Monday, January 16, 2012

A little about Teenage Mothers

I am 23 now… but when I got pregnant I was 16… So I wanted to just let everyone know about my experience as a single teenage mother.
I found out I was pregnant right around valentines day in 2005. I had been seeing the same guy for a while and he turned out to be a jerk when I told him I was pregnant and wanted nothing to do with me so anyways…. I found out I was pregnant. I told my dad and he was very upset about it. He told me that I needed to drop out of school and get a job and that I would not be allowed to live and raise a child in his house. Now I understand his frustration because after all, I was not all that great of a teenage, I would skip school…. I would sneak out… I would hang out with boys (thus leading to the pregnancy) but I thought it a little dramatic of him. Well long story short I found a place about an hour from his house to live. I found a school that let you work at your own pace and take time off to have a baby. Well I worked my tushy off the 9 months I was pregnant and ended up graduating early and getting  a semester of college out of the way before I had my daughter. All the while I had picked up a job as well and worked up until the day I went into labor. Seeing how well I was doing and how much I had changed really got to my dad. He apologized for the way he acted and he supported me from then on out. My parents are divorced. My mom was my main support and would come visit me all the time. Anyways, the time came where I went into labor… It was not fun by any means but it went quickly… then I welcomed my little lady into the world. Her birth father was not there but his parents came and met her. The first couple months were scary and tiring. Doing it by yourself is very difficult I don’t remember too much about it. I just remember that I cried a lot! It was not easy, I was not ready for it, but I made the best of it. I knew that I would not be able to support us on an Arby’s salary and I did not want to rely on welfare. So I joined the National Guard. I became an Army Medic and did the one weekend a month and two weeks a year thing. I think I mentioned in my last post that I am still in and will be getting out in June. My daughter is my world. She is my everything. I never planned on getting pregnant and raising a little girl at 16 but I am happy I did. At 23, I have an amazing daughter who is in kindergarten, I have a husband who I love, I own two houses and have made a great living. Just because you are a teenage mother, it doesn’t mean your life is over. You can make something of yourself. I don’t know the exact stats but I think its somewhere around 20% of teen mothers have a second pregnancy within 2 years of the first one. I wish I could just reach out to all the teen mothers out there and get them some help. I guess this blog does not really tell you too much about my life as a teen mom but it just was not as hard as some people make it seem. It was not easy, but I worked and went to school and was determined to make a good life for my daughter and myself. It was not until the end of 2007 that I met my now, husband, and it was not until a year later that we moved in together. Then, it was not until 2010 that we married. I will do a husband blog another time J. I have no problems sharing experiences with anyone who has questions, Its just hard for me to remember specific things until someone jogs my memory with a question. So please feel free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
See ya again soon!
*K*

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