Mother born on Leap Day gives birth to baby on Leap Day

‘We had a miscarriage almost exactly a year ago and so that makes her more special,’ mother says

A mother born on Leap Day has given birth to a baby on the same day 40 years later.

On Thursday 29 February, Dr Kai Sun - an assistant professor of medicine and a rheumatologist at Duke Health - rang in her milestone birthday welcoming daughter, Chloe, with husband Michael Paik. The baby girl is the third child for the couple, who already share Charis, five, and Caleb, three.

“My husband and I were just saying how cool it would be if she were born on the same day as my birthday. And somehow, it happened,” the 40-year-old doctor told Good Morning America. She added that baby Chloe arrived at 5.12 am, three days after her 26 February due date, weighing six pounds and 13 ounces.

“She was breathing fast initially when she was born so they took her to the nursery for a little bit to see the pediatrician but everything checked out and she’s peacefully sleeping,” Dr Sun explained, noting that she and her daughter are doing “well.”

Giving birth to Chloe on Leap Day wasn’t the only fortunate thing to happen for the couple; Chloe was also their rainbow baby after suffering a miscarriage one year ago. The pregnancy was difficult for Dr Sun, who became ill and experienced a potentially fatal fall during her third trimester.

“There were some little things along the way,” Dr Sun explained to the outlet. “There was some abnormal findings on the initial ultrasound that we were nervous about. And then I had Covid. And I fell on my belly in [my] third trimester. There are just some small things that happened that made us a little nervous but everything turned out well at the end.”

The mom-of-three planned on resting for her birthday, hoping to be discharged on Friday 1 March and eager to introduce her new daughter to her older siblings. “I look forward to taking her home with me and have her meet the rest of the family, my parents and her siblings,” Sun said. “And we’ll have cake, of course.”

Celebrations are in order for the days to come but above all else, Dr Sun told the outlet that she hopes that her daughter will grow up knowing just how special and loved she is.

“We had a miscarriage almost exactly a year ago and so that makes her more special,” she explained. “I just hope that she knows that she’s special, not just because she has a special birthday.”

Chloe wasn’t the only Leap Day baby - also known as a “Leapling” - at Duke University Hospital. Officials told CBS that another baby was born in their hospital Thursday, born at 8.54 am.