There is a one in 1,461 chance to be born on Leap Day and on Monday Lillian Zumsen joined the select group of people who only have their birthdays every four years.
Lillian Freyja Joan Zumsen was born in Mount Sinai Hospital on Monday at 8:51 a.m.
She is 8 pounds and 20.7 inches.
Her parents, Mary “Emma” Zumsen, 33, and Ryan Zumsen, 33, from Gowanus, chose to have Lillian on Leap Day.
“In the end, we decided it was something special and unique,” Ryan said.
They scheduled the C-section a week before Lillian’s due date, because doctors knew she would be a large baby. Her parents considered waiting until Friday, but the same doctor and nurse team that delivered their now 2-year-old son Finnick happened to be on-call Monday.
“We were so happy with the way everything went the first time,” Ryan said. “We felt very comfortable going through the same routine the second time around.”
Carol Torchen, vice president of women’s and children’s services at Mount Sinai, said others weren’t deterred from having their babies born on the rare extra day, as well.
“The labor and delivery floor at The Mount Sinai Hospital was very busy today,” she said around 4 p.m. “We have already had 17 babies born and we anticipate 6 more by the end of this very special day.”
Ryan and Emma knew for a long time that their daughter would be named Lillian, but they couldn’t decide on a middle name for her. Instead of picking one, they gave her two. Feyja is the name of a Norse goddess and Joan is Emma’s aunt’s name.
Lillian’s parents can already tell she is unique.
“She’s a very calm baby,” Ryan said. “As soon as I picked her up, she was immediately quiet.”
