KAILUA-KONA — Alekah Obra Garcia waited just long enough to be first.
Only one minute into the new year, Clarissa and Johnson Garcia’s second daughter made her world debut. Her arrival took both parents a little by surprise, as Clarissa Garcia’s due date was Jan. 11 and she was scheduled to be induced Jan. 7.
But Alekah had other plans.
About 8 p.m., the contractions started. By 10:45 p.m., the Garcias situated themselves in a room in the Kona Community Hospital obstetrics unit. And at 12:01 a.m., Alekah came into the world as healthy as could be, measuring 19.14 inches and weighing 6 pounds, 11 ounces.
“I don’t expect she’s to come,” Clarissa said Tuesday morning. “After all that pain that I’ve been through, it’s worth it. It was so fast. It’s amazing.”
Kyra Acasio, a nurse at KCH, made some calls after the delivery and said Alekah might have more than one claim to fame.
“I know (she’s) the first baby on the island,” Acasio said. “And right now, (she’s) in the running for the first baby in the state.”
Hospitals on Oahu and Maui confirmed Alekah arrived before any of their newborns. Acasio had yet to contact hospitals on Kauai as of noon Tuesday.
Another unique layer to Alekah’s birth is that it happened at the facility where both her parents make their livings. Clarissa Garcia, 39, is a certified nurse’s assistant and Johnson Garcia, 38, works with KCH environmental services.
But surrounded by co-workers and friends, the early hours of 2019 were anything but another day at the office.
“Everybody was so happy, the nurses and doctors here, so happy for us,” Clarissa Garcia said. “(It’s) a wonderful feeling.”
The family returned with Alekah to their South Kona home Wednesday afternoon, where she met her 2-year-old sister, Amira Obra Garcia, for the first time.
Her mother, for one, can’t wait.
“She’s perfect,” Clarissa Garcia said.
Email Max Dible at mdible@westhawaiitoday.com.
