I know that the title of this post is a big statement, especially considering the events comprising the first Easter. But here’s my thought: everything that made that first Easter miraculous, amazing, world-changing, and glorious is STILL in effect today, just as much as it was on that day! So the events of this past Easter are a bonus on top of that first Easter, and accentuated by that first Easter. So, the title still stands.

Anyway, the reason this has been the best Easter ever is because this Easter, Heaven sent us this little miracle!

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Meet Bianca Reine Monson. She was born on Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 1:46 PM, was 20″ long, and weighed 6lbs 5oz.

Bianca is a name I really liked and Josh approved. Reine (pronounced like the bird, wren) is French for queen. I really like that each of our kids have at least one name (first or middle) that reminds them of somebody wonderful, and I wanted to give Bianca such a name as well. My three fantastic sisters are all named after queens and Bianca’s middle name is after them. They each have a beautiful light they share with the world, and their light has shaped who I am in countless ways. I think it is also fitting for Bianca, because she likewise has 3 sisters. My prayer for her and my other girls is that they can have a love and friendship as happy and eternal as I share with my sisters.

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Some interesting things surrounding Bianca’s birth include some mistakes in the recording of facts. The first one is a little one on our part: we told the first round of people that Bianca was born at 1:51 PM. But we apparently took note of the wrong number on the clock (the 10 instead of the 9) because we were 5 minutes off. 1:46 is the correct time of birth. The other mistake was a little bit more exciting! When the nurse first told us her birth weight, she said Bianca weighed in at 5lbs 7oz. We had been guessing what we thought she weighed and nobody guessed less than 6lbs–she looked really healthy for her 20″ length. We were all surprised to hear such a low weight, but we didn’t question it. Later in the day, after lots of extra tests because of such a low birth weight, she was weighed again and came up weighing 6lbs 5oz. That kind of weight gain is literally impossible so we re-weighed her multiple times. The result was always the same, so we declared the first weight invalid. Apparently that is a very uncommon thing to have happen, because every time we told hospital personnel about it, they would say something like “Oh yeah, I heard about that.” We’re grateful that she is at a healthy weight and that all her extra tests came back with flying colors. And it is also fun to have a story to tell!

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Another thing that has made Bianca’s birth rather memorable is this lovely little pandemic we have on our hands. There was a risk of me being separated from both Josh and Bianca in the name of COVID-19; but happily it was not an issue. But what was very different, and a bummer, is that we had no visitors in the hospital. The visitors I was saddest to lose were Bianca’s adoring siblings. They are staying with Mother (thank you so much, Mother!!!) until Carter’s birthday on the 21st, and have still not met Bianca in person. I am SO excited for them to see her and love her; but I am also thankful that they are being well loved and cared for while Josh and I figure out how to newborn again.

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We are loving this precious bundle, and are so excited to get to know her better for the next forever!