Mom delivers record-setting baby boy weighing nearly 13 pounds in dramatic hospital debut

9 October 2025

Mom gives birth to a whopping 13-pound baby boy, smashing hospital record: ‘How many years was he in there?’ @shlbmrtn/TikTok

In a story that has both stunned and charmed the internet, a new mother in Nashville, Tennessee, broke a multi-year hospital record when she gave birth to a baby boy weighing an astonishing 12 pounds, 14 ounces (5.8 kg). The child, named Cassian, was delivered via cesarean section on his mother Shelby Martin’s own birthday, adding a poignant symmetry to the moment.

Doctors and nurses at TriStar Centennial Women’s Hospital confirmed that Cassian was the heaviest baby born there in over three years, making him an unexpected headline in a maternity ward more accustomed to standard birthweights. While unusually large newborns do occasionally make headlines, Cassian’s size made waves, especially considering the average birth weight in the United States hovers around seven pounds.

The pregnancy had already drawn public attention when Martin shared her experience on TikTok, showing off her growing baby bump and making lighthearted jokes about its girth. After Cassian’s birth, the video went viral: it garnered more than 4.4 million likes and thousands of comments, many of them incredulous at how “someone that big” could come into the world from one person. Humorous viewer reactions included quips like “How many years was he in there?” and remarks on whether the delivery required unorthodox methods.

Immediately after delivery, Cassian was moved to the neonatal intensive care unit for monitoring. He received oxygen support, IV fluids, and glucose-level checks all standard precautions in cases of large infants. He didn’t remain there long, however, and was reported to be stable and improving. Martin took to social media to express her gratitude to hospital staff, especially the NICU team, for their care during a grueling recovery after a first-time C-section.

Medical staff called the event a “beautiful reminder of resilience and love,” noting that each birth is unique and Cassian’s was certainly that. He wasn’t entirely unprecedented: the phenomenon of jumbo babies has appeared in hospitals across America, such as a recent 13-pound, 15-ounce birth in Florida and a 13-pound, 4-ounce delivery in Alabama.

Those prior cases, while exceptional, reflect a wider medical curiosity and public fascination with the limits of gestation and birth size. In each case medical teams are vigilant for complications: delivering a baby significantly above average weight carries added risk of shoulder dystocia, prolonged labor, or distress to both mother and child. Hospitals in such cases often lean toward planned cesareans to reduce danger.

Back in Nashville, Martin is savoring the rare distinction of being part of this small club of mothers who defied norms. As she recovers, she has pledged to remember every detail and honor the staff that supported her and Cassian. She praised those who helped navigate post-surgical recovery and offered special thanks to nurses who “loved on him” while she could not.

The birth of Cassian has sparked more than casual wonder. Across social media, the conversations swirl around medical thresholds, motherhood, and virality. For many, the story is a surprising reminder that birth remains one of few frontline mysteries in human experience. The internet’s appetite for the remarkable meets the deeply personal in moments like these where wonder, science, and emotion intersect.

Cassian will likely become a talking point in his community, perhaps even a local legend in hospital lore, but for Martin and her family, the focus is simply on a baby’s health and a mother’s healing. His record weight may be a headline today, but for them it will always be about love, survival, and the strange, beautiful unpredictability of life itself.