Writen by Chris at 3:30 a.m.:
In keeping with our family tradition of bringing boys into the world very early on sabbath mornings, Neil Christian was born at 1:25 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008. He's 6 pounds, 6 ounces and is 19.5 inches long. He's got a lot of dark hair - much darker than his older brothers - and resembles his Grandpa Gary very much.
While I was at Priesthood Session with Jake and Greg, Elise and Kim went for a walk and began counting regular and very close contractions at 7:30 p.m. After returning home for some brownies and ice cream, I took Elise to the hospital at 8:30 p.m. and in 5 short hours, Neil had arrived.
Elise was so amazing. She elected not to have an epidural and pulled off her third childbirth like a true champ. Anyone reading this who doesn't know how amazing she truly is must be made aware of that fact. I'm so proud of her.
As with Thomas and Gordon, when Neil came out - it happened very fast and our doctor had no time to fully dress for the procedure, instead catching Neil bare-handed - I had the strongest impression that this was not my child ... that I am not so much his father as I am his steward for a short while here in mortality. That our heavenly father has seen fit to bless and trust Elise and I with three of his precious sons is both a sobering thought and a thrilling honor.
I want to thank Dr. Horsley, Angela and Angela for such an amazing job. They were all so sweet and caring of Elise and Neil. They were by far the best crew we've had yet.
Elise will post a lot more when she gets home - with tons of pics and a video or two. I sleep now.