The Monson family is beyond delighted to announce the addition of our newest member.

Helen Zulla Monson was born on March 12, 2018 at 8:07 AM. She weighed 6 lbs 4 oz, and was 19 inches long.

Getting Helen here has been an adventure! There is, of course, the fact that me and 3rd trimester pregnancy have never been buds. But Helen threw a wrench in things herself because she was breech. We tried just about everything imaginable to turn this girl in utero, but ultimately she had to be born via C-Section. As my doctor started to pull her out during surgery, she declared with a laugh “No wonder she wouldn’t turn!” Here’s why.

Her feet were up by her ears! I guess she’s not one to do things half-heartedly, even being breech.

The experience of attempting to turn her and then ultimately facing the reality that I would have to deliver via C-section was a bit traumatic for me–probably more so than for most people. I was terrified of everything all the way up through when I realized they were almost to reach Helen and pull her out. Now that she is here and I am on the road to recovery, I am still not thrilled that I had to be sliced open; but I am increasingly grateful for the miracle that a C-section is to moms and babies. Hundreds of prayers and hours of fasting were offered on behalf of Helen and me and I know that the ease and convenience of C-sections these days is an answer to those prayers and fasting. We are both doing as well as, if not better than, expected. And we are forever grateful!

Here is a look at Helen since we got her here. She is, so far, sleepy, snuggly, and mostly just sweet.

Helen’s name was chosen using a method never before attempted in our household. I made a list of names I liked (about 22 girl names) and Josh and I worked together to whittle down the list. Fay and Carter’s names were both chosen before Josh and I met. But with Portia, I just talked about the name enough that Josh got on board. I wanted to make Josh a real part of the process this time. So we worked through the list and eventually settled on Helen. Now that the name is attached to our sweet girl I love it even more than when it was just a name. Or maybe I just love the girl. Or both.

Zulla is the name of Josh’s grandma. She is an amazing woman who adds so much to our family that I genuinely can’t imagine the family without her. And she loves to tell everybody that nobody will ever use her name because it is weird. Well, we think it’s a cool name and that she is definitely somebody worth naming after! And I hope it will be special for Helen to have a part of her great-grandma with her for her whole life long.

We are so glad she’s here, and are looking forward to getting to know her better and seeing how she adds to our family!