By Daniella GrayShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberA Florida mom spent months preparing to deliver what doctors repeatedly described as a "big baby"—but the reality was completely unexpected.
Sophie Geraci (@sophiegracegeraci) posted a reel on Instagram zooming in on her pregnant belly in hospital. The text overlay read: "POV [point of view]: waiting to meet the ‘big’ baby everyone talked about." But her newborn was anything but big, weighing 5 pounds, 7 ounces, and the new mom was stunned.
Geraci, who is also mom to Leonardo and Rosalie with husband Maksimilian, told Newsweek she was consistently informed that baby Anastazja was "measuring ahead of schedule" during every scan.
..."Both my first and second babies had also been on the larger side—80th percentile or higher—and my doctors explained that babies often get bigger with each pregnancy," Sophie said. "Based on the measurements and my history, they consistently prepared me for another large baby."
Armed with those predictions, Sophie felt anxious in the final stretch of her pregnancy. She also grappled with a separate concern: conceiving sooner than the recommended recovery period following a cesarean section.
Doctors generally recommend waiting about 18 months after a C-section before becoming pregnant again. This window allows the uterus and incision site to heal fully.
"I worried that carrying a larger baby again might be difficult for my body and that it could impact my chances of attempting a VBAC [vaginal birth after cesarean]," Sophie said. "Ultimately, I did end up needing another C-section."
Nothing, however, prepared her for the shock in the delivery room. Sophie said she remembers watching her doctor lift her daughter—“like Simba from The Lion King"—and instantly realizing something was off.
"My jaw literally dropped," Sophie said. "I was so stunned, I couldn’t even process it. The first thing I said to my husband was, ‘She’s so small and has so much hair!'’"
Her final growth scan had estimated Anastazja at around 8 pounds, making the difference feel surreal.
"I had to buy a whole bunch of preemie clothes and diapers; she was in her preemie clothes and diapers for the first four weeks," Sophie said.
Today, both she and her daughter are doing well. Recovery has been harder this time, the soreness from a second C-section lingering longer than she expected, but Anastazja is thriving.
"She’s a little behind because of her adjusted age, but she’s growing beautifully," Sophie said. "She’s happy, she’s healthy, and she’s the sweetest—and clingiest—of all three of my babies."
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