In the nursery at Bristol Hospital, newborn Gavin Paul Haynes and his parents were getting to know each other Monday afternoon. Mom went into labor last Friday, hoping the baby would not delay his entry into the world til February 29.
"I was like please God let's not have him on Leap Year," said Maria Longo-Haynes. " I didn't want to do that to him but now I'm figuring you know what - a special day, a special birthday, a special little kid."
Parents get to pick when to celebrate babies' birthdays when it's not Leap Year. In Gavin's case, his birthday will be March 1.
"And then we figure every four years we'll do the 29th just to give that little boost," said Erik Haynes, the father.
In Hartford at Saint Francis Hospital three babies were born around 7 a.m. Monday morning all within minutes of each other. One of them came leaping along about two weeks before his due date.
Kelley Bilodeau, mother of Mason James Bilodeau, said he'll be celebrating his birthday February 28th.
"He's a February baby and we wanted to keep it in February," she said.
Local
Matthew Bilodeau, Mason's father, said, "it's actually one-in-14,000 odds for a child to be born on a leap year. So it's an extra special birthday not only because he's here but - honest - because of the odds."
