An Unexpected Gift

by Laura Williams, Owner of Lemons and Confetti

My husband and I tried to conceive for 3 years before becoming pregnant with our son, Noah, who is now 4 1/2 years old.  During those years we endured emotional, physical, financial, and spiritual trials.  Beyond all that, though, I received an unexpected gift in the form of friendship and support unlike any I'd experienced before.

Infertility and miscarriage can isolate women; make them feel alone and broken. In my case, I was extremely fortunate to have found a group of women early on who would be my rock throughout it all!  We met online- we were all trying to become pregnant at the same time and had joined a forum titled "Hoping for my Christmas BFP" (BFP = Big Fat Positive pregnancy test) on a website that no longer exists. A few lucky girls did get pregnant! Most of us did not. We all got along so well that we created a private group on said website, and eventually moved our group to Facebook.

Over the next few years, most of the women would get pregnant. I was one of the last ones to finally succeed. But more importantly, we stuck together.  We had each other's backs through many trials such as infertility, miscarriage, divorce, job loss, health scares, domestic abuse, deployment, loss of loved ones, relocation, parenting trials, and so much more.

In 2013, I went through the experience of being elated to finally be pregnant, only to find out that the baby did not have a heartbeat and that I was going to need a D&C. The surgery was Friday, 6/14/13. My baby should have been 10 weeks. I felt alone and robbed and broken.  Unfortunately, I had to return to work the Monday after.  I was sitting in my cubicle at work 3 days after my D&C, and one of the girls from the online group told me to come outside so she could give me something.  All the girls had pooled their money together for a lovely basket full of goodies to help me heal.  They wanted me to feel supported and loved during one of the most difficult experiences of my life.  Even in that knocked-down season, I saw these girls for what they were: an unexpected gift in my life that I wouldn't know if I hadn't gone through everything I'd gone through during those years.

Fast forward a few years to 2017. I was immensely blessed with two children and was spending my time as a Stay At Home Mama.  I yearned to create something that could be a blessing for women and was trying to figure out exactly how or what I could do when the thought crossed my mind...  the gift basket that I received when I was in one of my most challenging seasons. Perhaps I could create ready-to-ship gifts for a variety of trials, that women could send to their sisters, friends, etc. when life handed out lemons!  Influenced by how much my own gift touched me, and being thrilled at the idea of providing an easy way for women to support each other, I formed Lemons and Confetti- a gifting shop for life's sour moments and celebrations as well. The true gift my customers receive is the amazing friendships they have with these women supporting them through the impossible and celebrating them in their victories. However, I feel honored every day to be able to play a tiny role in their support.