Local baby girl weighs in at more than 13 pounds

When they put newborn Karsyn Raleigh Helmers on the scale at Saint Francis Medical Center, her parents expected a big, healthy baby of between 8 and 10 pounds.

What Wesley and Jessica Helmers of Patton didn't anticipate was one weighing in at 13 pounds, 8 ounces.

"When they put her on the scale and the final number showed, everybody was like, 'Holy cow, what did we just witness here?'" Karsyn's dad said.

"That really threw us a curveball."

Wesley Helmers said the mother and baby were released from the hospital Friday and were doing well.

He said his daughter, born at 7:50 a.m. Wednesday was expected to be above average in part because her sister Abigail Railey was 11 pounds, five ounces, when she was born 13 months ago. However, their 5-year-old sister Mackenzie Isabella had weighed less than 8 pounds.

Asked what the reaction had been from family and friends, Helmers said they were incredulous, asking, "Are you joking?

"I wish I was, but I'm not," he said. "But as long as they're healthy and happy, that's all that counts."

Wesley Helmers said he and his wife, who had all three girls by Caesarean section, do not plan to have any more children, adding, "Three is plenty."

He said Jessica had to avoid spicy foods and some other foods after being diagnosed with gestational diabetes, but she had no other problems during her pregnancy.

Wesley Helmers said she "kept it under control by diet and watched what she ate as much as possible.

"She ate till she felt full and that was it," he said. "There was nothing to excess."

Jessica Helmers' physician is Dr. Heather Cugini.

Her husband does hauling, mechanical work and odd jobs in the Patton, Mo., area 33 miles northwest of Cape Girardeau in Bollinger County.

Saint Francis spokeswoman Emily Sikes said Karsyn "is the largest baby we've had since we reopened the obstetrics unit in 2001."

Southeast Hospital obstetrics nurse manager Britton May said through a spokesman that Southeast stopped collecting birth weight statistics last year, but its biggest baby in 2010-2011 weighed 10 pounds, 10 ounces, with the average running 7 pounds, 5 ounces.

"We're seeing higher birth weights because we have the 39-week delivery rule in place," May said. "The 39-week rule, which is becoming standard in many hospitals, prohibits delivery at fewer than 39 weeks unless medically indicated. Southeast put that rule in place in 2010."

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services spokesman Ryan Hobart of Jefferson City said that in 2010, only 1.1 percent of the babies born in Missouri, a total of 807, weighed more than 9.9 pounds.