Four leaplings in south
Wee Ivy Autumn was due almost two weeks ago, but she held out long enough to be born a ‘‘leapling’’.
The little girl was one of four leap year babies born at Southland Hospital on February 29.
‘‘We thought we were going to win the Lotto that night,’’ her dad Alex Caird said of his daughter’s special arrival.
He wasn’t even too concerned that he’d missed the Tool concert he had tickets to in Auckland.
Mum Abby Wangeman said she was due on February 18 and even though she was induced on Thursday, Ivy only entered the world by caesarean about midday on Leap Day.
Her parents have decided to celebrate her birthday on March 1, in honour of her second name: Autumn.
Sarah Hean said one of the first things that crossed her mind when she went into labour, was what day they’d celebrate her daughter’s birthday.
Little Maisie Jay entered the world at 6.30am on Saturday – a week earlier than expected.
Dad Jonny Ayto said her Leap Day birth was ‘‘very much by accident’’.
The couple also thought Maisie’s birth was a sign of good luck and that they should have bought a Lotto ticket.
Sarah’s water broke on the Friday before her contractions had even started and she didn’t go into labour until late that night.
Sitting in the maternity ward at Southland Hospital, both families joked they may use the girls’ Leap Day births as an excuse to only buy them gifts once every four years. ‘‘Make sure it’s a good one [present],’’ Hean, from Invercargill, said.
Ivy enjoyed her first road trip yesterday when she travelled home to Te Anau with mum, dad and her big sister Millicent.
The girls will join the 3300 Kiwis who’ve been born on Leap Day since 1980, according to Stats NZ.
And if the Government has anything to do with, their birthday will be on February 28 in nonleap years, according to NZTA, the agency which issues drivers’ licences.
Three Leap Day babies were born at Southland Hospital in 2016.
‘‘We thought we were going to win the Lotto that night.’’ Alex Caird