Mom gives birth to baby on Leap Day — for the 2nd time
The odds of being born on Leap Day are one in 1,461, but on Saturday the Demchak family welcomed their second baby born on Feb. 29. “It’s weird,” father Dane Demchak says with a laugh.
On Feb. 29, 2016, Lindsay and Dane Demchak’s son Omri was born. Four years later, on Feb. 29, 2020, their daughter Scout came into the world. Neither birth was induced.
“My wife was like, ‘What’s your [due date] guess’? And I said, ‘I guarantee she’ll come on Omri’s birthday,’” Dane Demchak tells Yahoo Lifestyle by phone from the hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y. But he admits he never actually believed it would happen.
“But then she woke me up about midnight on Feb. 29 and she was having contractions,” Demchak says. By morning Scout was born, four days ahead of schedule.
Saturday was meant to be a birthday party for their son, who was celebrating his 4th birthday and the first to actually fall on Feb. 29, but Scout had other plans. “We told him, ‘You’re getting a very special gift for your birthday,’” Demchak said, adding they’re hoping to leave the hospital soon to get Omri his much-deserved birthday cake.
Leaplings, as those born on Feb. 29 are called, share their birthday with roughly 5 million other people. People born on any other day of the year share their birthday with nearly 21 million others.
The proud dad says that, going forward, Omri will celebrate his birthday on Feb. 28 (“because he’s older,” notes Demchak) and Scout on March 1. Then every four years they’ll host a huge party to celebrate both children.
“We hope sharing a birthday is something that keeps them together for the rest of their lives, something that will always keep them close,” Demchak says.
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