PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Feb. 29 proved to be a bustle of activity for both parents and staff at The Aroostook Medical Center’s A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital as five babies were born during one 12-hour shift.
“It made for a really busy day, but it was exciting,” said Pamela Lilley, manager of the Women and Children’s Unit. “We believe that all of the infants that we have the privilege to welcome into the world are special. The first baby born in a new calendar year always seems to get special attention, so just imagine the kind of fuss that erupts around a Leap Year baby. Now multiply that by five.”
Alexis Nichols and Josh Cote of Fort Fairfield were the first to welcome their little one at 7:47 a.m. Weighing in at 7 pounds, 15 ounces, Mason Levi Noah wasn’t expected to be a Leap Year baby boy, but his mom was hoping he would be.
“We don’t have any February birthdays in the family, so we really wanted him in February,” she said. Since he was born in February, they plan to celebrate baby Mason’s birthday on Feb. 28, except for Leap Years, of course.
Almost an hour later at 8:50 a.m., a baby girl named Lily Kai greeted her mom Cheneta Cullins and dad Brock Kingsbury of Bridgewater. Lily weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and both parents are overjoyed. They had a different take on when to celebrate their daughter’s birthday.
“We’ll probably celebrate it on March 1. She was born 60 days into the year, so it makes sense to celebrate it on that day each year,” explained Kingsbury.
At 10:56 a.m., Andrea and Shane Brewer of New Sweden became the proud parents of baby boy Eivin Ernest. Eivin weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces, and established a bit of interesting history within his family. His father Shane is also a Leap Year baby, having been born in 1976.
Eivin was a planned Caesarean section delivery, so they were able to choose the date. Andrea Brewer thought it would be fun for father and son to share a birthday. When he was growing up, Shane Brewer said there were eight kids in the family so they didn’t really do anything special for his Leap Year birthdays, but his wife said they definitely will now.
“He was quite the birthday present,” the new dad exclaimed.
At 3:53 that afternoon, Kris and Greg Shemkovitz of Presque Isle welcomed their third daughter, Macy Elizabeth. She weighed in at 7 pounds, 10 ounces, and her sisters were incredibly gentle and loving.
The fifth baby of the day was born to Kayla Dixon and Timothy Demoura of Presque Isle. Baby boy Xavier Michael was born at 7:21 p.m. and weighed in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces.
Dixon said, “We didn’t expect him on Leap Year. It was a nice surprise.”
In 2015, the number of births at the hospital was up 16 percent over the prior year. Judging from all the activity on Feb. 29, 2016 is shaping up to be a banner year for babies at TAMC.
“My nursing staff was amazing, and all the parents and babies are doing well,” said Lilley.
The five babies were delivered by four providers from TAMC’s OB/GYN and Midwifery Services practice: Nurse Midwife Janna Clukey, Dr. Quang Nguyen, Dr. Rachel Swartz and Dr. Joyce Hebert.
