When Size Matters

From The Baltimore Examiner:

Calif. Woman Has 14-Pound Preemie Baby

The Associated Press

May 4, 2006 9:33 PM

MANTECA, Calif. - A baby girl, who had grown so much inside her mother that she had to be delivered one month early, was born much heavier than average at 14 pounds.

Olivia, born on March 22 to Brandy Womack and Zack Patrick, is finally home after nearly a month spent in a hospital where doctors monitored her underdeveloped lungs and heart.

"Her newborn diapers didn't fit her," Womack told KXTV. "We had to take everything back and get it upgraded."

Medical staff decided Womack should deliver her daughter before full term when a sonogram in the seventh month showed she already weighed about 11 pounds, nine ounces. Doctors estimated that if Womack had carried Olivia for the full nine months, the baby could have reached about 16 pounds.

"The doctor said because she was so big already, they wanted to get her out," Womack said.

The baby was delivered by c-section, and doctors who have examined her found no medical conditions that explained her size.

But now that she's out, Olivia's growth spurt seems to have slowed down. Unlike most newborns, who gain four to eight ounces a week during their first month, she's added only three ounces since birth.

Her parents said that as long as she's healthy, they're happy.

"I hope she stays this size for a while," Womack said.

Or subtitled:"When no amount of La Maz training will do". Breathe in breathe out.

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