A woman from Hesperia delivered what could be one of the largest babies born in the United States in 2014
Vanessa Cervantez, 28, gave birth to Andrew Jacob, who weighed in at a whopping 15 pounds, 2 ounces, by an emergency cesarean section. He was 24 inches long.
“I couldn’t even believe it,” Cervantez said by phone Saturday. “They had to double check because I didn’t believe them; I thought the machine was broken.”
Cervantez said that doctors told her it was the largest baby they had ever delivered at Desert Valley.
“None of the doctors have ever delivered or heard of a baby being born that big here,” Cervantez said. “My sister’s been doing research and she doesn’t think a baby weighing 15 pounds has ever been born in California.”
According to media reports, the largest baby born in the United States in 2013 reportedly weighed 14 pounds and was delivered in Utah. Guinness World Records show that Ann Bates of Canada gave birth to the biggest newborn, in 1879, when her baby weighed in at 23 pounds, 12 ounces.
Cervantez said she is 5’1” and heavyset, and was 38 weeks along at the baby’s birth. She went in for a routine pregnancy stress test on Thursday when doctors discovered decreased fetal movement. That is when the decision was made to conduct a C-section the same day, Cervantez said. The mother of three said she was expecting a large baby, but wasn’t prepared for one weighing 15 pounds.
“My other ones have also been big,” Cervantez said. “My son was 10 pounds, 10 ounces and my daughter was 9 pounds, 14 ounces.”
Due to patient confidentiality laws, a nurse at Desert Valley in the labor and delivery department said she couldn’t go on record about the details of the birth. However, she said the mother has documentation confirming the baby’s weight.
Baby Andrew was immediately sent by air flight to Loma Linda Children’s Hospital following his birth, Cervantez said. She said she hadn’t been able to hold him yet and was waiting to be discharged from the hospital as of Saturday afternoon.
“He’s having trouble breathing on his own,” Cervantez said, “that’s what they’re monitoring him for right now.”
Daniel Cervantez, 29, is the baby’s father and was spending time with him at the hospital in Loma Linda on Saturday, Vanessa Cervantez said. Briana Pastorino, a spokeswoman for Loma Linda, confirmed that a baby by the name of Andrew Cervantez was in the neonatal intensive care unit, but she said she couldn’t release more information about the patient.
Source: VVDaily Press