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Pregnant mom Tina Linsley from Danbury, Connecticut didn't expect to be in the delivery room today. But her doctor decided to induce labor on Leap Year Day.
ACT: Tina Linsley: I didn't have much say, but that's okay. I think it will be a unique and a good conversation piece for when they get older.
Linsley's daughter will become one of approximately 200,000 Leap Year babies in the U.S. Walter Linsley is sitting next to his wife. Their baby hasn't been born yet, and nurses are monitoring its heartbeat. Walter had been hoping all along their daughter would be born on this special calendar day.
ACT: Walter Linsley: I think it's great. I was actually hoping for a leap year baby. Just cuz it's so unique … I said to my wife Monday or over the weekend, you better get something happening b/c we want a Leap Year baby. So then she called me on Tuesday and said my wish came true.
Walter is already thinking of ways to use his daughter's birthday to his advantage.
ACT: Walter Linsley: When she turns 16 and she wants to start dating boys, I can tell her no, you're only 4 years old, you're not dating anyone. That's my current joke. Until I think of a better one.
Down the hall, the prospect of a Leap Year baby was not as appealing to new mother Toni Garcia. She's holding her 7-pound, 6-ounce baby girl Jiana Angel. The baby is fast asleep in her mother's arms.
SOUND: of Toni Garcia cooing to her newborn…Do you want to wake up?
Garcia was relieved that her baby arrived two days before Leap Year.
ACT: Toni Garcia: I tried my best not to have my baby on Leap Year. Cuz I didn't want her to celebrate her birthday once every four years. I was going to have them induce me before if I didn't go into labor on my own.
Garcia's not alone. Another mother scheduled her C-section yesterday to claim a February 28th birthday for her child. Nurse Manager Debbie Sperling says that Leap Year Day is one of those days expectant mothers try to avoid.
ACT: Debbie Sperling: There are certain days of the year that aren't popular because the patients don't want their babies born on those days - including April Fool's Day, Friday the 13th, Halloween, and most commonly Sept. 11 in the last few years.
The maternity center is unusually quiet today. Anesthesiologist Anthony Maratea is hanging out in the nurse's lounge, surfing Google news. Normally, you'd find him in the delivery room all morning long. Today, he's having a leisurely breakfast.
ACT: I am sitting here drinking my tea and eating a peach turnover, which I probably haven't done in the last year and a half.
It's an unusual morning for Dr. Kimberly Goldsmith, too. She's delivering the first Leap Year baby of her career today. She says on some days, the hospital has as many as 10 deliveries. Today, Goldsmith says only two women are scheduled to be induced into labor, but ….
ACT: Kimberly Goldsmith: It's an unpredictable specialty. ….Their baby wants to come.
Every baby who arrives at White Plains Hospital today won't be waiting four years for his or her first birthday party. Hospital staff will celebrate the new arrivals with cake, balloons and a giant card this afternoon. Ailsa Chang, Columbia Radio News.