had nine and 10-pound babies and I figured maybe she'd be 10 pounds.” Christine said. “Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was like, 'Oh my gosh. She’s just so huge.’”
Huge is right. Carleigh came into the world at 13 pounds, 5 ounces! Dr. Eric Edelenbos, the man who delivered Carleigh via c-section, says that she is the largest newborn he has ever delivered.
“When the baby was coming out, I was like, 'Is this baby ever going to end?' Everybody in the room kind of just stopped during the delivery and was like, 'Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh,'” he said.
Due to her size, Carleigh had to stay in the NICU for a bit after her birth for gestational diabetes. After her blood sugar levels were checked and looked good, the 13-pound baby was good to go home with her family.
Christine recently took Carleigh in for the 3 week check up, and the baby girl is very healthy and doing just fine. The tired mom is ready to rest and enjoy time with her new baby. However, she admits that she doesn’t want anymore kids.
“I’m done. I’m done. No more babies for me.” she said.
