Anchorage Daily News

Gov. Sarah Palin gave birth to her fifth child at 6:30 a.m. Friday, flying home from a conference in Texas to have the baby boy at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center.

Meet Trig Paxson Van Palin. He's 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and about a month early.

"It was quite a surprise," said Palin spokeswoman Sharon Leighow.

Palin and her husband, Todd, had been in Texas since Tuesday for a Republican Governors Association convention, Leighow said.

The Palin family issued a statement that read: "Trig is beautiful and already adored by us. We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives."

Asked what special challenges the family was referring to, Leighow said, "It's a family matter, and that information should come from the governor herself."

Leighow said Palin and her son were healthy and resting comfortably Friday.

The sequence of events surrounding the labor was unclear.

An announcement from the state said that Palin's "labor began (Thursday) while she was in Texas at the governor's energy conference, where she gave the keynote luncheon address, but let up enough for her to travel on Alaska Airlines back to Alaska in time to deliver her second son."

Leighow said she doesn't know when Palin's contractions began.

"The governor would have never left Texas if she thought that it put her child at risk," she said.

Palin's parents, Chuck and Sally Heath, declined to be interviewed.

Like the rest of Alaskans, Leighow said, she learned the baby's name on Friday.

Why Trig?

"It is a family name on the Palin side, and it has two Norse meanings: 'true' and 'brave victory,' " Leighow said.

Paxson is a reference to the tiny Alaska community north of Glennallen, a favorite destination of snowmachiners. Todd Palin is a regular contender and former champion in the 2,000-mileTesoro Iron Dog snowmachine race.

Both parents "think it's a beautiful part of the state," Leighow said.

And finally: "We've always liked the middle name Van because, you know, growing up in the '80s, Van Palin would be a really cool name," Palin joked to a Daily News reporter earlier this year in a reference to the rock band Van Halen.

Palin was scheduled to sign a bill into law today at a Lions Club convention. That appearance has been canceled.

Find Kyle Hopkins online at adn.com/contact/khopkins or call 257-4334.