Birth of Little Ricky
In 1952, after going to the doctor complaining of feeling "dauncey" (a word her grandmother made up; Lucy's definition of feeling "dauncey" is when you're not really sick but just feel lousy) and gaining weight, she learns that she is pregnant. It was actually Ethel that first suggests to Lucy she may be expecting, even before Lucy heads out to the doctor. She is very excited to tell her husband the exciting news. The Mertzes learn the news first and are sworn to secrecy. When she was younger, Lucy had envisioned how she would tell her husband that they were going to have a baby. She decides to tell Ricky when he comes home for lunch that afternoon. However, with repeated interruptions from the telephone and the Mertzes, she is unable. She tries to tell him down at his club during rehearsals, but is uncomfortable telling him such a personal thing in front of his band, so she runs out crying. Finally, that evening, while Ricky is performing, Lucy pens a note and passes it to the maître d'hotel. He gives the note to Ricky. Ricky reads the note which basically alludes to a wife needing to tell her husband that they were having a baby through one of his songs. Ricky, unaware that the "husband" mentioned in the note is him, wants to bring the expectant couple up on stage to congratulate them. He goes from couple to couple trying to find them. Ricky notices Lucy in the audience, and it occurs to him that Lucy may be the one who is expecting. Lucy nods yes, and Ricky is overcome with emotion. They fight happy tears and sing "We're Having a Baby."
During her pregnancy, Lucy experienced the normal pregnancy woes. She became depressed when everyone seemed to focus their attention on the impending child and not on Lucy. She couldn't decide on a name for the child and was nervous that she wasn't going to be a good mother. However, she wanted the best for her child and enrolled herself, Ricky and the Mertzes in English lessons to make sure that her child learned how to speak properly. Finally, she took up sculpting so that she and Ricky could enrich their child's life with art and music, respectively.
Lucy's show business aspirations never waned however. She managed to break into Ricky's barbershop quartet number by firing the man who had the part she wanted.
Finally, on January 19, 1953 (the same day she had her real-life son and actor Desi Arnaz, Jr.), while husband Ricky was performing a voodoo act at his nightclub, Lucy gave birth to Ricky Ricardo Jr. The Mertzes were named Little Ricky's godparents. Little Ricky grew on a season-by-season basis and by the sixth season (1957) he had started school and learned to play the drums and speak fluently.
Read more about this topic: Lucy Mc Gillicuddy Ricardo, Fictional Character Biography
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