FLASHBACK FRIDAY - Malia's BIRTHDAY

On August 25, a week before my due date, I woke up very early to contractions. The night before I had danced in my cousin, Levi Stones, wedding luau and I thought I was just having cramps from the over-activity so I tried to go back to sleep. A few hours later, I was still feeling them, so I woke up Wayne and he started to time them. They were less than five minutes apart, but since I wasn't in any pain I decided to take a shower and tidy the house a bit. After another hour or so, Wayne finally insisted we go to the hospital. I was still sure it was a false alarm so I dragged my feet a little and didn't bring anything. On the way to the Utah Valley Medical Center Wayne called our parents and they were there waiting for us when we arrived. We checked in at 9 am and the nurse told us I was already dilated to a 5. Soon, our families showed up - all the girls had been at a Relief Society camp-out - they brought music, food and a lot of fun. My nurse was our good family friend, Nancy Belot. Wayne had found her checking into work. It was such a blessing to have a good nurse who knew us. We all hung out for a bit but when the contractions became extreme everyone left the room except for Wayne and my mom. They were great coaches through it all. After an intensive NATURAL labor :), our baby was born at 3:10 pm. She weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and was 20 in. long. Everyone came in to meet her and took turns holding her - it was a beautiful, reverent moment. The family said she had big hands and that she looked like Melba. After two days in the hospital and many visitors, we came home together.

After a week, we named her Malia Ann Latu. Wayne had always wanted to name our daughters "Mary", but I wasn't totally sold on the idea. So we choose Malia because it means "Mary" in Samoan and is a name I've always loved. "Ann" is after my mom, Ann Alisa.

This day was one of the most beautiful, most painful, most memorable experiences of my life.
Ahh. . . .memories!!