Last Monday was Feb. 29, a leap day that crops up only once every four years and hospital delivery rooms were a hubbub of noise. The delivery rooms at each of Taoyuan’s main hospitals were full of many happy newborn babies. A new father jokingly said, “Feb. 29 is a great birth date! You can save on cakes and presents!”
At Saint Paul’s Hospital in Taoyuan, seven newborn babies “checked in.” Six were natural births and one was a Cesarean section birth. At Linkou’s Chang Gung Memorial Hospital there were also six newborns, all of which were natural births. Medical staff, rushed off their feet, congratulated the babies born on such a special day.
Many parents, smiling, said of their little bundles of joy: “There’s no real difference! People these days don’t have to celebrate their birthday on the actual day they were born. Celebrating a day earlier on Feb. 28 would be just as good, and Feb 28. is a national holiday too.”
Photo: Cheng Shu-ting, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者鄭淑婷
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
上週一是四年一次的閏年二月廿九日，醫院產房很熱鬧，桃園市各大醫院產房有多名新生兒歡喜誕生。有新手爸爸打趣說：「二二九生日很好啊！蛋糕、生日禮物都省！」
聖保祿醫院有七名「二二九」新生兒報到，六人是自然產、一人是剖腹產；林口長庚醫院也有六名新生兒，全是自然產。醫護人員忙得不可開交，也祝福在特別日子出生的寶寶們。
對於心肝寶貝在四年一次的二二九誕生，許多爸媽都笑說，沒差啦！現代人過生日也不一定要選在當天，提前一天、二二八慶生也很好，而且又放假。
(自由時報記者鄭淑婷、邱奕統、周敏鴻)
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