Both times after giving birth, it amazed me to look at my baby, then look at my belly, and think, "THAT used to fit in THERE."

I can only imagine that Stacey Herald, 33-year-old mother of two, thought much the same thing. The difference is that Stacey is only 28 1/2 inches tall herself. Her second daughter, Makaia, was born five weeks ago and measured 18 inches at birth, more than half her mother's height. Herald believes she might be the smallest woman to ever give birth.

Ms. Herald's short stature is caused by complications of osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic condition marked by fragile bones. She said doctors had cautioned her that a pregnancy would be risky, and that both she and the baby could be endangered because of the limited space in her abdomen to carry to term. Two babies later, she's proof that the pregnant body can stretch in amazing ways.

"If I laid down, I looked like a snail," she reports, laughing. "That's how big my belly was. I looked like an Idaho potato with arms and legs."

Officials from the Guinness Book of World Records are investigating Herald's claim.