He was supposed to be big – but nobody expected THIS big!

A Knysna couple got the surprise of their lives when their newborn son tipped the scales at a whopping 5.23kg (11.53 pounds) – more than 1kg heavier than doctors had predicted.

According to the GeorgeHerald website, Adél and Arrie Steenkamp welcomed little Alexander at Mediclinic George last last month, after an otherwise easy pregnancy.

At her final ultrasound, doctors estimated that Alexander weighed around 4kg.

They were wrong – by 1.23kg!

“I never thought he was going to be this big,” says a delighted Adél.

The couple already knew their third child was on the bigger side, but getting an accurate estimate proved difficult.

“His head was already low down and he was slightly turned, so it couldn’t be measured,” Adél explains.

A speedy arrival

Despite Alexander’s size, his arrival was remarkably straightforward.

Adél was already five days overdue and had been scheduled to be induced at 06:00.

But Alexander clearly had other plans.

Contractions started at around 01:00, prompting Adél and Arrie to make the trip to George.

Just over two hours later, at 03:21, Alexander was born naturally.

“It was a very comfortable, quick birth,” says Adél.

‘Everyone came to have a look!’

Alexander’s size came as a surprise not only to his parents, but also to the medical staff.

Adél says she didn’t immediately appreciate just how big her newborn was when he was placed on her chest.

“When they placed him in my arms on my chest, I couldn’t see that he was so big,” she says.

“But when I picked him up for the first time, I could feel what they were talking about.”

The news quickly spread through the hospital.

“All the hospital staff came around to have a look at the big baby.”

Alexander is not, however, the biggest baby ever born at Mediclinic George.

According to client manager Judy Muller, a 6kg baby was previously recorded at the hospital’s former facility in Gloucester Avenue.

Baby clothes? Forget it!

Alexander’s impressive size has already created a very practical problem for his parents – nothing seems to fit!

One of his first outfits was picked out by his five-year-old sister, Alienka.

She chose a white-and-green striped rugby babygrow for her baby brother.

Adél managed to squeeze him into it for a photograph.

“I could just about get it on him and he won’t be able to wear it!” she laughs.

Even nappies proved tricky.

A size 0 was too small.

Then a size 1 also failed to do the job.

Alexander was quickly upgraded to size 2 nappies.

‘He’s not fat – he’s just BIG!’

Despite his enormous birth weight, Adél says Alexander isn’t a chubby baby.

“He is simply very big,” she says.

His size also meant he had a bigger appetite than expected, and his parents soon realised that he needed supplementary feeds while Adél’s milk supply was getting established.

“We could see that he was hungry and he was a little restless and wanted to drink all the time.”

Doctors also monitored his blood sugar levels, which remained stable.

There was fortunately no indication that gestational diabetes had contributed to his impressive birth weight.

He smashed the family record

Alexander has already made family history.

Adél’s youngest brother previously held the family record, weighing about 4.5kg at birth.

Alexander didn’t just beat that record – he smashed it.

For fun, Adél even sent a photograph of her newborn to relatives and asked them to guess his weight.

Her father, Casper le Grange, came closest with a guess of 4.9kg.

“He said he could see from the photo that Alexander was a very big boy.”

Future Springbok?

With a baby this big, the jokes about Alexander’s future career have already started.

Friends have suggested that the youngster should become a Springbok one day.

Adél, however, isn’t putting any pressure on her son.

“My friends say they think he should become a Springbok because he’s so big, but I feel he can become whatever he wants.”

For now, Alexander is simply enjoying life as the Steenkamps’ newest – and biggest – bundle of joy.

And judging by the smiles, his proud dad Arrie can’t stop looking at his not-so-little baby boy.

How much did YOU weigh at birth?

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