Oh baby! A lucky day to be born

The timing was right for two Oahu families to add newborn sons

Neysa Park received text message after text message from her father as she was going into labor at the Queen's Medical Center on Friday night.

Instead of words of support, she received a message that read, "7/6 doesn't come out to a good number, you must hold it in."

Park's father, who is of Korean descent, believes that seven is a lucky number, and that having a child on 7/7/07 is even luckier.

"My dad's superstitious," Park said. "(He) was going crazy saying 'you have to have it on 7/7/07.'"

The Makiki resident and first-time mother said her water broke Friday at noon. As midnight approached, Park said, it didn't matter when the baby was born, she just wanted it out.

As luck would have it, she gave birth at 12:53 a.m. yesterday, to a boy.

Park and her husband believe 7/7/07 is a lucky date and planned to induce her labor on Friday in case she wasn't having contractions yet.

"We are excited," she said. "It's the golden pig year."

According to the Chinese zodiac, this year is the Year of the Golden Pig, which comes only once every 600 years, and Chinese folklore says that babies born this year will have a prosperous and wealthy life.

What's even more special is that Park just celebrated her birthday on July 5 and her father's birthday is on July 8 -- today.

"So baby's right in the middle," Park said. "I think it's lucky."

Soonhee Shigemura of Salt Lake was another lucky mother to give birth yesterday to a baby boy.

However, what made yesterday a special day for Shigemura wasn't because her son was born on 7/7/07, but because her son and her 7-year-old daughter now share the same birthday.

Shelby Shigemura, who had to postpone her birthday celebration, curled up next to her mom in bed at Kapiolani Medical Center as she eagerly awaited her first encounter with her new baby brother.

"He's cute," she said, smiling as the nurse handed her mother the new baby.

Soonhee Shigemura's due date was July 15.

"We really didn't expect this," said Stacy Shigemura, Soonhee's husband.

Soonhee Shigemura is Korean and said that in Korea, seven is a lucky number. Her son, which they named Adam, weighed in at 7.28 pounds, and when Shelby was born, she weighed 7.77 pounds.

Shelby, who will celebrate her birthday today at her grandma's house, said she really wanted a brother over a sister, but didn't explain why.

"The first thing (Shelby) told me was 'I don't have to share my toys,' " said Shelby's grandmother, Barbara Shigemura.