Happy Birthday, Ka’lani!

My Ka’lani is 12 today!  How is that even possible?!  I remember being pregnant with him like it was yesterday.  I was stationed in Hawaii then, not a bad place to be pregnant!  He was due on April 1st, an April Fool’s baby.  Easter was on March 30th that year and I remember feeling the start of contractions while sitting in church on post.  By late that afternoon, I was on my way to Tripler Army Medical Center, the pink hospital that overlooked Waikiki Bay.  I ended up getting sent home that night because my labor wasn’t progressing.  By the next morning, I was back.  I still wasn’t progressing like I should, dilating but not contracting, then contracting but not dilating.  Tripler is on top of a big hill so they sent Ka’lani’s dad and I walking up and down and around that damned hill.  FINALLY, I was admitted and the real fun began!!  He was my longest labor to date, and it was,… interesting!  For one thing, he didn’t want to come out face down like babies are supposed to so that presented a challenege.  The whole experience should have been a clue for me that Ka’lani would always follow his own path in life!  But, at 10:50 that night, while I was focusing on Arsenio Hall, Ka’lani was born!  I had a water front view and I could see the lights in the bay as he came into the world!  Certainly was a memorable sight!

It is tradition in Hawaii that when a haole (non-Hawaiian) child is born, a native Hawaiian bestow a name upon them.  As it happened, my lieutenant was native Hawaiian, so she gave Ka’lani his name, KeKumu’mau’o’ka’lani.  I still have the beautiful Hawaiian card she gave me, explaining the meaning of his name, the eternal source of the heavens! 

So today, I wish all the love and happiness in the world to my Hawaiian sweetie!  I love you so much, Ka’lani!