Hanneke gave birth on leap day: I waited and waited ...

28 Mar 2024Updated: 4 hours ago | 52 people are reading

Hanneke gave birth on leap day: I waited and waited ...

Hanneke Duisterwinkel (40) gave birth to Sil on February 29, 2016, but today they are celebrating his birthday for the first time. Hanneke is an educational consultant, single and also has a daughter, Sarah (4 months).

© Brenda van Leeuwen

My entire pregnancy ...

"... I joked about the Sil's date of birth I was on February 17 and my environment knew for sure: "That will be a valentine baby." I always replied that it would be much nicer to have a "skip child". I meant that jokingly, but it also came true. Although it didn't seem like it; when on 25 February my webs broke, I really did not expect him to wait that long. "

It was Sil's choice ...

" ... to be born on leap day to become. It seems as if he has specially chosen that day. I waited and waited, but Sil did not come. Normally the delivery is done within 24 hours after breaking the membranes. In the end I gave birth only after four days: on February 29 at 00:37 hrs. "

Very special ...

" ... many people think it is. The maternity assistant immediately asked if she could be photographed with Sil for the monthly maternity leaf. "I have never experienced anything like this before," she said. These are of course nice things. Everyone knows exactly when Sil has his birthday, nobody forgets his date of birth. I also don't know anyone who was born on leap day. "

His first birthday ...

" ... we can only celebrate now, even though he is already 4 years old. That feels very strange. Sil understands that it is his birthday on a special day, but does not realize that this is his first real birthday. A milestone. But for him it is especially important that he can go to school now. He becomes a big boy. This year we are going to celebrate big. "

" A friend is in the children's theater, so we will do something with it. Other years we are celebrating his birthday on March 1, because he clearly did not want to be born on February 28. That does not understand the automatic notification of our mail; who sets it to non-leap years that Sil is on the 28th birthday. But then he was not there at all! "

When he is older ...

" ... I do expect that he will 'abuse' his date of birth, among other things under responsibility to come out. That he will soon joke as a 16-year-old: "No, I don't do that, I'm only 4". And of course I can't blame him, haha! "