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This mom just delivered a 14-pound baby after 19 miscarriages

At just two weeks old, Finnley Patonai is already rocking size 2 diapers!

A big newborn baby being held by his big brother

Photo: 9News broadcast

Most people would consider eight or nine-pound babies to be on the bigger side, but could you imagine giving birth to one almost twice that size? Well, an Arizona couple recently received a miracle larger than they ever could have predicted. Cary and Tim Patonai welcomed their healthy baby boy, Finnley, to the world on Oct. 4, weighing in at a whopping 14 pounds, one ounce.

And yes, she did have a C-section.

“Finnley was a little celebrity at the hospital. Everyone wanted a selfie with him,” Cary, 36, told TODAY. “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 [room].”

Doctors told the couple that Finnley, who arrived two weeks earlier than expected and was 24 inches long, could have weighed about 16.5 pounds if he had waited to be born on his due date. We bet mom, who shared that she was getting pretty uncomfortable near the end, was relieved he wasn't so patient.

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“They were like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe he’s so big,’” Cary told ABC 15 in Arizona. “They couldn’t wait to get him on the scale.”

Emotions often run high in the delivery room as families meet their new additions, especially following a long pregnancy journey. What makes this birth even more special is that it comes after Cary and Tim experienced a total of 19 heartbreaking miscarriages—two before Finnley's arrival and 17 more pregnancy losses throughout the course of growing their family.

“Two of the miscarriages were sets of twins,” Cary revealed to TODAY. “It was traumatic for the whole family, especially our oldest child. Each loss would break his little heart.”

In addition to Finnley, Cary and Tim have two sons, Devlen, 10, and Everette, 2. The Patonai's eldest son weighed in at over 8 pounds 2 ounces at his birth, while their middle child was 11 pounds 11 ounces—neither coming close to Finnley’s proportions, but still on the larger size.

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“I’m used to carrying big babies, but this was on another level,” Cary told TODAY. “It got to the point where I could hardly move. It would take me 30 minutes to recover from taking a shower.”

Coming out at such a mighty size, Finnley, who at two weeks old is wearing size two diapers and clothing made for six to nine-month-old babies, couldn’t fit into the outfit his parents picked out for him to leave the hospital in. Cary said that her newborn son has a generous appetite—which we could only imagine might be like feeding two babies at a time.

“Typically, newborns are taking in about one to two ounces of milk,” she told TODAY. “Finnley is eating around four-and-a-half ounces.”

After suffering heartbreak after heartbreak, Cary and Tim’s perseverance paid off.

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“Our family is finally complete,” Cary told TODAY. “He’s absolutely perfect.”

This article was originally published on Oct 20, 2021

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