JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Army Pfc. Valerie Kyle held Ashlynn Janae Kyle yesterday, the first baby in Hawaii born in 2006, at Tripler Army Medical Center.
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Hawaii’s first baby of 2006 sneaks in
At 11:58 p.m. on New Year's Eve, Valerie Kyle hoped she could deliver her baby precisely at midnight.
MTV was on television in the background at Tripler Army Medical Hospital, and Kyle's friend, Michelle Beasley, was counting down until midnight.
Five, four, three, two, one ... her baby didn't want to come out.
But 26 minutes later, Kyle had given birth to Hawaii's first baby of 2006.
"I'm a tomboy," said Kyle, 21. "I don't think she's going to be one. She's going to be a little princess."
Kyle named her little princess Ashlynn Janae Kyle, who came into the world weighing 7 pounds and 6 1/2 ounces.
Ashlynn was bundled up tightly in a hospital blanket with a red and white striped beanie yesterday, a reindeer with a Santa hat from her dad and a blue monkey from her mother's best friend next to her. She slept soundly for most of the day, with occasional fussing.
Kyle is a clerk with the Army and is stationed at Schofield Barracks. She has been in Hawaii for three years, while the rest of her family is in Memphis, Tenn.
Kyle will be leaving Hawaii next month to move home and to see Ashlynn's father, Linwood Harris, who was stationed in Hawaii but recently left and is now working in Philadelphia. She hopes to marry him soon.
In the meantime, she hasn't gotten much rest because her family on the mainland has been calling and congratulating her. Four of Kyle's friends, who are also in the Army, were the baby's first visitors and stayed with her for most of the day.
Around 7 p.m. Saturday night, Kyle was watching the ball drop on MTV in New York when she started having painful contractions. Her friend, Beasley, sped them to Tripler, but Kyle didn't think she was going to be admitted because the baby wasn't due for another six days.
The pain lasted all night, and the hospital told her she was having a baby that night. Luckily, the delivery only took 30 minutes. Beasley, who recently found out she is seven weeks pregnant, stayed with her throughout the birth and recorded in with a camcorder for Kyle's family.
"It was a blessing to be a part of this, to witness the birth of the first baby of the year," said Beasley, 21.