When Kelly Evans learned 2008 was a leap year, she says she knew she would give birth on leap day.
‘It was just my luck,? says Evans, who was due to deliver on March 6.
She was right. Evans gave birth to Mikayla JoLynn Evans at 6:02 p.m., Feb. 29, at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac. The baby weighed 8 pounds and was 19-and-a-half inches long.
Kelly and John Evans call their fourth child ‘a special gift.? Mikayla joins brother Jake, 15, and sisters Mallory, 12, and Madison, 8. Grandparents are Kathleen Hickey and the late Walt Hickey of Ortonville, John and Carolyn Evans of Arkansas and Carolyn and Dan Blay of North Branch.
Kelly Evans said the labor and delivery unit at St. Joseph’s was busy on Leap Day? Mikayla was one of 17 babies born on Feb. 29, which only appears on the calendar every four years. Those children included two sets of twins and a set of triplets.
Evans, who has a Valentine’s Day birthday, is glad her youngest daughter also has a special February birthday. She said the family will likely celebrate Mikayla’s birthday on Feb. 28 during non-leap years.
They have faced only one glitch so far because of the unusual birthday? at the hospital, the photographer for newborns was unable to enter Mikayla’s Feb. 29 birthdate into the computer. It wouldn’t accept the day.
But Evans has found an advantage to Mikayla’s birthday.
‘When she is 40, she can say she is 10,? she laughs. ‘She won’t have to reveal her true age.?