Layla Grace-Foles started her super-fan training immediately when her father read to her from Sports Illustrated’s Super Bowl LII special collector’s edition. But what if she grows up to root for another team? “Oh, that won’t happen.”
On February 4, the entire city of Philadelphia erupted into celebration following the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII win. With only 38 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Nick Foles caught a touchdown pass, gave his team a halftime lead over the Patriots, and led the self-proclaimed underdogs to victory. Last month — nine months after the historic game — Pennsylvania Hospital began seeing the aftermath of some of those celebrations in none other than the Mother and Baby Unit.
One of these “Philly specials” was Layla Grace-Foles Castelli. Mother Anna wanted her third daughter to share her middle name, Grace, but her husband and Eagles super-fan, Mario, wasn’t ready to give up on the name of the Super Bowl MVP quite yet. After all, as Mario coyly noted, “If it wasn’t for the way Foles played, we wouldn’t be having this baby.” To say they compromised wouldn’t be fully true — Mario admitted he took over the birth certificate duties while Anna rested — but the hyphenated name checked both of their boxes, and they couldn’t be happier with their newest addition. “And who knows,” Mario added. “Maybe when Carson Wentz wins us a championship, we’ll name the next baby after him!”
The Castelli family and PAH earned ample local media coverage, with many newscasters speculating that the city might be due for a Super Bowl LII “baby boom.” In an interview with FOX29, nurse manager Beth Ann Pyle, MSN, RNC-MNN, said, that while there may not be any definitive evidence to indicate a spike at PAH, “We’ve been staying busy, and a lot of our patients have been telling us they’re having their Super Bowl babies. We've seen a lot of babies named Carson, and even a Kelce.” Boom or no boom, “we’re having fun with it either way!”