Our Pearl Baby

We had a little trouble getting pregnant this time.

And by "trouble" I mean it took us more than a couple of months.

I thought we would get pregnant right away. It took a few months.

Tom and I were very excited when we finally got a positive sign on a pregnancy test. When we were about 9 weeks pregnant we went to visit my parents. It was around my birthday. While I was shopping with my mom, I snuck into a dressing room and came out wearing maternity pants. I showed my mom. She was so excited and started helping me pick out more maternity clothes.

When Tom and I and our boys got back to our home, I had an ultrasound. The dates were a little off.

I went for an appointment with my doctor. He did an ultrasound in another room. No heartbeat. My doctor handed me a tissue and told me I had every right to cry. And he let me sit there for a moment and just let it out.

Then I had to go out to the waiting room where Tom was sitting with our two sons. I looked at him, he smiled, then I just slowly shook my head and started to cry again. We left.

After another week, I went back to see my doctor. He did one more ultrasound to make sure there still wasn't a heartbeat since I had no physical signs of a miscarriage. Still no heartbeat.

A few days later I made the difficult decision to have a D & C. My body just wasn't letting go.

I went in the day before Thanksgiving.

On Thanksgiving, Tom's mother came over. We had a wonderful meal together and were thankful for all we had. This is our yearly tradition. Tom's mother comes to our home for Thanksgiving and spends the night. The next morning, Tom and I get up around 3 or 4 am to go shopping on Black Friday. Great deals, interesting people, and special time together.

The following month on Christmas morning, I opened up a little gift from Tommy. He got me pearl earrings - it would have been our baby's birthstone. To this day, I still wear one of these earrings in my right ear all the time.