ANAHEIM – First-time mom Rosanna Medina felt excited when she found out her baby’s due date was 11-11-11. But then she learned babies rarely arrive on schedule.

“I thought, ‘What were the chances of that?’,” she said.

But last Friday, on that once-every-100 years occasion, Medina gave birth to her son at precisely 11:11 a.m.

Adding to the coincidence, Zayden Michael Gomez was one of 11 babies born on 11-11-11 at Anaheim Regional Medical Center, aptly located at 1111 W. La Palma Ave.

The 11 streak didn’t end there. The newborn’s randomly generated hospital identification bracelet was number 61111.

“I was in so much pain I didn’t even think much of it,” Medina said. “Afterward, I was so excited. All these numbers started matching up. Everyone was saying he’s going to be a lucky baby because he has so many elevens.”

Medina and her boyfriend, Michael Gomez, both 19, attend college and live in Norwalk. Gomez said some relatives have bestowed Zayden with a nickname, incorporating the Spanish word for 11.

“My cousin calls him ‘Little Once,'” Gomez said. “It’s going to be my favorite number now.”

Hospital staff was just as surprised by the 11 babies. On an average day, about eight babies are born at Anaheim Regional.

“I didn’t know until Monday when I came to do rounds on my patients,” said Dr. Jane Hong, who delivered Zayden and another baby that day. “They told me there were 11. I said, ‘Oh, my gosh. How special.'”

Labor and delivery nurse Olive Kintu described that day’s hospital atmosphere as busy and fun.

“I think we had talked about it the day before as well,” Kintu said. “We were asking ourselves what are the odds of having a baby born on 11-11-11 at 11:11. We were laughing about it and then it happened.”

For another set of parents, the memorable birthday came two weeks early.

Bele Nguyen of Anaheim was due on Thanksgiving but early Friday morning her stomach began to hurt. At 9:19 p.m. she delivered Dean Huy Ngoc Pham.

“It’s a good day,” said Nguyen, 36, an insurance agent. “Everything turned out perfectly for him. When I saw him, I knew he looked healthy. I was so, so happy to see him.”

Her husband Derek Pham, 35, expects his son will enjoy the novelty of his birthday as he gets older.

“People recognize it and it’s easy to remember,” said Pham, who works in information technology at a software company. “I’m sure he’ll have a good time with it, flaunting that birthday. My friends are telling me we should go to Vegas and put some money down on the number 11.”

Baby Dean even added one further 11 to his birth announcement.

He weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces.

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Contact the writer: 714-796-3686 or cperkes@ocregister.com