ASHLEY TERRY
Markie Smith experienced the gift of a lifetime when she welcomed her baby to the world just days before Christmas — but imagine her surprise when her little bundle of joy turned out to be anything but little.
Smith, a 35-year-old Azle resident, gave birth to her third child via C-section at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital Dec. 18, 2025. While Smith said she already knew she was having a boy, she was not expecting her son to tip the scales weighing a whopping 12 pounds, 10-and-a-half ounces — nearly 13 pounds.
“The doctors were expecting him to be about 10 pounds,” Smith told The Azle News. “My doctor was just as shocked as the whole rest of the room. When they put him on the scale, I thought they were joking when they said ‘12-10.’ I was like, ‘There’s no way.’”
Smith said once she saw the numbers on the scale, she was left utterly speechless and in disbelief thinking there was no way babies could get this big fresh out of the womb.
“I was just in shock. I didn’t really know what to think,” she said. “There’s a funny picture that my best friend got of me with my mouth wide open when they told me. I’ve never heard of having a baby that big before.”
Because of her age and gestational diabetes, Smith said she knew there was a chance her son would be larger than normal — she just didn’t expect him to get this “massive.”
“I had gestational diabetes with all three kids, and you’re at risk for a higher birth weight from that, but I wasn’t expecting anything over 10 (pounds),” she said. “My last two, they weighed 8-and-a-half pounds.”
Even during her pregnancy, Smith said she could already tell this birth would be different than with her last two children — and a lot different at that.
“My first two, I barely got like one or two small stretch marks but this one tore me up,” Smith said. “I was just watching them pop up every day and I’m like, ‘Good Lord,’ and it (my belly) just kept growing and growing. Everywhere I went, people were like, ‘Dang girl, you got twins? You’re about to pop!’ and I’m just like, ‘No, I still have two months left.’ It was just crazy how big my belly got.”
Despite his size, Smith said her son was born completely healthy — even though he had already grown out of newborn clothes the day of his birth.
“First off, it was like holding a three-month-baby, but he was newborn,” she said. “He skipped right over to size two diapers and went into three-month-old clothes.”
But Smith said she wouldn’t have him any other way.
“Just looking at him, I mean he’s so beautiful,” she said. “He has the most beautiful features. He’s just perfect, like chunky, and his nose is perfect and he’s got a little butt chin. He’s a very, very handsome boy.”
Now, at just a little over a month old, Smith said her son — whom she named Canyon Cooper — is flourishing and is continuing to grow like a weed.
“He started smiling today,” she said. “It’s hard to tell sometimes if it’s gas or an actual smile, but I was talking to him and singing to him today and he really did start smiling. It’s so cute. He’s got dimples.”
Smith said Canyon was actually a name she had already picked out before his birth, as she wanted to continue the pattern of nature-themed names she had previously come up with for her two other children, Meadow and Forest.
“I’m a big nature freak,” she said. “I love to camp and go fishing. I fished a lot when he was in my belly, so I was trying to think of a name that went along with fishing. I just went off that and kept thinking of cool outside names, maybe pairing it with some Western names. Really, I just wanted something different and when I put a bunch of first and middle names together that I liked, everybody loved Canyon Cooper.”
Of course, after seeing his size, Smith said it just felt natural to come up with a fitting nickname for her son — thus, creating his now official nickname of: Grand Canyon.
“When I picked the name, it wasn’t because he was big,” she said. “I wasn’t really thinking about that. We liked the name and then when he came out, I was like, ‘Well, I guess it was destined to be his name.’”
While Smith didn’t have much of a recovery period following her C-section, as she had to immediately get back to work at her dog training and grooming business, she doesn’t regret a single part of her crazy — yet miraculous — experience.
“He’s great,” she said. “He’s the best baby. He’s so sweet and cuddly and everybody loves him.”
For Smith, Canyon’s arrival also couldn’t have come at a better time, as she experienced significant hardship through the loss of her mother and the end of a relationship — all within the span of one year.
“I ended up, like, having to start over from scratch,” she said. “I was homeless, on and off, sitting in my truck and trying to couch surf and just find somewhere to start over. I just kind of had a moment with God where I was praying and getting really depressed trying to just find something to fight for — and then three days later, I found out I was pregnant with him. My life has never been the same since.”
During Smith’s pregnancy, she also experienced another miracle when a family friend kindly presented her with the opportunity to stay at her vacant home for a few months — completely rent-free.
“We walked in and the house was fully furnished with exactly everything I needed … and she completely opted out of rent until February,” she said. “It was just a God thing.”
While Smith may not have expected to give birth to a Texas-sized baby, he may have just been the Christmas gift she truly needed.
“He just makes people cry with joy and makes people so happy, like he’s brought people together in the world,” Smith said, describing the dozens of articles that have been written about her experience online. “I have no words — but he’s going to move mountains.”
