THERE'S a one in 1461 chance of a baby being born on a leap day, and this leap year, Bathurst welcomed not one, but two babies on February 29.
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There was a race to the finish line in the maternity ward during the afternoon hours of the day that only comes around every four years, and there was a mere 43 minutes separating the birth of the two babies.
The first of the bubs, a little girl by the name of Madeline Bonnie Grace Adams, was welcomed into the world at 12:04 pm.
She is a younger sibling for brother Theodore, and the second baby for parents Emma and Michael Adams, who weren't expecting their bundle of joy to be born on the rarest calendar day.
"When I found out about her due date, I joked and said 'wouldn't it be weird if we had a leap year baby?', and we did," Mrs Adams said.
"We definitely weren't expecting it. We were meant to be induced on Tuesday but we got pushed back and now we have a leap day baby."
Though Mrs Adams said that at the time her scheduled induction was moved, her first thoughts were 'hurry up and get the baby out', since having time to reflect, she believes the birthday is extra special.
But now they're left with the decision of whether to celebrate the birthday annually on either March 1, or February 28.
"I think I want to keep her birthday in February so we'll probably do her birthday on the 28th," Mrs Adams said.
And new parents Lachlan Bemrose and Laylah Faulkner had the same idea, and said they will be celebrating their beautiful bubba every February, with extra special celebrations every four years.
Welcome to the world baby Bemrose
The couple welcomed their little girl, named Aurora Ann-Maree Bemrose, into the world at 12:47pm, even though she wasn't expected for another few weeks.
Ms Faulkner's official due date was March 16, 2024, but she ended up going into labour naturally at 37 weeks and five days pregnant.
"It's insane, we definitely didn't expect it, but we're so happy," Ms Faulkner said.
And their family members certainly didn't expect the leap day birth either, and Ms Faulkner said that her family were all hastily changing their plans to come and visit the new baby.
"Everyone was pretty gobsmacked that it was a leap year baby," she said.
"I really thought she was going to come late, but here we are and I love her so much, it's very exciting."
As for Mr Bemrose, he said that he is excited to start the new chapter of his life as a father, and since the birth of his baby girl, he has been absolutely overcome with emotion.
"I've genuinely never felt that type of love. As soon as she came out I bawled my eyes out," he said.
