“My Tattoo Artist Was Shaking & Crying. I Looked at Him with Complete Shock & Utter Disbelief”: Grieving Mom Discovers Tattoo Artist Has Unique Connection to Her Lost Twins

Both were perfectly formed. They had 10 fingers and toes, eyes, noses, mouths. I felt indescribable pain, suffering, and devastation. Despite the trauma, I still wasn’t ready to give up on becoming a mother. That same evening, desperate, I asked my OB if we could start trying again. I had to keep pushing forward before my fertility clock stopped ticking.

Despite my perseverance, grieving my twins was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.

Pushing forward, hoping for a new and quick pregnancy, while simultaneously grieving was difficult. I kept worrying that this would be my last shot and I wouldn’t be able to have children. The thought of being asked ‘Do you have kids?’ even later into my life was not a pleasant thought either.

Technically, I was a mom. Just not to living children. I decided that any time I was asked, I was going to tell a little of my story. Lo and behold, I was asked whether or not I had kids again and again. Talking about my story helped me so much.

About 2 weeks after I delivered Buchanan and Leonor, I was watching Tyler Henry’s Hollywood Medium on television. I couldn’t help but think I needed a sign, something from my babies to let me know they were okay. I wanted so badly to tell them how sorry I was that my body failed them. The next day, I decided I needed to get tattoos of their footprints.

My mom and I went to a local tattoo parlor and waited for the next available artist. After a 20-minute wait and 5 people still ahead of me, my name was called. I gave the hand and footprint cards over to the tattoo artist. Each card had their names on the back. He took the cards and said, ‘I need some time to trace the footprints.’ They were just so small and he wanted to make sure he perfected them. He understood how important it was to me.

So, back out to the waiting room we went. About 20 minutes later, I was wondering what was taking so long. Suddenly, he emerged from the back, visibly shaking and crying. I started to worry my footprints couldn’t be done. Instead, he sat down and said to me, ‘I’m so sorry this took so long. I don’t want you to think I am crazy. I just had to take this in for a moment. I even called my wife.’

Puzzled, I asked him, ‘What’s wrong?’ When he had turned over the cards, he saw the names of my babies. Leonor and Buchanan. ‘My grandmother’s name was Leonor Buchanan. She passed.’ I looked at him with complete shock and utter disbelief. These were two of the most uncommon names and yet his grandmother had them both!

It was my sign, a sign from heaven that my babies were okay and I was doing the right thing. This moment gave me such peace regarding moving forward. I knew, for their sake, I had to keep trying for them.

When the pathology reports came back, I learned that the cause of my premature labor was an infection. But that answer wasn’t good enough for me. My gut told me something else was going on. So, I decided to go back to my Reproductive Endocrinologist for further answers. He told me, ‘There’s no way that’s why you lost your babies.’

He conducted all sorts of tests and found out that I was part of the 1% of the female population with a uterine malformation called a unicornuate uterus. Only half of my uterus had formed in the womb. Usually with this, you only have one kidney, one ovary, one fallopian tube, a rudimentary horn, and half of a uterus. This diagnosis was frightening for me, but my RE was absolutely confident that I could still carry a baby to term. So, I continued my journey.