Azle mom, Markie Smith, was shocked when she met her newborn son, and what she named him is fitting.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Life delivered a surprise much bigger than expected for an Azle mother just days before Christmas.
Markie Smith knew she was having a baby boy. What she did not expect was the reaction that followed in the delivery room when doctors pulled back the curtain.
“It’s just wild,” Smith said.
Her newborn son was massive.
Born via C-section in Arlington, Smith’s baby weighed 12 pounds, 10 and a half ounces, nearly 13 pounds. Nurses and family members gasped as they caught their first look.
“Everybody, the whole room, just was like, ‘Oh my God,’” Smith said. “They pulled the curtain down, and he was just massive.”
Smith had already picked out a name for her son, Canyon. After seeing his size, that name quickly evolved into a nickname the family says fits perfectly: Grand Canyon.
“I was in shock. I couldn’t believe it,” Smith said, laughing. “He looks like the Michelin man.”
Smith said she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during her pregnancy, a condition that can lead to larger babies. Even so, she said she expected a baby closer to 10 pounds.
“You’re expected to have a larger baby,” she said. “I was expecting maybe a 10-pound baby, but definitely not a 12-pound baby.”
Despite his size, Canyon was born healthy. At just three weeks old, Smith said he is already wearing clothes meant for 3-month-old babies.
“He’s three weeks old, wearing three-month-old clothes,” she said. “Here’s his fat rolls. He’s a good boy.”
The joy of Canyon’s arrival came during a difficult season for Smith. She said the past year brought significant hardship, including the loss of her mother and the end of a relationship.
“I have no words,” Smith said. “God blessed me with this baby. The life that has just fallen into place for me in the last two months has really been a miracle.”
Smith said her son’s birth changed everything.
“Literally, he saved my life in so many ways,” she said. “He’s a miracle baby.”
A Texas-sized baby, Smith said, turned out to be the greatest Christmas gift she could have received.