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Born to be special--three generations and one birth day.

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Newborn Brandon Sapin beat the odds last week when he made his appearance into the world on his mother’s and his grandmother’s birthday.

“It’s kind of weird,” said the smiling new mother, Debra Sapin, from her bed at Torrance Memorial Hospital Medical Center. “When the baby was born my mom came in the room and said, ‘Happy birthday,’ and I said, ‘Happy birthday to you, too.’ ”

The 8 1/2-pound, brown-eyed boy was born June 1, the date his mother, 31, and her mother, Bette Vahlgren, 61, were born.

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UCLA mathematics Prof. Bruce Rothchild said the odds of a grandmother, mother and child having the same birthday are about 1 in 133,000. Rothchild said, however, that if the family had tried to plan the birth, the odds would be less.

“No, no. It was completely coincidental. Nothing was planned,” Debra said, noting the 60 hours of labor before giving birth.

Vahlgren pointed out yet another coincidence--all three of the June 1 babies are firstborns.

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“I knew it was a big thing in the family, but I never thought about the statistics,” Vahlgren said. “I think it must have something to do with the blue moon.”

Brandon’s father, Marlon Sapin, had no explanation for the coincidence, either, but said that birthdays in the Sapin household will be very hectic from now on.

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