Our First Pandora Pregnancy

This bead is the most relevant to date because it is the story of our daughter, Addy. We had decided to attempt to have a baby shortly after being married because we were a bit older, out of our twenties and ready to have children. We did not ever imagine it would take eighteen months and some miscarriages later to have a full term pregnancy. There was a lot of heartbreak that goes along with all of that ‘trying’ and having a loss of a pregnancy, but there is a renewal of faith also. At our first pregnancy we were so excited, we told nobody because we wanted to wait the full twelve weeks before sharing our big news to ensure the pregnancy was a bit safer to share. At week eight of being pregnant, my husband Donny made me dinner one night; it was his favorite meal of typical pork loin cooked on the grill with a side of baked beans. We took a dip in the pool because Arizona is hot and then settled on the couch for a TV show. I was so comfortable and happy when Donny and our dog Daisy came to sit next to me. I had been petting Daisy when I noticed that she had tied around her neck a small bag. I took it off, and felt bad for my poor puppy with that bag around its little neck; but what I discovered inside was the Pandora pacifier bead, “Oh wow!”. It was so small and delicate that it made me realize that a new baby was going to make me feel just as insane and insecure but loved. Unfortunately, this pregnancy was a miscarriage four weeks later. I guess it was not meant to be, I do believe this happens for a reason and your body knows best. So, we kept trying, and we made appointments with some specialists for advice. We did not have to do too many fertility tests or tricks because with a lot of time and patience we did get pregnant again. We were more cautious to not get excited so early on and really just kept living like nothing new was happening. That is a hard thing to do. But finally, the twelve week mark passed and my obstetrician assured us that the pregnancy looked strong and healthy. Out of caution we did not tell our family and friends for another month. When we did eventually share the news all the joy that we felt with our close ones was outrageous. After some more time I had my first ultrasound to check on our baby and to see if we could determine the sex of the baby. My husband was traveling out of town with work and missed this appointment; that was sad because we had been through so much up to this point. But happily I discovered it was a girl! My husband was due home one day after the ultrasound and I made him his favorite dinner of pork loin with a side of baked beans. I had bought a special bead to give him the news, a silver murano glass pink bead with flowers design. I got our dog and this time only hung the bead, not a bag, around Daisy’s neck. My husband got home from work and we sat down to eat, he was petting the dog when he noticed the silver murano pink flowers bead. He stopped and looked at me and then realized what it meant; that we were having a girl! He was happy and scared that he would now be outnumbered inside our house. We hung that bead up in the baby’s room on the light switch to bless the room. It worked because nine months later we had a new baby girl. She was healthy, had no medical issues, and two days later we left the hospital to go home with her.

Our little Addy is growing so fast! Even though she isn’t even one year old yet, we love being parents. It is so refreshing to see how we developed as babies, and how little people are made. She is so fat and happy, she’s like that old cartoon character Garfield. For her first birthday I have already purchased a Pandora bead to celebrate it. I bought the Pandora silver little girl bead; I am not wearing it yet because I want it to be a surprise for my husband to see. I also am looking into purchasing him a Pandora necklace so he can wear his golf ball dangle bead on it, but I still do not want to give it back to him. I am already planning my daughters own Pandora charm bracelet and gathering beads for her to eventually inherit when she gets older and hopefully she won’t loose her charm bracelet like I lost mine long ago.

- Cheryl O.