BABY BEATS LONG ODDS AS MOM'S BIRTHDAY GIFT.

Byline: Julian Guthri San Francisco Examiner

Tricia McWhorter always had a weeklong celebration of missing her birthday, because the official date - Feb. 29 - came along only once every four years.

Now, she'll start the same tradition for her daughter.

Alexis Sierra McWhorter came into the world at 8:18 a.m. Thursday at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, completing a long shot of one in 2 million that a mother and a daughter both will be born on Leap Day.

"It's pretty incredible," said McWhorter, adding that she couldn't have imagined a better present for her 24th birthday. "I'm amazed that we have the same birth date. But I'm really in shock that I have a baby. This morning we were in the car driving here, and now we have a daughter."

McWhorter and her husband, Scott, who works in real estate, said that because Alexis wasn't due until March 12, they hadn't paid much attention to the light contractions the mother-to-be felt Wednesday night.

But when her water broke early Thursday, they raced from their home in Sausalito and arrived at the hospital just in time for 6-pound, 11-ounce Alexis to be born. Labor lasted only 30 minutes.

"Alexis seemed to be in a hurry to carry on a family tradition," Tricia McWhorter said as she cradled the 20-inch girl. "Maybe she knew she'd get more presents."

McWhorter said her parents had always made sure her birthday was remembered, even if it didn't appear on any calendar.

Beginning in late February, they'd throw a party for her that lasted a week. She'd get presents for seven days straight. In fact, she never looked forward to leap year, when her birthday actually appeared on the calendar, because she didn't get her seven-day substitute.

"All of my friends were jealous of my long birthday parties," she said. "We're going to make sure that Alexis always feels as loved as I did. We'll do the same birthday celebrations for her."