Carrie Ingalls gets a swift lesson in the birds and the bees...well, the birds I should say because she climbs a tree and takes two eggs from a bird's nest. She shows them to her pa, who pointed out what a dumb thing it was to do. To atone, Carrie decreed she would be the new mama and hatch the eggs herself, leaving a bewildered Charles to laugh. Yeah, good thing you don't have this to look forward to again, eh, Charles? Three is enough. Or was it? One morning Caroline woke up feeling rather funny. Almost like morning sickness, minus the puking. Meanwhile at school, Mrs. Simms was herself with child. Carrie couldn't help but stare at her big baby bump all day. But that could be cause Carrie is a mother herself with those bird eggs she stole. So since the teacher would soon be taking maternity leave, Mary would be filling in. Won't the Oleson kids love that? Anyway, once Caroline was fit to faint at any moment, Charles demanded she see Doc Baker, and it was confirmed beyond the shadow of a doubt: she was preggers. Now the only burning question was which did Charles prefer: a boy or a girl? According to him, he didn't really care so long as it was healthy and strong. Still for some reason, Caroline felt the need to pester him about it.
Laura meets a fortune teller, Madame Maria, who really just goes by common sense and basic math, but Laura thinks she has magic powers and can really see into the future, so she takes her ma to see her the next day. Can she determine the gender of the expectant? She determines it to be a boy. Of course Charles doesn't believe in all that voodoo gobbledygook, so it remains to be seen. At school, Mary has become a real hard-ass, no-nonsense teacher which the students will sadly have to get used to, because Mrs. Simms went into labor and almost had the baby right there in the classroom. Little Matthew Adam Simms. Everybody started gushing over the newest male in Walnut Grove, which made Caroline jealous for some reason. It seems she really wanted a boy herself, and since Charles inadvertently mentioned wanting a son himself, this began giving Caroline doubts about their child. You would think it was because she was tired of having girls, but this actually attributes to the death of their first son, Charles Jr. in Season 1, so it stands to reason Caroline would be so upset. The stress soon becomes too great, for her and Charles, and so he sends the girls to stay with the Garveys for a few days so they can fight in peace, I guess. However, I think he should have waited on this because as soon as they're gone, Caroline goes into labor and there's no one who can run for Doc Baker. Looks like Charles is gonna have to deliver it himself. While this was going on, Jonathan had pulled the old switcheroo with Carrie's eggs by pretending to put them in an occupied nest he'd found in his barn. Carrie saw the baby birds and assumed they'd hatched from her eggs. Wow, setting a fine example for the children by lying to them there, Jonathan. Meanwhile, Caroline successfully gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl and judging from her size, that must have hurt like hell. Little Grace Pearl Ingalls had come into the world and you couldn't find happier parents anywhere. Awwwwwwww.
In case the world is wondering, Grace Ingalls was real, she wasn't written into the show for the sake of giving the Ingallses another child. All that began in Season 5. Though the real Grace was born when the family lived in Burr Oak. I think for her sake it was good she was born a girl since Ingalls boys are hard to come by. As you know little Charles Jr. died in Season 1, Mary's son burns to death in Season 6, and Laura's baby boy died in Season 9. Now the real Mary never had a son, or got married for that matter, so her's was the only fictional infant death. If Ingalls boys die so early, I wonder how Charles got so lucky? I guess it was Ingalls genes mixed with Quiner? Anyway, Michael Landon and Karen Grassle were excellent, and Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush in their portrayal as Carrie, well, shows they still can't act to save their lives, so this is why Carrie never had much attention. Grace doesn't do much because she's just a baby, so I guess this is why the Ingallses' started adopting children after this. I mean, considering all they went through in this episode when anticipating the birth of their own, who could blame them? But anyway, do check this one out. It gives you one strong life lesson.
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