Introducing...

Kezia Trianna Hamilton!

For those wondering about the name...

Kezia is a bible name - one of the 3 daughters Job was blessed with after he went through his trials. The bible says "And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job." (Job 42:15). (as a sidenote, we were undecided between Eden and Kezia. We took a family vote - Jason's side was more for Kezia. Heidi's was more for Eden. Then we flipped a penny, and Kezia it is!) We'll call her Kezi for short.

Trianna - a combination of our mother's names - PaTRIcia and DeeANN. McKinley & Ireland are also both named after grandmothers. It is also a street (and town) in the Canary Islands, where Jason served his mission.

Here are the short stats:

-Born October 26th at 9:34pm
-8 lbs 4 oz
-20.5 inches long (just like her sisters!)
-Born at home

Now, for those of you wanting the nitty-gritty details - and for her journal, here is the rest of the story (as I remember it):
Her due date was Thursday, Oct 22, and even though I know I always go late, I was pretty miserable, so my midwife, Sherri, came on Oct 21 & did the primrose oil and stripped my membranes. I went for a good hour walk & the contractions were coming pretty good. I got my hopes up, but was disappointed when the contractions fizzled that night & were gone the next day. My mom was cute & took me out to breakfast at Kneaders the next day & my sweet neighbor, Kristina, took me some fresh-baked bread as a sympathy offering. It was hard to wait, but wait we did.
Monday, October 26th, Sherri got to our home at around 1pm. She again did the primrose oil & stripped my membranes. We were both surprised & glad that I was dialated to a 4 by that time (I was a 2 the Wednesday before) Then she had me do some lunges & squats & off we went in her tiny neon green Volkswagen Bug to Walmart. The contractions were coming, but I had had so many in the past, I was kind of in a "I'll believe it when I see it" mode. However, my shopping experience at Walmart was not an especially pleasant one. I was really having to start to stop and focus and they were getting painful. After checking out, we had planned to go to Dave's Health & Nutrition, but I really wasn't sure that was a good idea because they were really coming stronger. So we headed back to the house & she checked me. This was about 4:30pm. I was a 6! Hooray! That really meant that I was progressing & we could have a baby that night!
Sherri starting calling her attendants and I started calling my sisters & mom (for the record, my sister Cindy was the only one that answered even though I called the others multiple times). I also called my dad & he came to get the girls and take them to his house (thanks dad!). Sherri had Jason running around getting things ready and I was just trying to focus. At about 5pm, I got in my jetted tub and that seemed to really help ease the pain.

workin' it in the tub

Cindy got here at around 5:15 or so. Mom & Trisha got here around 6pm - and the other attendants did as well - Molly and Denise. She checked me again around that time & I was about a 7. By that time, I decided to get out & try the ball & see if that would get things moving faster. I went in the baby's room and everyone was really great to help push on my legs and my back & help get me through the contractions. Sherri had me do the stairs and lunges and I was walking around and they were getting pretty painful. I was getting kind of cold, so I got back in the tub, but when they checked the baby's heartbeat, it seemed really really fast. Sherri came & checked and was worried as well. Jason gave me a blessing and we waited & they tried a different Doppler fetal monitor. It seemed to have slowed down. We were so thankful because we would have ended up going to the hospital if her heart rate would have stayed elevated. Sherri checked again around 8 and I was "almost an 8."

We decided that we should probably break my water soon to get the baby to come since that was what it took to get Ireland here. They set up the birth stool in the baby's room and I got situated with everyone around to support me - physically and emotionally. Not too long after getting situated on the birthing stool, the contractions changed. I could tell they were the REAL DEAL. Funny how you forget all the pain from a previous birth, but it all just comes back it all reality and I was going oh YEAH - this HURTS! I was glad the girls weren't there. I was "vocalizing" quite a bit by the end :)
After I was about a 9, Sherri "teased" the bag and I got some good pushes in, our sweet baby girl was there about 10 minutes later - 9:34pm. I was soooooo thankful she was here! I could not contain my tears! She had finally made her way into the world & I was able to hold my sweet girl in my arms. They put her on my chest and I just chrerished the moment of this fresh-from-heaven treasure.

I wish I could say that was the end of the story. I won't go into too much detail here, but the postpartum story involved an irregular placenta, hemorrhaging (with blood clots), a blessing, a "manual D&C", throwing up, an IV bag, and barely a wink of sleep the night after she was born. Needless to say, I am still pretty weak and tired while my body builds back all the blood I lost. I am SO blessed, though. There were at least 3 instances throughout this time that I was close to going to the hospital, but I truly feel that we were watched over and protected. I cannot say enough how thankful I am to my AMAZING husband. His priesthood blessings were critical and his support was unwavering. He was truly inspired the entire time. I am so thankful for Sherri. Watching her work is amazing. She has so much knowledge and experience which she incorporates, but I'm most comforted by her ability to work by the spirit and by inspiration. I am also SO, SO thankful for my sisters and mom for being there for me - supporting me every step of the way and being such a blessing to me. I am thankful to the attendants - Molly & Denise. So awesome. I felt SO loved and taken care of the entire time. I could NOT have asked for a better support team in bringing this sweet, amazing, beautiful girl into this world and into our home.

Meeting their new sister. They are SO, SO, SO excited to have her here!


Mommy & her precious Kezi