Murat Engin, 30, and Ceyda, 28, couldn’t believe their eyes when their first child, Cinar, was born with a heart-shaped birthmark on his forehead.
Baby Cinar was born at a hospital in Ankara, Turkiye. Mr. Murat recalls: “After the nurses wiped the blood off the boy’s head, I was the first to see the birthmark. I was really surprised, I got closer and realized that it was the birthmark. such a lovely heart. It was hard to hold back my emotions and stop me from crying at that time.”
The nurses in the delivery room were also surprised and took out their phones to take pictures of baby Cinar. The image of a boy with a special birthmark on his forehead quickly spread throughout the hospital. People competed to meet him to see with their own eyes and take pictures with the boy.
When Ceyda saw her baby, she couldn’t hold back her emotions and burst into tears. She said: “He is really a gift, I don’t think the birthmark on his forehead is ugly, we believe that the red birthmark is Cinar’s luck and chance in the future.”
Doctors and hospital staff, both called “heart boy”. But not only at the hospital, when coming home, Cinar also attracted the attention of many “fans”.
Before that, little Poppy-Rae from Lincolnshire (England) also attracted the attention of many people with a heart-shaped birthmark on her forehead. What’s more special is that Poppy-Rae was conceived on Valentine’s Day.
Jade calculated the date her daughter was conceived and discovered that it was February 14. She said: “This is really a lovely coincidence. It makes this holiday even more special for us. Poppy-Rae is like our little cupid. Now. Liam and I always want to smell her pretty little face.”
On October 6th last year Victor and Digna Carpio welcomed New York’s second-ever set of sextuplets.
The four boys and two girls arrived at 25 weeks, which is three months early, and weighing in at about a pound and a half each.
At first, their delivery was kept a secret while doctors worked feverishly to make sure the infants all lived.
Now 5 months later, all six babies are home and keeping the family on their toes.
“They’re all doing just fine,” their beaming father Victor Carpio said as he sat on his living room couch, cradling Jaden in his arms and feeding him with a bottle.
Six empty bassinets lined up in two neat rows took up all the floor space in front of him. In a corner of the cluttered room was a 4-foot-high stack of boxes filled with baby formula.
“That’s enough supply for just three of them,” Digna says, pointing to the stack of formula boxes.
She seemed tired and overwhelmed and fought back several yawns in the first interview she and her husband have given since the babies came home.
“It’s not easy to find time for sleeping,” she said.
Luckily, the city’s Administration for Children’s Services has stepped in to supply the family with two home healthcare aides. But that service is only available during the daytime and is only expected to last for the first six months.
Every day after 6 p.m., mom, dad, and their only other child, 7-year-old Jhancarlos, are on their own.
As you can imagine, feeding all six babies is a challenge for the couple. Victor and Digna always get up in tandem each night for feedings and put the babies in a line on pillows with their bottles propped with towels.
“Burping them is the biggest problem,” the busy dad says.
The Carpios say the nurses at Mount Sinai Medical Center, where the babies were born, did a terrific job training the infants to a feeding routine.
“They all wake up at the same time every four hours, and once we feed them they usually go right back to sleep,” Digna Carpio said.
Even simple things such as traveling have become a challenge, since the only car they own, a Toyota 4Runner, is too small.
“Whenever I leave the house with the babies I have to pack a suitcase like I’m going out of town,” Digna Carpio said. “This month alone, I have four hospital appointments for them. If we all go, that means six babies, me, and the two home care aides, and that means two cars.”