First-time moms welcome leap year babies

They are beautiful, adorable, and only arrive once every four years.

Leap year babies, sometimes referred to as leaplings, are few, but memorable.

Port-of-Spain General Hospital reported that there were four births on Saturday 29 - two boys and two girls. Only two mothers were willing to show off their babies when Sunday Newsday visited, but they did agree to give their names.

Melissa Carter, 27, a first-time mother from Santa Cruz, said she was very happy with her baby girl, Kaelen. She was born at 12.16 am at 2.81 kilogrammes.

"We are really happy. The labour pain was horrible, but she came out easy. I don't intend to have any more because that pain was horrible, so I am not going through this a second time. I don't know what the future holds if she wants a brother."

Dad Lerawle Waldron was overjoyed as he hovered over his newborn.

"I am excited and grateful and it is a humbling experience, but then I have to deal with my family too."

Asked why that should be a problem, Waldron said: "They not giving me a rest because they are more excited than me. My mother and three sisters want my baby more than me. Everybody has the same question. When you bringing she home?"

Tinisha Superville, another first-time mother from Mt Hope, also said this was a one-time experience for her.

Her baby girl, Yasmin Kai Javair Faith Superville, was born at 5.30 am at 2.81 kilogrammes.

"The experience was good, but coming down to the end the back pain can't be described. I am not giving her a brother. She has my little brother, I not going back."

This was a special moment for Superville as she is 29, and her daughter was born on the 29. Her birthday may be celebrated on February 28 or March 1, mommy said.

The two baby boys were born to Christy Mark at 1.52 am and Tia Peroi Goodluck at 4.35 am.

Kizzy Charles gave birth to a baby girl at 12.06 pm at the Sangre Grande County Hospital, while at the San Fernando General Hospital there were two births. A boy was born at 7.30 am and a girl at 8.55 am. The mothers declined to give their names.

Three babies were born at the Mt Hope Women's Hospital, with two more to be expected when Sunday Newsday last checked.

A leap year occurs once every four years. The extra day is added to February to account for the earth’s rotation of the sun taking approximately 365.25 days.