The Baby

    I knew. I knew that very night that I had gotten pregnant. And to be completely honest, I didn't care. (ah, the crazy way a teen mind thinks) I wanted Mike, so I wanted his baby. I was so sure I was pregnant that on the very day that I was supposed to start my cycle, I went over to Wanda's house and told her we needed to get a pregnancy test. Her mother, being prepared for such an occasion, just happened to already have them in the house! I did the test and it confirmed what I already knew. I was pregnant. WE were pregnant. At 17.
    A whirlwind of emotions flood over me. Excitement. Fear. Love. Worry. Apprehension. What would Mike think or say? What would our parents think or do? Pregnant?! Yes, pregnant.  Just to be 100% certain, I had an older friend take me to a local teen pregnancy center. Confirmed again. Pregnant. Next step.... Mike. He had a baseball game that day so I asked to see him after the game to talk. He knew. On our drive to his house I simply said, "I'm pregnant." "Wow, we (bleeped) up," he said, holding my hand. I had already had at least a little time for it to sink in but seeing his reaction brought those initial emotions back up. At least he was staying calm about it. "I knew when you said you wanted to talk that you were probably pregnant," he said. We arrived at his house and his next move sort of surprised me. I thought this would be a good time for us to spend a little while together and talk things through. Instead, he wanted to be alone. I was crushed. Again? Love is such a roller coaster ride. But I left as he wished. He told his friends and his parents and the next day he came to see me.
    Mike talked about getting married whenever I returned from my London trip. Yes, I was still going. I thought it would give my parents time to let the news sink in. I was in a one-track state of mind though. I didn't care what anyone thought. I was having Mike's baby and I couldn't be happier. No matter what else happened, we would be together. Some of you are probably wondering- did I get pregnant on purpose? ABSOLUTELY NOT! As much as I loved Mike, I really was excited to be going off to college. And yes, he did ask THE question, "is it mine"? Yep, that hurt. Why would he ask that? Yes, we had been broken up for months, but didn't he realize how much I loved him by how hard I had chased him?
    Looking back now, I do wonder what would have happened if I hadn't chased him. If I had not shown up at that party that night. Would we have ever gotten back together? He says yes. I sort of doubt it. I tend to think that if I had went away to college that he would have just moved on. BUT, true love does find a way, doesn't it? So maybe he's right. Maybe we would have stayed together anyway. Regardless, we did end up back together and now there would be three of us. The roller coaster ride had just began!

Life Lesson: No matter what parents or anyone else tries to help discourage teens from getting pregnant, a teen still has her own distorted, romantic view about it. Best advice: absolutely make your teen take the course with the lifelike baby for a few weeks. She needs to SEE how it actually is! Not so romantic then!