Provo (Utah): In one of the rarest feats in the annals of family planning, an Utah woman has given birth on a third consecutive Leap Day, tying a record set in the 1960s.
David and Louise Estes' daughter Jade was born on Wednesday morning in Provo, an hour south of Salt Lake City, four years after their son Remington was born on February 29, 2008, and eight years after their son Xavier was born February 29, 2004.
Baby Jade was already five days overdue when doctors induced labour and the family hit the elusive date.
"I have never gone over so I wasn't sure if she was going to wait," Mrs Louise told The Daily Herald of Provo.
"As soon as we passed midnight I knew it really, really could happen."
The only other known case of triple Leap Day babies is the Henriksen family of Norway, which logged February 29 births in 1960, 1964 and 1968, according to the Guinness World Records press office. The family holds the Guinness record for most siblings born on Leap Day.
Leap Days come once every four years to recalibrate the calendar and account for the 365 days and 6 hours it takes Earth to revolve around the sun. Having a February 29 birthday can be both a blessing and a curse - a "Leapling" can only celebrate their true birthday once every four years. But they also joke that they age four times slower.
"We're gonna try to get our oldest a car on his fourth birthday," Louise joked in an interview with KSL in Salt Lake City.
The Estes family, which has two other children who weren't born on the special date, says they try to have a large celebration around the end of February and beginning of March each non-Leap Year, in place of the missing birth date.
This year, Remington and Xavier got their own special birthday cakes and celebrations.
"We always make sure to celebrate their fourth and eighth birthdays in a big way," Louise said. "It is a milestone for everyone."
Louise Estes said their eight-year-old son Xavier's February 29 birthday was pure coincidence. But they were a bit more intentional with Leaplings Number 2 and Number 3.
"I approached her in October of 2010 and said "If we are going to have another baby this would be really cool," Mr David told the Daily Herald. "I wanted to give her time to think about it."
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