By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

Krum Ivanov and his wife Marina don't quite know who to thank first.

The couple from Arlington, Va., and originally from Macedonia, were driving around the North Shore on the third day of a 10-day trip, when Marina's back started to hurt. By the time they got back to the Ocean Resort Hotel in Waikiki, they realized that Marina was in labor. She was just 24 weeks into her pregnancy, and her obstetrician back home had given her the green light to travel. After all, son Brandon, now a toddler, was born a week late and weighed 9 pounds, 5 ounces.

The hotel staff jumped into crisis mode. The front desk called an ambulance while the bell clerks took Marina to a couch and used luggage carts draped with sheets and blankets to give the paramedics a place to work. It was a busy afternoon in the lobby with girls' soccer teams staying in the hotel and guests coming and going. General Manager Jerry Kimoto remembers, "It was like a scene out of M*A*S*H."

Kris Ivanov was born in the hotel lobby on July 18; his due date was Nov. 2.

Emergency crews had to improvise to keep the 1-pound 11-ounce baby alive between the hotel and Kapi'olani hospital. Kris stayed in Kapi'olani overnight and was transferred the next day to Kaiser Moanalua, where he's been for the last three months.

Neonatologist Dr. Gardner Bemis smiles warmly when he talks about his tiny patient. "Kris is doing great," he says. Dr. Bemis thinks the family may be able to head home in a week or so. Kris weighs 4 pounds 6 ounces now, and over the weekend, he learned to drink from a bottle.

Laura DeWaele, who has been the baby's primary-care nurse, said, "He really was a very sick little baby for a long time and he had all kinds of problems and he's just pulled out of them all."

Marina is especially thankful for Laura's presence during the last three months. She says, "It was like having my mother with me." She's also grateful to her brother-in-law, Tony, who took care of the family business and the bills in Virginia.

Then there are the doctors and nurses to thank, and the ambulance crew that gave Kris a fighting chance. And the Ivanovs are particularly grateful for the staff of the Ocean Resort Hotel.

Management extended their stay indefinitely and told the family not to worry about the room, to focus their energies on taking care of Kris.

Kimoto hasn't told them yet, but his intention is to give the family a free stay. All he's told them so far is not to worry about it.

"We're happy to do what we can for them," says Kimoto. "After staying here for so long, they're like a part of us."

"The people in Hawai'i," says Krum, "they're just wonderful."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.