SF couple welcomes newborn on Leap Day, but when will she celebrate her birthday?
SAN FRANCISCO - February 29 only comes once every four years, and so do the birthdays for babies born that day.
The chances of being born on Leap Day is 0.068%, which is 1 in 1,461 people. They’re referred to as "leaplings."
Some parents try to avoid February 29th as a delivery day, but a couple in San Francisco are excited about the birth of their firstborn baby on such a rare and special day.
Julia Persson and Edward Verheij welcomed their newborn baby girl, Luna, just after one in the morning on February 29th, born at Sutter Health’s California Pacific Medical Center. She was the first Leap Day baby born at the hospital.
"We’re so grateful she’s here," Verheij said.
Julia went in on Monday to be induced, but it wasn’t until Thursday that Luna arrived.
"Friends were joking, ‘Oh it’s going to be a leap day baby,’ and we didn’t think it would be, and then it actually took the full three days," said Verheij.
The proud parents waited until they got to know her before they decided on the name Luna.
"We wanted to see her first to really make sure that the name really suited her," Persson said.
"It’s going to be sad for her, I guess, not to be able to celebrate her birthday every year on the exact day, but hopefully every fourth year will make up for it," Verheij said. "Our little leapling."
Roughly five million people in the world are leaplings.
Leap Day began in 45 BC when Julius Caesar added the extra day to keep the calendar in sync with the seasons, because it takes 365.25 days for the earth to orbit the sun.
Leap Day helps align equinoxes and solstices, making Luna's name fit quite nicely.
As for when Julia and Edward will celebrate Luna’s birthday each year, they said they plan to make every Leap Year extra special when it comes around.
"Is it going to be February 28 or March 1?" Persson asked. "Probably the 28th, or maybe she gets both days as a bonus and then we do something proper every fourth year since it’s a very special day."
At Sutter Health CPMC, there were three babies born earlier in the day, with the expectation for three more leaplings to arrive by midnight.
At Kaiser Permanente Redwood City, three leaplings were born, including a 6-pound-12-ounce baby girl. The infants' parents, Rebecca and Corey Eastman, have another daughter also born on a well-known day: 9/11. The Eastman's have not named their leapling yet.
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