Moms, we salute you. Not one first O'ahu baby for 2007, but three.

Yesterday arrived just a few ticks of the clock ahead of three healthy little girls. Sofia Carvalho, Kyrah Kekauoha and Amelia Rector all arrived at 12:01 a.m. yesterday at three separate hospitals.

Sofia was born at Wahiawa General Hospital to Luciana Chapelin-Carvalho and Wagner Carvalho, who live near Waimea Bay. Sofia was 7 pounds, 8.5 ounces at birth.

Mom is a registered nurse in the labor and delivery wing of the same hospital. This was her first child and at 40, she now promises to treat her patients much nicer.

She was in labor for 18 hours.

"I'm telling everybody that I will be a much better nurse now," Chapelin-Carvalho said. "Now I know what it feels like. It is not much fun. Before, I'd say: What are you complaining about?' "

Her husband is already thinking about another child.

"I said no, this is it," Chapelin-Carvalho said. "And he just smiled."

At Kaiser Permanente's Moanalua Medical Center, 20-year-old Kahelanialoha Contemplo gave birth to her third child. Kyrah was 6 pounds, 8.9 ounces at birth. Her father is William Kekauoha. Kyrah has a 2-year-old sister and a 1-year-old brother.

The Honolulu mother had hoped Kyrah would arrive on Jan. 1, which also happens to be the birthday of Contemplo's sister-in-law, she said. Her sister-in-law was a frequent caller as midnight approached.

"She was telling me to hold on," Contemplo said. "I was telling her, if she comes, she comes. It's not up to me, it's up to the baby. But it's so funny. I think the nurses were more excited than me. They were all cheering when the baby came."

And why not?

"She's a good baby," Contemplo said. "She is beautiful. She looks like her dad. She has Dad's nose."

The most amazing baby birthday wrinkle was at Tripler Army Medical Center.

That's where Heather Rector spent Sunday, her 19th birthday, in labor, only to deliver Amelia yesterday, which was the 19th birthday of the baby's father, Jonathan Rector.

Amelia was 8 pounds, 2 ounces at birth.

She is the couple's first child.

Turns out that dad, a private in the Army, was hoping for a Dec. 31 delivery.

"I wanted the tax deduction," he said.

When his watch read 11:59 p.m., he turned to his wife and opted for novelty.

"I said to her, 'You have to push if you want to be the first,' " he said. "So she went for it and the baby came out."

It was pretty emotional.

"Right before the moment, I felt like a little kid waiting for Christmas," said Rector. "I was anxious. I was ready. I had been waiting for nine months. It was life-changing."

Oh baby, that's for sure.

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.