Newborns ‘leap’ into the world at Tri-Cities hospitals

As Chelsea Gipson held her newborn boy, swaddled in a frog blanket, she wondered aloud how to explain his birthday to him when he grows up.

The Kennewick woman, who was due March 2, didn’t realize until she went into labor late Sunday that giving birth to a Leap Day baby was a real possibility.

“I never even thought about it,” Gipson said. “I was like, ‘wow this could actually happen.’ ”

After about five hours of labor, Jace Owen Stigall was born at 12:48 a.m. Monday, one of eight leap babies to be born at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland during the morning and afternoon.

A ninth “leaper” was expected to be born Monday night at the hospital. Trios Health reported two babies were born at the Kennewick hospital by 6 p.m. Monday.

The Leap Year, which occurs every four years, means there are 29 days in February instead of the usual 28. The extra day is added to keep the calendar in sync with the solar year, the time it takes the Earth to orbit around the sun.

That forces parents, like Gipson and her boyfriend Braddon Stigall, to choose alternative dates to celebrate their children’s birthdays in non-leap years. The couple is leaning towards March 1 for Jace’s birthday.

“His dad is going to be a butthead and tell him he doesn’t get anything for four years,” Gibson said laughing in her hospital room.

Eight babies were born at Kadlec on Feb. 29, 2012, while eight newborns were delivered at the hospital in a 13-hour span Monday, officials said.

The babies born Monday included a set of twins and other newborns whose parents chose to have cesarean sections on the Leap Day.

Melanie O’Brien, birth center manager at Kadlec, told the Herald that two nurses who work in her department have leap babies, including a set of twins.

The hospital gave the leap babies and their families a stuffed frog, a blanket and hat, and a $29 certificate to the hospital gift shop.

“Leap Year is a fun holiday to celebrate with the parents,” O’Brien said. “All the parents seem to be excited.”

Thomas Dickinson suspected all along that his wife, Gabby, would give birth to their second child on Leap Day, he said.

“I said right away it will be a Leap (Day) baby,” he said.

James William Dickinson was born after what the couple called “the easiest birth ever,” unlike the 20 hours Gabby spent in labor with their first child.

The couple has not decided when they will celebrate James’ birthday.

A few rooms away from the Dickinsons, Lauren Jones held her daughter Callie, who was born at 2:31 a.m. and weighed a little more than 8 pounds.

Lauren and her husband, Noah, thought Callie would be born well before Leap Day because Lauren was induced on Saturday night. However, Callie had other plans and entered the world after six hours of labor.

“I didn’t think I would be here this long,” Lauren said.

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 7:32 PM with the headline "Newborns ‘leap’ into the world at Tri-Cities hospitals."