HOST: You married.

Find out you're expecting a child.

What happens?

We had, for a long time, wanted a family.

When we did find out we were pregnant, we were ecstatic.

MELISSA: Well, about halfway through the pregnancy,

I was at a routine doctor's visit.

And suddenly, the doctor looked at me,

and I could tell something was wrong.

Just from the look.

Yeah.

And she said, Melissa, you're going

to give birth to your little girl within 24 hours

and she's not going to survive.

They wheeled me right from the doctor's office

into a hospital bed, straight into emergency surgery.

And the doctor said, well, we'll do all

that we can to try to save her, but chances

are very, very slim.

Surgery was successful, which was great.

But I was considered very, very, very high-risk.

And so high-risk that I wasn't able to even get out

of the hospital bed.

So you pick up anything at this time?

MELISSA: I did, yes.

I started with a vision to make this baby girl a blanket,

and that's how time went past for me.

I was in the hospital for a little over two weeks,

almost three weeks.

My water broke and the doctors came in and said,

at this point, there's nothing else that we can do.

Her lungs weren't developed enough to make it.

And so I had little baby girl Halle, short for Hallelujah.

And she was perfect, but just too little to make it.

HOST: So as this is all unfolding,

I'm curious, what were your prayers and conversations

with God like?

I'll never forget Rick coming into the room

after Halle was born, and looking at me,

and saying, Melissa, we have a decision to make.

We can either be mad and bitter at God,

and wonder why would a good God cause this to happen?

Or we can choose to believe that somehow, something

is going to come from this.

HOST: What happened with the blanket

that you started to knit for Halle?

I still have it.

In fact, after we lost her, when I got back from the hospital,

I continued to make it.

A lot of healing came from continuing

to make that blanket--

just tears shed over that yarn, over that fabric.

And God just really speaking me through it.

HOST: In terms of making things with your hands,

that's not your life's work this season--

let's get to the beginning of that.

So you out of the hospital and you're

knitting socks for yourself?

What happens?

And I just continued to make.

And one day, I wanted to make a pair of socks that had lace

on the top of them, so they'd stick out

of the top of my boots.

So because they took so long, everywhere I went, I wore them.

Strangers would stop me and--

oh my gosh, where did you get those socks?

And when I told them I make them-- here's my--

can I write down my phone number?

Can I buy a pair from you?

Will you make a pair for me?

So my entrepreneurial husband, who's the smart one over here,

was like, why don't you put them up online and sell them?

They sold instantly, and within a matter of three days,

we had over 500 purchase orders for this one pair of socks.

Now, you have an idea and desire then,

to pitch this business that you guys have given birth to,

on "Shark Tank."

RICK: I'm on a phone call with a good buddy that's

an internet marketing genius.

And he said, I really feel like you're

supposed to be on "Shark Tank."

He said, you know what?

I know a producer.

Let me make a phone call.

So within 15 minutes, we're on the phone

with "Shark Tank" producers, telling them our story,

and they said, we love it.

We have to have you guys.

We're going to bump y'all up to the very front.

And I prayed for several months.

And very clearly, I heard Barbara Corcoran--

very clearly.

She had to be part of the deal.

And if she wasn't, we were to walk out of The Tank.

So we went in with a tremendous amount of confidence.

Our company is Grace and Lace, and we're

seeking $175,000 for a 10% equity stake in our company.

BARBARA: What are your sales?

RICK: Our first calendar year, 2012, we did over $800,000

in sales.

Whoa!

Wow! $800,000?

RICK: Our last 12 months, to date, we did $1.125 million

in sales.

Just like God, in the very end, after an hour

and a half of back and forth and intensity,

Barbara said, you know what?

I'm going to change my offer.

I'm going to give you the full offer.

MELISSA: Done-- finally.

Oh, my goodness.

We were elated, absolutely elated.

How much has the business grown?

When we had aired, we had done a little over $1 million

in sales, and that was a little over three years ago.

And we've now done over $25 million in sales.

So we're just blown away by what God has done.

All of this starts in the hospital,

where you lose a child.

And you guys are now helping give homes to orphans.

Tell me about that partnership.

What's happened?

Never, in a million years, would I

have ever thought that we would have a business that

would be so successful that we could actually

build orphanages and take hundreds of kids

off the streets.

And that's what we've done.

We've partnered with Angel House.

We have built seven orphanages.

Do you have some goals in mind, as far as orphanages?

RICK: Absolutely.

From the day one, before we opened our first orphanages,

we said 100 plus.

That can mean 1,000.

That can mean 10,000.

I don't know.

I think this journey has taught us

that God has so much more in store that we can't even

imagine.

Everyone out there goes through difficult times.

You don't get through this life without it.

And to be able to have a story of letting people

know and encouraging people--

just because you've gone through something really difficult

doesn't mean you have to pack it in.

It doesn't mean you have to be mad or bitter.

You can let that tragedy fuel you to do something really good

for a lot of people.