For at least a little while yesterday morning in a delivery room at The Queen's Medical Center, the family of Sarah Fay was able to replace two weeks of heartache with moments of joy.

At 10:50 a.m., doctors successfully delivered Fay's baby, even as a mechanical respirator kept the Big Island woman's brain-dead body alive just a little longer. Fay's mother, Fran, cut the umbilical cord.

It was a juncture in a saga that started Nov. 25 when Sarah Fay — who was seven months pregnant at the time — was allegedly beaten by her former boyfriend. She was declared brain-dead, but doctors decided to keep her on life support so that the fetus could grow.

They successfully delivered Josiah Darcy Fay by Caesarean section, said Kara Hughes, a spokeswoman for Queen's. Josiah weighed 3 pounds, 5 ounces and was 16.5 inches long.

But Sarah Fay's journey yesterday was not finished.

The delivery team was quickly replaced by a team from the Organ Donor Center of Hawai'i, which removed her kidneys and liver for three separate transplant operations.

"I don't know much more than this, but I feel very joyful at this moment," Fay's older sister, Stacey Fay, wrote in an online diary yesterday. "The two donors waiting for my sister's kidneys and liver are in the hospital being prepped to receive her gifts to them as we speak. For a temporary moment in time, all this joy is replacing the sadness over the loss of my sister."

Sarah Fay, who was 34, was allowed to die after the procurement. Her final stop was the Office of the Honolulu Medical Examiner for autopsy.

Dr. Kanthi De Alwis said the cause of death was intracranial injuries.

Josiah was pronounced healthy but will be transferred to Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children for about three weeks.

Stacey Fay wrote that he was "very pink with a round face and dark hair." Her younger brother, Michael Fay, held the baby, who squeezed his finger.

"It's all very sweet," Stacey Fay wrote. "He's breathing very well on his own and came out crying and kicking, which is a good sign. His lungs seem to be working just fine."

Stacey Fay said in an interview the baby's first name was selected by Sarah herself. Josiah is a Biblical name Sarah told family members she was considering for the child.

Stacey Fay said the baby's middle name came from Darcy Carlos, a man who was working in Fern Acres and came to help after Fay was attacked. Carlos performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Sarah Fay until an ambulance arrived, an act family members believe saved Josiah's life.

Family members met Carlos on a visit to the Big Island last weekend, and he was "shocked and pleased and really touched" to have the child named after him, Stacey said.

Marwann Jackson, Sarah Fay's former boyfriend and the father of Josiah, has been charged with second-degree murder, second-degree murder by omission, kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault, second-degree robbery and violation of an order for protection.

Jackson, 24, has a history of violent criminal offenses. Last year, he pleaded guilty to three separate violent felonies, including one in which he dragged a police officer with his car for 30 feet.

Fay's family and her large circle of friends in Puna said she told them she was being abused by Jackson. They had urged her to leave him but Fay returned to Jackson several weeks before she was beaten. Friends said she was attacked at a Fern Acres home where the couple was housesitting.

Sarah Fay's two older children, a 10-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl, were taken into state custody after the attack, and are now living with their father, Brian "Forest" Kessell in Pasadena, Calif.

Kessell said the older children are enrolled in school, are settling into a new home and have asked about Josiah. "I told them as much as I know about what was going on," Kessell said.

Stacey Fay said Josiah's birth yesterday represented a turning point for a family that endured grim news in October and November. Fay's mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in October, and then her sister was attacked last month.

"For the first time in a while, I feel a little bit better," Stacey Fay said after hearing news of Josiah's birth. She said her mother and brother also sounded "as happy as they could be. It's a very bittersweet thing."

Fran Fay has been undergoing chemotherapy, but intends to bring the child back to Springfield, Ore., with her as soon as the baby is strong enough to travel, Stacey Fay said. That may be in two to four weeks, she said.

For the time being, Josiah will live with Fran Fay and Stacey Fay and Stacey Fay's boyfriend in Oregon, but Josiah may also spend time with Sarah Fay's brother in Denver.

"I have a feeling he'll go back and forth a lot," Stacey Fay said, "because we all want our turn with him."

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com and Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.