To parent or not to parent
“Truth or dare” my best friend Carson asked. “Dare” I replied. “I dare you to take this pregnancy test’. “Oh no Carson I am not pregnant”. “You have been eating and sleeping a lot”. “I am not taking it”. “Just do it and stop being a baby”. “Fine” I took the test and waited five minutes. When the results finally popped up I was so shocked I didn’t believe it. I just looked at my best friend and gave her the test. She was just as shocked as I was.
I got pregnant at 15 years old, yea I was very young but whatever life goes on right? I didn’t know what to do or who to tell so I kept my secret to myself. Well except my best friend she knew because she was the one who dared me to take a pregnancy test in the first place. Days went by and I still haven’t told anybody. All I could think of was what people would think of me, shit I even thought about what my mother would do to me. I mean I was still a baby myself. I didn’t even know how to take care of myself so how could I care for a child. A month went by and I was sitting in my mom room doing my hair. I remember I had on a purple tank top and my mom look at me and she asked was I pregnant. I denied it and asked why she ask me that she said your breast look big and you been eating and sleeping a lot. I was terrified to tell my mom. When I said no she didn’t say anything she continued getting dressed. Once she was done getting dressed she look at me and asked me again. I sat there for a second then I just broke down and told her yes. My mom was really upset at me she left the house and when she came back she didn’t even talk to me. She was pissed with me for a couple of days I mean who wouldn’t be mad their 15 year got pregnant.
One day she called me in her room so we could talk. "Leasha?" my mom said calling me by my nickname. ''yea?" i yelled back. "come here we gotta talk''. i got up and went in my mom room to see what she wanted to talk about but i already knew. "what are you going to do i mean you are just a child and your still in school?". " Ugh mom I don't know". "Well you know you can just get an abortion and nobody would ever know". ''negative mom i am not killing a innocent baby that aint ask to be here in the first place". My next option was adoption I could give my baby to someone that couldn’t have kids. My best friend mom couldn’t have any more kids so I thought why not let her adopt him. I thought how giving him up would effect not just me but my mother, my father and my sisters. My mom wasn’t really for the whole adoption idea because she just couldn’t imagining somebody else raising her grandchild. I realized it would have been hard for me going to my best friend house and seeing him so I decided against adoption. My only option left was to parent, I was scared because I didn’t know what to do. After I decided to keep him I hid the rest of my pregnancy.
Nobody knew I was pregnant besides my immediate family because I was too ashamed. I would always where a big sweater or hide my belly any way I could. I really didn’t want to deal with people judging me because I made a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes and you have to learn from them. My tenth grade prom was in May and I was due to give birth in August, at prom was when people found out. I remember walking into prom and everybody just looked at my pregnant belly. At first I was uncomfortable but it was nothing I could do about it. Everybody was shocked, nobody really was saying negative comments about me except this one girl. She would always say something smart about me being 15 and pregnant. It use to really get to me than I thought she is no better than me.
When my son finally got here he was so tiny and I was scared to hold him. My nurses at the hospital made me do the first time mommy classes before I left the hospital "Hi miss.Brodie I know your getting released tomorrow but its hospital requirement that all first time moms take the first time mommy classes especially the younger ones" my nurse told me. '"OK that's fine when do i start the classes?'' i asked with a smile on my face. "Right now so follow me and i can roll the baby down for you." When I got down to the room it was only me and another couple in there.They showed me how to feed him, change his diapers, hold him properly and how to wash him up. In the middle of our session the alarm in the hospital was going off. It was nurses frantically running all over the place looking for a missing child. They came into the room and checked my son hospital monitor which somehow came off his ankle that caused the alarm to go off. The alarm is for when someone may try to kidnap a baby. I was glad to see that they take the alarm system very serious and thankful that nobody baby was taken.
Taking him home was very exciting because all of my family got to see him. It was hard at first being a mom and trying to go to school but I had to finish school. A lot of people was saying I wasn’t going to graduate and on June 6, 2013 I proved to everybody they was wrong about me , and that I was going to graduate. When I look at my son I realize everything I do is for him he motivates me to continue going to school and get my degree and become better for the both of us. I always wonder how my life would be without my son. I honestly think I would be out of control because I was always the problem child, and when I got pregnant I had calmed down a lot. I can’t imagine my life without my son today I am a proud mother.
“Truth or dare” my best friend Carson asked. “Dare” I replied. “I dare you to take this pregnancy test’. “Oh no Carson I am not pregnant”. “You have been eating and sleeping a lot”. “I am not taking it”. “Just do it and stop being a baby”. “Fine” I took the test and waited five minutes. When the results finally popped up I was so shocked I didn’t believe it. I just looked at my best friend and gave her the test. She was just as shocked as I was.
I got pregnant at 15 years old, yea I was very young but whatever life goes on right? I didn’t know what to do or who to tell so I kept my secret to myself. Well except my best friend she knew because she was the one who dared me to take a pregnancy test in the first place. Days went by and I still haven’t told anybody. All I could think of was what people would think of me, shit I even thought about what my mother would do to me. I mean I was still a baby myself. I didn’t even know how to take care of myself so how could I care for a child. A month went by and I was sitting in my mom room doing my hair. I remember I had on a purple tank top and my mom look at me and she asked was I pregnant. I denied it and asked why she ask me that she said your breast look big and you been eating and sleeping a lot. I was terrified to tell my mom. When I said no she didn’t say anything she continued getting dressed. Once she was done getting dressed she look at me and asked me again. I sat there for a second then I just broke down and told her yes. My mom was really upset at me she left the house and when she came back she didn’t even talk to me. She was pissed with me for a couple of days I mean who wouldn’t be mad their 15 year got pregnant.
One day she called me in her room so we could talk. "Leasha?" my mom said calling me by my nickname. ''yea?" i yelled back. "come here we gotta talk''. i got up and went in my mom room to see what she wanted to talk about but i already knew. "what are you going to do i mean you are just a child and your still in school?". " Ugh mom I don't know". "Well you know you can just get an abortion and nobody would ever know". ''negative mom i am not killing a innocent baby that aint ask to be here in the first place". My next option was adoption I could give my baby to someone that couldn’t have kids. My best friend mom couldn’t have any more kids so I thought why not let her adopt him. I thought how giving him up would effect not just me but my mother, my father and my sisters. My mom wasn’t really for the whole adoption idea because she just couldn’t imagining somebody else raising her grandchild. I realized it would have been hard for me going to my best friend house and seeing him so I decided against adoption. My only option left was to parent, I was scared because I didn’t know what to do. After I decided to keep him I hid the rest of my pregnancy.
Nobody knew I was pregnant besides my immediate family because I was too ashamed. I would always where a big sweater or hide my belly any way I could. I really didn’t want to deal with people judging me because I made a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes and you have to learn from them. My tenth grade prom was in May and I was due to give birth in August, at prom was when people found out. I remember walking into prom and everybody just looked at my pregnant belly. At first I was uncomfortable but it was nothing I could do about it. Everybody was shocked, nobody really was saying negative comments about me except this one girl. She would always say something smart about me being 15 and pregnant. It use to really get to me than I thought she is no better than me.
When my son finally got here he was so tiny and I was scared to hold him. My nurses at the hospital made me do the first time mommy classes before I left the hospital "Hi miss.Brodie I know your getting released tomorrow but its hospital requirement that all first time moms take the first time mommy classes especially the younger ones" my nurse told me. '"OK that's fine when do i start the classes?'' i asked with a smile on my face. "Right now so follow me and i can roll the baby down for you." When I got down to the room it was only me and another couple in there.They showed me how to feed him, change his diapers, hold him properly and how to wash him up. In the middle of our session the alarm in the hospital was going off. It was nurses frantically running all over the place looking for a missing child. They came into the room and checked my son hospital monitor which somehow came off his ankle that caused the alarm to go off. The alarm is for when someone may try to kidnap a baby. I was glad to see that they take the alarm system very serious and thankful that nobody baby was taken.
Taking him home was very exciting because all of my family got to see him. It was hard at first being a mom and trying to go to school but I had to finish school. A lot of people was saying I wasn’t going to graduate and on June 6, 2013 I proved to everybody they was wrong about me , and that I was going to graduate. When I look at my son I realize everything I do is for him he motivates me to continue going to school and get my degree and become better for the both of us. I always wonder how my life would be without my son. I honestly think I would be out of control because I was always the problem child, and when I got pregnant I had calmed down a lot. I can’t imagine my life without my son today I am a proud mother.