I remember the exact moment I realized that I was pregnant. It was June 8th, 2013. It was a Wednesday morning. I was 18 years old. My boyfriend and I thought we were practicing safe sex. I woke up feeling this heaviness in my lower stomach. I was in disbelief. I took several pregnancy tests and it wasn’t until I took the Dollar Store pregnancy test that I came to accept it. I watched as the two lines appeared within a minute. All I could think about is how radically my life was going to change. I cried as I told my then boyfriend. I bawled on my way to work. I could blame it on the hormones but I was letting go of any expectations of a “normal” college life.
I then had to tell my mom. It was the one of the hardest things to do. I knew that this would make everything a reality. As soon as the words, “I’m pregnant” escaped my mouth it was confirmed. My mom admitted that she already knew. Her lasting words to me were, “You are going to do everything that you want to do and more with a kid”. More tears streamed down my face.
No one tells you all the changes that happens when you become a mom. They don’t tell you how many sleepless nights you spend awake with a crying baby or just staying awake to make sure she is breathing. They don’t tell you how much your body changes. Stretch marks and new bumps and lumps. They don’t tell you how sometimes it feels lonely navigating the emotional roller coaster of trying to care for a newborn on your own. They don’t tell you how glorious and liberating time alone is, even if it is 5 minutes in the shower. Parents always tell you how expensive kids are. I think you cannot understand HOW expensive until you have one of your own. Your needs become secondary to this wondrous little life.
They also don’t tell you how incredibly magical it can be to hold your baby for the first time. Or how peaceful 3am can be as you rock a baby to sleep. They don’t tell you how support can come from the most surprising places, parents, siblings or friends. Or how ever quickly you are thrown into parenthood that you can do everything you need to do and that baby will be the source of inspiration and strength to make it through anything.
Being a teen mom is not exactly a walk in the park. That is why it is so important to practice safe sex. Know how to keep you and your partner protected. Know how to properly put on condom and your options for birth control. It is also important to have open communication with an adult you trust. Being able to talk to a parent or a trusted adult allowed me to talk about my options of going to school and being able to work provide for my baby. Abstinence is always the best way to prevent pregnancy.
This article should be shared with every middle and high school student. So many teens really don’t know how a baby can change their lives.
Continue to promote safe sex and education!
Thank you!