Nearly 14-pound baby boy born in Des Moines


January 30, 2012 at 9:33a.m.

Nearly 14-pound baby boy born in Des Moines

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman has given birth to a boy weighing 13 pounds and 13 ounces — without the aid of surgery.

Asher Stewardson was born Thursday at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, measuring 23 1/2 inches long. Fifteen months ago, his brother, Judah, arrived weighing 12 pounds and an ounce at birth.

Mercy officials say only a tenth of 1 percent of all newborns weigh more than 11 pounds at birth.

The boys’ mother, Kendall Stewardson, endured six hours of labor without an epidural injection. She says she and her husband, Joshua, wanted to avoid cesarean delivery because that wouldn’t have been good for her or Asher.