Teen Mom Vs. School

Pregnancy and childbirth are life changing events. It affects someone in many facets of life: socially, financially, and academically. This experience has motivated me to be successful and has given me ideas of future careers that I would like to pursue in the future.

Being 16 and in my junior year of high school, the last thing I expected was to get a positive result on a pregnancy test. I was only four weeks and six days when I found out that I was pregnant so I wasn’t too concerned about about people finding out. It was also summer so I wouldn’t have been attending school until I was three or four months along. At first, I was very iffy about telling people that I was pregnant and wearing tight fitting clothes to show off the little bump I had because I was so young and only in high school. As time went along, my belly started to grow and I started embracing the fact that I shouldn’t be ashamed, I should be proud because, despite the circumstances, I’m carrying a human within me and being able to experience that is so surreal.

When I started school that September, I didn’t quite have a noticeable bump. Some of my teachers knew that I was pregnant, but others didn’t have a clue. When I started to show, I wore a lot of baggy clothes to avoid questions. When I started to embrace the fact that I was pregnant, I started wearing my normal clothes. Of course I got a lot of questions about my belly. I would just blow it off. I was only in class for a couple of months before my OBGYN put me on bed rest.

I was put on bed rest due to medical reasons. When I was around 24 weeks pregnant, I started having heavy bleeding. Obviously, you’re not supposed to bleed when you’re pregnant so I rushed to the hospital. They told me that if needed, I would have to be transferred to Vassar to deliver my daughter early and she’d have to go in the NICU. I was panicked because I knew it was too early for her to come out and I was just praying hoping that she’d stay put until I was at least full term. The ultrasound technician came into the room and did an emergency ultrasound on me and told me great news! Everything was fine. The baby is perfectly healthy. She informed us that when I got my first ultrasound done, the technician failed to tell me that I have a pouch of blood that was going to continue releasing itself until I gave birth. Throughout the nine months of pregnancy, I would be bleeding on and off. Overall, I had a lot of complications during my pregnancy that also led up to being put on bed rest. When I was about halfway through my pregnancy, I had to see a specialist because I was high-risk and they diagnosed me with alpha thalassemia. Alpha thalassemia is a blood disorder that reduces the body’s production of hemoglobin. There are many symptoms to it which causes me to feel weak and super tired a lot of the time.

In order to continue my education so I wouldn’t fall behind, the school gave me a tutor to help me with my work. I managed to get decent grades and tried my best to hand in all the assignments as perfectly as I could. After I had the baby, I fell behind a little bit because I took six weeks maternity leave. It definitely has been difficult juggling school, work, and being a mom, but like any, it’s not impossible. Home instruction has given me the opportunity to stay home with my daughter and to take care of myself the best I can. It truly has worked out for the better and I can’t even express how grateful I am to have accommodating teachers who want me to do well so I can provide for my daughter.

After I graduate, I have many goals that I would like to achieve to provide for my daughter. I plan to go to the local community college to take the phlebotomy course. This course takes up to a year to complete and at the end of it, you get a certificate. Like most jobs, the more educated you are in the field, the higher the salary. Once I get my phlebotomy certificate and am more educated in the field, I would like to get a job in one of the local hospitals so I can make decent money. I want to go back to school after I start the phlebotomy job. Law is a career that I’ve been interested in for a while now. All in all, law school takes about seven years to complete for the average student entering college. I haven’t decided what I want to be an attorney for yet, but I still have some time to decide. That is quite a bit of schooling, but in the end, it will all be worth it.

It is important for me to be successful. Despite all the responsibilities that I have to juggle, school is definitely a big part of it. I’m always stressing about my assignments and hoping that they meet up to the standards. I want to graduate and move on with life to give my daughter the life that I wish I had. My daughter has saved my life. Without her, I know that I’d be out partying, doing drugs, and drinking. She changed me and I’m forever grateful for that. I don’t even want to picture where I’d be in life. All I know is, I’m doing better than ever and I have a little sidekick with me.

My experience of being pregnant and in high school was fairly simple. I managed to do it. I’m excited to be able to walk across the stage and see my daughter because I know that this is who I’m doing it for. Myself and her. Even though she’s little, I know she’s proud of me.