One child is a commitment. Twins are twice that. Triplets might be a handful, and quadruplets even more so. But what about nonuplets? Yes, nonuplets. That means 9 kids being born at the same time. It’s crazy how that’s even possible.
Nonuplets are a big deal, which is why these nonuplets from Mali, West Africa made the news. Twice!
They were born to Halima Cissé and Abdelkader Arby and surprised everyone at the Ain Borja clinic in Casablanca, Morocco when they were born.
Their father, Arby, is a Malian army commander. Kind of appropriate given that 9 kids are pretty much an army for your household. Let’s hope his experience leading and overseeing groups of people helps him raise the kids.
As for their mother, Halima, she’s doing surprisingly well for someone who just gave birth to 9 kids.
Halima was just 26 when she carried and gave birth to all 9 babies.
Now, the children are celebrating their first birthday.
It was exactly one year earlier when Halima did the seemingly impossible. Nine children in one birth was unprecedented, and so is nine siblings sharing the same birthday. Let’s hope they sell party-size cakes nearby.
Can you imagine having to watch after nine 1-year-olds all crawling around?
As a matter of fact, some of them aren’t just walking. Arby tells CNN that some can even stand up if a supporting structure is nearby for them to hold onto. The parents now have to keep their eyes on all nine of them at all times.
Parenting is a tough job, and doing nine times the normal work is a commendable feat.
It’s incredible to think that these were the same babies born prematurely a year earlier. The sheer number of them made an emergency delivery and premature conditions unavoidable. But the staff at the hospital (over 30 assigned to Halima) made it possible.
The elephant in the room is, of course, the miraculously good health of all nine.
Arby says all of them are doing great.
Halima went through a lot for it, and that might even be understating things a bit. Not every mom has had to carry nine children in the womb. As a matter of fact, Halima is the only mom on record to have done so.
The weight of all the babies and the amniotic fluid in her womb was over 66 pounds.
I can’t imagine what Halima’s baby bump must have looked like. She’d have been lucky to even stand up comfortable and get through small door spaces.
Even the man (and woman) power it took to help deliver them was nothing to scoff at.
Over 30 doctors were there to deliver Halima’s nonuplets.
They’d be proud to see how healthy the kids are a year later.
“My wife and the babies are doing very well. We are constantly in touch. I call them in Morocco all the time – even via video call to communicate to my wife. Everybody called me, even the president called me.” – Arby said
It’ll be a bit longer before they’re old enough to realize what a big deal they were.
“At the Casablanca Ain Borja Clinic, we’ve seen all sorts of complicated medical situations, but I have to say that the birth of nonuplets … that’s a first for us,It’s a first for the whole world, and we’re proud to have had this extraordinary experience thanks to our medical and technical expertise.” – said Dr. Youssef Alaoui when the news first broke a year ago
Being world-record holders is a big title to have, and these kids truly have no idea yet. When they’re old enough to go to school, maybe then will their parents tell them the story of their one-of-a-kind birth.
And guess who was invited to their birthday?
That’s right, some of the nurses from that same day at the hospital.
With the amount of work it took to deliver the nonuplets, it only makes sense to invite some of the people who helped.
But Dr. Alaoui was confident in their facility and staff.
“Luckily this didn’t faze us, since we have one of the largest neonatal resuscitation services in Morocco. Our teams were ready to welcome these children into the world and able to treat them in the best conditions.” – he said
Imagine the chaos that’ll ensue when they all reach toddler age. Let’s hope the family has a couple of extra helping hands when that time comes.
Good luck, Arby! And in case you’re wondering what their names are, they are Oumar, Kadidia, Elhadji, Mohammed VI, Bah, Hawa, Adama, Fatouma, and Oumou. They are five girls and four boys.
In other words, Arby and Cisse are going to need half a country’s supply of diapers.
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