As I stated earlier, we decided to wait a year and then try again after my miscarriage. I could not take birth control because it messed with me too much emotionally. The first week after my period we didn’t bother with birth control because it shouldn’t be an issue. You know – The Rhythm Method. Well my body decided it was the perfect time to disregard the standard 28 days.

We went to hear my son’s first band recital in 6th grade. It was over and we were walking down the stands to leave. I felt that same weirdness I felt in Maine and knew what thousands of women have already found out that The Rhythm Method didn’t work. I told Matt that I was pregnant. He didn’t believe me. He said, “You’re not even a day late.”

I went and bought a test. “That’s just a waste of money.” Matt said.

Three minutes later, there were two lines staring up at me telling me I was pregnant. That began nine months of worry and anxiety. I was so afraid that something would happen to this baby. We went to hear the baby’s heart beat and the doctor could not find it. The doctor said, “We are not having any of this.” He reached in and pushed my uterus up and then found the baby’s heart beat. While this was very uncomfortable, especially since he didn’t warn me, I was happy to hear the baby’s heartbeat. He then sent me over to get an ultra sound. The technician found the baby, but the heart beat was very slow. They had me come back two weeks later to see what was happening. When we came back, everything was normal. I was grateful.

Throughout my pregnancy we kept trying to come up with names. I’ve always liked Pearl and I wanted that to be the middle name, but I couldn’t come up with a good first name. I really liked Victoria and so did Matt, but we didn’t want it to be shorted to Vickie. We kept tossing around names until finally, when I was in my seventh month, Matt called me at work. He said, “I’ve got it. We’ll name her Pearl Victoria. Do you know what that means?” He was getting choked up.

“No.”

“It means precious victory.” I started crying.

That was perfect and I felt it was directly from God.