Aleah, Beautiful, Cecilia and Dominick Merasty were all born on Feb. 29 in Saskatoon. (GoFundMe)

By Derek Cornet

rare births for ABCD

La Ronge couple welcomes quadruplets on leap day

Mar 5, 2024 | 2:25 PM

It was a leap day like no other for Gilbert Merasty and Savannah Ratt of La Ronge who welcomed quadruplets into the world on Feb. 29.

Born at Saskatoon’s Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital, Aleah, Beautiful, Cecilia and Dominick – each of whom weighs around two pounds – remain under medical supervision in incubators at the facility.

The three girls and their brother were delivered via C-section with the first being born at 10:19 p.m. and the fourth arriving at 10:24 p.m.

“I’ve been waiting around in Saskatoon because the doctors told me not to go far and to stick around the city because the chances of going into labour or having premature babies with quads is really high,” she explained.

“My labour wasn’t even long. I had an ultrasound that day at 1 p.m. and then the doctor told me I should go in and wait that night. I did that night, but I said in the morning we will see how I feel because I wasn’t ready to go in the hospital at all.”

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Being born on a leap day is uncommon with data from Statistics Canada showing there are only about 25,000 Canadians born on that day as of July 2019. The chances of quadruplets being born on that day would be astronomically rare.

“Everybody is happy for us and excited. It’s really overwhelming and it is hard to explain,” Ratt said.

“They (family and friends) are all very happy for us. They can’t believe we just had four babies on a leap year. It’s just a lot to take in because it is so rare.”

While Ratt was discharged on Monday from the hospital and is currently staying at Saskatoon’s Ronald McDonald House, she doesn’t expect the quadruplets to be released any time soon. She noted the babies could be staying at the hospital until their original due date of May 27.

Ratt is also unsure if the couple will move back to La Ronge as she expects they will likely continue living in Saskatoon for some time.

In the meantime, a GoFundMe has been launched for the couple to assist them in meeting anticipated expenses. So far, it has raised $935 out of a $5,000 goal as of this article being published.

The public can contribute to the fundraiser online here.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com