Welcome Keller Moroni!

 Practicing for the baby.

 They wondered where Baby Joule was...

 Probably the best representation of our group...

I called Christine Monday. She told me we’d have the baby on Wednesday and I’d be home Friday. Make sure you pay attention to what she says!

Well. Let’s start with Monday. Since receiving the flu shot, the boys and I have been hacking our guts out. Lincoln’s nose hasn’t stopped its continuous green flow. It’s an ears, nose, throat issue that makes eating, sleeping, and breathing a little tricky. I’m grateful these are just “flu symptoms” rather than the full on flu—but on Monday when contractions increased in consistency and speed, I felt a little panicky. I had to take it slower which concerned the boys. Levi: “Mom need throw up?” Lincoln: “Mommy! Up! Up!” That night I felt my symptoms getting worse and I prayed that I’d be at least able to breathe through my nose and swallow so if we did go into labor I could focus, calm, and really breathe. I was overwhelmed with the feeling that others were praying for me, too. It was a very tender experience; thank you for remembering me. I started improving from that point on. So while we’re all still hacky, we have no complaints.

Tuesday looked like a normal day. I took it slow to be safe. Levi asked if he could watch “The Restoration” during rest time (we had just watched it for a home evening). As we set it up, he told me the entire First Vision story. Then he asked, “What Heavenly Father and Jesus do when They go back to the sky?” So we talked about all the work that continues. Such a lovely conversation with my boys. Later that day while I made dinner, I glanced over to see Levi and Lincoln leaning on each other to stand in tree pose. “We’re doing yoga!”

That night, as usual, contractions picked up. By 2 a.m., I couldn’t ignore them very well and did some yoga. At 4 I woke Wes to let him know things were different. I took a shower (because of course it would be horrifying for nurses and doctors to see me with hairy legs—that would be the thing they’d notice first!). I worried that I was overreacting in my excitement to bring our little boy here. When I had to start singing through contractions, though, we decided to call our friends to stay with Levi and Lincoln. They arrived at 6. Contractions slowed as we drove to the hospital. At 6:30 we were all checked in and at a 6 ½ and 90% effaced. But: my body follows a daily schedule. (I decided to do the epidural again because I know I’ll feel guilty for the things I will inevitably say, so I’m just going to stop worrying about that one for my next pregnancies. Wes jokes that it’s like choosing to flee temptation.) Contractions slowed until my water broke at 10:45. At noon my doctor poked her head in. I told her I thought the baby would be there soon. She checked and said, “You’re right. It’s time to start pushing.” At 12:08 [Wes: and after almost one push], our little boy was finally here with long fingernails, black hair, and a newborn rash—a complete miracle. And he’s an eater! Hurray! We looked at him for a while and just knew he was Keller. (Plus he was born on my great-grandma Annie Keller’s birthday around many other Keller birthdays). We’ve been trying to figure out middle name options for a while, but once we spent some time with him “Moroni” just felt right. We hesitated because it is Moroni, but we name our kids with a heritage and this is one he brought. Welcome Keller Moroni!

Wes brought the boys to the hospital that night. They were champs with our friends all day. Wes let them choose flowers to bring to me. All the Waiting for Baby books show the siblings bringing flowers; Levi looked forward to this for three months. Levi and Lincoln love their brother. Lincoln forgot that we’d been apart all day and went straight to Keller. “Baby! Brother! Keller!” I mentioned Keller grunting like a pig, which Levi found hilarious. “He sound like a little pig!” They both adore him. The third musketeer is finally here! I’m so glad that they can be together.

Friday, Levi woke screaming at 2 a.m. with an ear infection. Wes took him to the doctor. Then Wes rushed to give his presentation on campus while another friend watched the boys. Levi’s ears are doing better. Wesley’s presentation went well—he’s mostly glad it’s over by this point. Time to move on (this is the one he was supposed to give a month ago when the bomb threat occurred). That afternoon Keller and I were finally discharged. I set the flowers out prominently—they were gorgeous—but in the rush of leaving we forgot them. Levi and I both feel bad. Wes let him pick out some smaller flowers to bring home Saturday. What sweet men I live with. When we came home, Lincoln wanted to just stare at Keller. He loves being close to the crib. He whispers, “Keller! Keller! Baby Keller!” Levi has been trying to spell all of our names (LEVI and MOM come most naturally). They bring his binkie, get his blankets, kiss his head, and just adore him.

For his part, Keller stretches his eyes open (they’ve been swollen with liquid since he entered the world quickly), stretches his fingers, and only moans a little when hungry. True to family tradition, he has adventurous diapers. One of my nurses said he worked on a very musical diaper for ten minutes in the nursery. His little M-shaped lips remind me of Levi, but he has a look similar to Lincoln. Despite all this, he’s definitely his own person. He loves cuddling and going on little walks. The loud world of brothers doesn’t bother him at all (phew!). We’re grateful he’s here—even if we didn’t really believe he’d arrive for another week. We’ll take him now!

We have been blessed by wonderful nurses, doctors, and others. Our friends bent all over the place to help us. We are in awe at all we’ve been given. We’ve spent the last days enjoying our new family arrangement. My mom flew in last night and I’m on strict orders to move slowly; this is not too difficult when nursing every hour and a half to two hours. We’re all recovering well and can’t wait for you to meet our sweet new bug.

A note from Wes:  Levi has baptized his stuffed dog, Peter, about 8 times today.  He raises his arm to the square and says “I am Joseph Levi Cole and I am going to baptize Peter right now. Uh huh.” Then he lays Peter down under the “water.”  It’s pretty cute.