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Corewell Health Butterworth Hospital celebrates first Grand Rapids leap year birth

Welcome to the world, Rori Rae! The bundle of joy came into this world a few minutes after midnight on Thursday, Feb. 29.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Leap Day falls on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. 

Two minutes after midnight, baby girl Rori Rae Blasch was born to her parents Ellery and Daniel Blasch at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids. 

She weighed 6 pounds, 13 oz and was 20 inches long. 

Corewell Health said she was due Feb. 28, but waited just a while longer to be a Leap Day baby, also called a "leapling."

The hospital said this was Ellery and Daniel's first child, and they were surprised with their baby's gender. 

Everyone, including their parents, thought Rori would be a boy. 

Today would have been Ellery's grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary, or 15th by leap year. 

Ellery's dad's birthday is March 1, so they plan to celebrate Rori's birthday on Feb. 28 when it isn't a Leap year. 

Leap years don't always happen every four years. Years that are divisible by 100 but not by 400 are skipped.

This morning we're celebrating the first Leap Year baby born at Corewell Health Grand Rapids Hospitals - Butterworth!...

Posted by Spectrum Health on Thursday, February 29, 2024

RELATED: Leap day: 3 VERIFIED facts you may not know about Feb. 29

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