asherAt birth, full-term babies born in the U.S. tip the scales, on average, at around 7 pounds, 8 ounces, which of course doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of mothers giving birth to babies both smaller and larger. My healthy babies both weighed around 6 pounds (give or take a few ounces) when they made their debut -- though they didn't stay that small for long!

And bigger? Well, a woman in Iowa has just given birth to a baby boy that CNN reports might just be the largest infant ever to have been born "naturally" in the state. How big was the baby, Asher Stewardson? He weighed in at a whopping 13 pounds, 12 ounces, and measured 23 1/2 inches long! And get this, Asher's amazing mother delivered him vaginally, after six hours of pushing and with no drugs (nope, no epidural, no nothin').

I'll just give you a minute to take that in …

Back? Yeah, I know, but you can uncross your legs now: The birth story of baby Asher has a totally happy ending. He's healthy (and cute as a button!), and his mom, Kendall Stewardson, is doing great, too.

It's also kind of a good reminder for the rest of us. Assuming Kendall wanted a natural birth and had some idea that her baby was going to be on the large side (Asher's older brother was 12 pounds at birth, though doctors thought, based on ultrasounds, Asher might be somewhat smaller), she got to follow through on her "birth plan," triumphing in a situation that to some people might have seemed nearly impossible.

Isn't it amazing how strong we women can be and how amazing the human body is? Congrats to the Stewardson family on their big, bouncy bundle of joy!

Can you imagine giving birth to a baby as big as Asher vaginally and without drugs?

 

Image via newsnet5.com/Flickr