Writer:	Don Balluck
Director:	William F. Claxton
Star:	Dean Butler (Almanzo James Wilder (co-star prior to season 7)),  Wendi Turnbaugh (baby Grace Ingalls (shared) (1978-82)),  Melissa Gilbert (Laura Elizabeth Ingalls/Wilder),  Kevin Hagen (Dr. Hiram Baker),  Richard Bull (Nels Oleson),  Matthew Laborteaux (Albert Quinn Ingalls (1978 -1982)),  Michael Landon (Charles Ingalls (1974 - 1982)),  Karen Grassle (Caroline Quiner Holbrook Ingalls (1974 - 1982)),  Lindsay Greenbush (Carrie Ingalls (1974 - 1982)),  Sidney Greenbush (Carrie Ingalls (1974 - 1982)),  Katherine MacGregor (Harriet Oleson),  Brenda Turnbaugh (baby Grace Ingalls (shared) (1978-82))
Guest Star:	Robin Harlan (Myra Louise),  Hugh Warden (Amos Phipps),  Dolores Albin (Ada Phipps),  Sarah Miller (Eunice Poulsen),  Steve Spencer (Richard Poulsen),  Win Michaelsen (Steven Poulsen),  James Gallery (Ed Poulsen),  Duane Ladage (Henry Poulsen),  William Benedict (Reverend Lyman)

It seems very odd that Charles tells anyone who will listen--including a supposedly pregnant Caroline--just how much he'd like to have a boy. In season 4's A Most Precious Gift, the fact that Caroline desperately wanted a boy "for Charles" caused a lot of tension between the couple; Charles in particular downplayed the importance of having a son, stressing that the only thing that mattered to him was that the baby be born healthy. In this episode, he asks Caroline outright, "Do you think it's a boy?" This seems unrealistic and insensitive, considering Caroline's fragile state of mind during her previous pregnancy, not to mention the fact that there's already a boy in the family--Albert.

Reply: While that is all very true, having a biological son of his own was a dream that Charles always had--something he couldn't quite let go of. It was only human nature for him to hold out hope, and as he said to Reverend Alden, "If it's a girl, she'll be loved as much as the others," so it wasn't like he was going to reject the child if it was a girl, like some men do. (edit) During a scene in Nellie's Restaurant, Nellie and Percival are telling Harriet and Caroline that their babies were just upstairs "sittng and facing each other." The babies in their arms, however, are clearly infants. Babies can't sit up until they're at least 5 or 6 months old. (edit) In this episode, when Caroline finds out she is no longer fertile, her deep-rooted feelings about motherhood and her relationship with Charles come up to the surface as she breaks down in front of Doc Baker. Be sure to have some tissues handy as Caroline has this rare meltdown--it's truly a showcase performance for actress Karen Grassle. (edit) Actor James Gallery, here portraying father-of-the-bride Ed Poulsen, also played Charles and Caroline's classmate, Arnie Cupps, in season 6's "Whatever Happened to the Class of '56?" (edit) In the scene where Caroline's friend shows her the wedding dress, the bedroom used looks just like that of the Olesons'. Same thing for Caroline's friend living room which is just like that of the Wilders', minor a few changes. (edit)

Charles: This is so hard to say.
Caroline: Oh, Charles, what is it?
Charles: It's just.....I just got to thinking about how hard it's been raising our family, and how little time you and I have had together. And then I got to thinking that I'd be in my fifties by the time the child was 10 years old. I'd be more like the baby's grandfather than its father, and I just got to thinking.......I starting thinking that I wished that baby wouldn't come. And I hate myself for thinking things like that.
Caroline: Oh, Charles, it's nothing to be ashamed of. You know I wanted that child.....because I knew what it would mean for our lives. It's no different than what you were feeling. Do you see that? Do you? (edit) Caroline: (crying after she learns she isn't pregnant) I told Charles he was going to have a son!
Doc Baker: I wish you had come to me first.
Caroline: But I was so sure!
Doc Baker: You have to tell him, Caroline. It will be a blow to Charles, but certainly nothing he can't withstand.
Caroline: I can't bear to fail him! What will I be to him except some.....nothing?
Doc Baker: That's not true!
Caroline: It is true!
Doc Baker: You know it's not!
Caroline: It is! (cries harder) It is. (edit) Doc Baker: Caroline......you're not pregnant.
Caroline: What?
Doc Baker: I'm sorry, Caroline. You're not pregnant.
Caroline: Oh no, I am! Why, I can feel him growing inside of me, and I've had morning sickness two or three times this week.
Doc Baekr: I imagine you expected to, so you did. (edit) Charles: (about the baby they aren't going to have) Anyway, it's over now. I still have my lady, and I want you to know that you mean more to me than anything in this world.
Caroline: Oh, Charles! (edit) Charles: Caroline's so sure it's going to be a boy.
Reverend Alden: You want that very much, don't you?
Charles: Yeah. It's kind of something that's in my soul. But it's got nothing to do with how much I love Albert.
Reverend Alden: Of course not.
Charles: You know, I didn't realize how much I wanted a boy until Caroline told me she was pregnant.
Reverend Alden: Charles, I'm not one to throw cold water on one's good hope, but you better prepare yourself. That child may be a girl.
Charles: (laughs) I know what you mean, Reverend, and if she is, she'll be loved just as much as the others. I just want to hold onto that dream for a little while longer. (edit)

Laura gets pregnant just as she is nearing her 17th birthday. On the show, her sister Mary also got pregnant for the first time in Season 5, also when she was close to turning 17.
Reply: If you look at the time frame between Laura teaching a couple weeks before her 16th birthday, she had to wait at least a year to wed. That time spans in-between the Season 6 finale and the Season 7 premiere. This, I believe, makes her 17, almost 18. (edit) Laura gets pregnant at the age of 16 in this episode, in a time period where it was perfectly normal and acceptable for women to marry and start bearing children as teenagers. Naturally, with today's world, it's hard to imagine a time in history when that was the norm. (edit) Apparently, Laura is two months pregnant in this episode, and it's springtime. Caroline, who also believes that she's pregnant, tells Doc Baker that she expects her baby will be due at the beginning of the new year, which is obviously January. But if you remember the birth of Laura's baby in Season 8, it absolutely was not winter, as it should be if Laura learned she was two months along in the spring. (edit) The Poulsen family house is clearly the same house that the Olesons live in. It's pretty obvious when they are eating in the dining room, but they really give it away when Eunice and Myra Louise are upstairs with Caroline, showing her the dress that she can wear when she renews her vows with Charles. It's clear as day that the same sets used for Nels and Harriet's bedroom is used here. (edit) Charles sure does move back and forth with each of Caroline's pregnancies concerning his attitude about the gender of the baby. In Season 1's The Lord is My Shepherd, he never stopped insinuating that he really wanted a boy, but when Caroline was pregnant with Grace in Season 4, he had obviously learned his lesson and refused to admit that he wanted a boy of his own (except when Caroline pushed him to admit it in one scene). Now, when it seems that Caroline is pregnant again, Charles doesn't hold back when he acknowledges to anyone who will listen that having a son is "in his soul." He seems to be shifting from sensitivity to insensitivity. (edit)

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