For the Gould family, a leap year baby simply wasn’t on the cards.

Scott and Ashlea Gould’s baby boy was due March 7, and although they joked about the possibility of him being born on February 29, their jest became a reality after a visit to their obstetrician ended in an induction.

Baby Toby was one of eight babies born at Cabrini on February 29.

The first-time parents were being closely monitored by Cabrini obstetrician Dr Danielle Quittner due to the size of their baby, and had been booked in for an induction on March 1 – to avoid having a leap year baby.

But little Toby had other plans.

Mrs Gould said she noticed in the early morning of February 28 that her baby wasn’t moving as much as usual so they came straight into hospital for a check-up.

“We came in for some monitoring and Danielle said, ‘let’s just get this show on the road’, and by 11am I was being induced,” Mrs Gould said.

Toby was born via emergency caesarean on February 29 at 7.11am, weighing 2.69kgs.

“We didn’t want a leap year baby, we thought it would be unfair on him to not be able to celebrate on the actual day,” Mrs Gould said.

“But it really doesn’t matter, all that matters is he’s happy and healthy.

“We’ve decided we will celebrate his birthday on February 28, but that every four years he will get a two-day celebration.”

Mr Gould said they had spent the past couple of days introducing Toby to family, and it was safe to say his grandparents were all smitten.

“He’s a really good baby, we’re really lucky,” he said.

Although it was early days, the couple said they were definitely keen to have a second baby, to abide by their “roller coaster rule”.

“No single riders is the rule,” Mr Gould said.

“So we either have two or four, but nobody rides the roller coaster alone.”

The pair said naming their firstborn was quite a challenge, given both their professions.

Mrs Gould, a school teacher, and Mr Gould, a police officer, landed on Toby after looking up Scottish boys’ names.

“When we saw him we just knew it was right,” Mrs Gould said.

“The family spent five nights at Cabrini before heading home, and said they were blown away by the support and care they received not only from Dr Quittner but everyone in the hospital.

“Danielle has just been the best, we’ve had so much confidence in her and she’s been so supportive,” Mr Gould said.

“We can’t praise the staff enough, they’re so friendly and supportive and you can just tell they love working at Cabrini.”

Learn more about *Cabrini’s maternity services*