"Leap Day" babies born at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara

Newborn Bryce Melo doesn’t realize it yet, but he shares a birthday with famous people like singer Dinah Shore, actor Dennis Farina and bandleader Jimmy Dorsey. But for the moment, he was content to lay in his mother’s arms and gaze around the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara room in the Mother-Baby unit.
“I really didn’t expect him to be born on Leap Day,” murmured Rosa Perez, Bryce’s mom, still weary after a labor that lasted almost 24 hours. “Bryce was born 24 minutes after midnight on the morning of the 29th.”
While Bryce may have been the first Leap Day baby born at the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara medical center February 29th, he wasn’t the only one.
By late afternoon on the 29th, seven other babies were born since midnight, said Nurse Manager Kathryn Adams.
Babies born on February 29th are often called “leaplings.” It’s reported the odds of being born on February 29th are about 1 in 1,400 births. Nonetheless, there are about 200,000 Americans alive today who were born on February 29, among them rapper Ja Rule and hockey player Bobby Sanguinetti.
“Even so, there are not many parents who have a Leap Day baby,” said an equally weary dad, John Melo, who was with his wife during the entire labor.
A reporter from a Bay Area television station was on hand to video the baby and parents. Right off the bat, mom Rosa Perez put to rest the expected question about Bryce not having a birthday party until the next leap year in 2020.
“No, no, we’ll probably celebrate his birthday on March 1, which would represent 365 days from day of his birth,” she said.
Leap Day is an extra 24 hours added to the calendar every 4 years to make earth’s voyage around the Sun exactly 365 days. Otherwise, in time our calendars wouldn’t coincide with the seasonal times we have all come to accept.
“I think it’s pretty cool” said Rosa, looking into her son’s open eyes.