After suffering a heartbreaking 19 miscarriages, an Arizona couple’s family is finally complete after welcoming their newest bundle of joy last October 4.
Finnley is the miracle Cary and Tim Patonai had been waiting for. Between the births of their children, there were 17 miscarriages. There were two more this year. Two of those miscarriages were caused by twins. It was extremely distressing for Devlen, their eldest child.
This month, they didn’t just have just a regular baby—they had one that weighed 14.1 ounces at birth, which is double the size of an average newborn!
“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, who arrived two weeks early, was also tall at 23.75 inches. The average height for full term babies is 20 inches. Doctors estimated that he would have weighed in at 16.5 pounds if he had arrived before his due date.
“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.”
Babies born over 8.13 pounds have “fetal macrosomia,” and only about 9% of babies in the world have them. This condition is caused most often by obesity, maternal diabetics, or excessive weight gain in pregnancy. The infants are more susceptible to metabolic disorder and obesity.
It can cause excessive bleeding or tearing if the baby is delivered vaginally. Doctors had Finnley delivered by C-section to ensure Cary’s safety.
A 22.8-pound Italian baby was born in 1955 and is Guinness World’s record holder. A New York woman gave birth in 2019 to a 15.5-pound girl.
Cary is used for carrying large babies, but Finnley is a different level.
“It got to the point where I could hardly move. It would take me 30 minutes to recover from taking a shower,” she said.
Her eldest, Devlen, 10, weighed 8.2 pounds at birth. Everett, 2 years old, weighed 11.11 pounds. However, it was Finnley who broke the family record—and their doctor’s offices as well.
“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 is now less than a month old and already wears oneies for 6- to nine-month-olds. Diapers are usually made for babies 2-8 months. Finnley consumes approximately four-and a half ounces of milk. Newborns typically take in one to two ounces.
Cary says Finnley is also “snuggly” and “a great sleeper.” Meanwhile, Tim predicts his youngest son will go into sports someday.
“He’s gonna be a football player,” the proud dad said. “Get him in those pads.”
It’s unclear whether Cary and Tim underwent fertility or other medical treatments to help them conceive, but what is certain is that their family is over the moon with Finnley’s arrival!
This is indeed one happy story, but more than that, you have to admire Cary’s spirit. They persevered despite heartbreak after heartbreak and continued to build their family. Their perseverance paid off with a beautiful baby.
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