Teen Pregnancy (from a Teenage Mother)

Possible signs of pregnancy:

• missed period
• nausea and vomiting(morning sickness)
• weight gain
• extreme tiredness
• mood swings (bad attitude)
• sore breasts
• fetal movements
• ultrasound
• positive blood and urine test

Teen Pregnancy Statistics

• 65% of all teen mothers raise their children as single parents, facing almost certain poverty
  
• 40% of high school drop outs are due to teenage pregnancy
• Every 30 seconds a teenage girl gets pregnant in the U.S.
  
• One of every three teen moms have a second child and every day 40 teenagers give birth to their third child
  
• More than one in eight teenage women become pregnant each year
  
• One third of all unintended pregnancies occur among teenagers and 74% of teenage pregnancies occur among adolescents who are sexually active and choose not to use contraceptives

Financial

There are many financial responsibilities of taking care of a baby.
 

$915 a month! WOW! That's a lot of money!

Before the baby comes you need:

That's $460 before the baby is born!

On a national average, 90% of teen parents end up on public assistance.

Life After Baby
(CHANGES)

• RELATIONSHIP: Before you have your baby, your relationship goes pretty good sometimes. And then after, it may go down hill. Other than your relationship there are other personal relations to you besides your boyfriend, and other things in your life. Maybe other things go bad for you. 

• FAMILY: After your family finds out it may change how they feel towards you and the baby. But after you have your baby the feelings may change, or they may stay the same, mad, upset, scared, or disappointed. But don't worry maybe down the road things will change for the good!
  

• FRIENDS: When your friends find out they most likely are happy for you. But then there are the ones who are mad or jealous. Just ignore them because it's not their decision to make, and they might just change their minds, too. Your friends are very supportive too. They might want to help you with the stuff you need or they might have plans for babyhood and you don't know it, they will go to Lamaze with you and might be there with you when you go into labor. A lot of my friends didn't do these (so don't feel upset if your friends don't.)
  

• BOYFRIEND: Oh... the boyfriend. Yes, he stays around and goes away too. Don't let me scare you, a lot of boys do stay with you and the baby. And yes there are the losers who have their lives that are more important than a baby's life and yours! My boyfriend is still around and I do love him he just has his days , where he doesn't call or come over and see his son. Sometimes he will be there for days at a time, hours, and some nights. Don't expect them to get up with the baby because most don't. But let me tell you there are a lot of really good fathers out there who do take care of their kids by themselves and do a great job, too. When you tell your boyfriend be straight with him. Either he is going to stay with you and help or he isn't going to. That's what I did and it worked, for a little while it worked. There is lots of help out there for you and your boyfriend,
  

• TRUST: Throughout your life you have to trust people. But if they do something to loose that trust it is hard to get it back. There is trust in everyday life situations, school, work, in a car, walking, everywhere. I trust most of the people in my life. But my boyfriend makes me wonder sometimes, and so does my mom. I do trust her with my son though, I don't trust her when she goes to see her her ex-husband. If you can't trust a person, don't confide in that person. Also tell them that if they want that trust back they have to prove they wont break that trust again. Don't take their word for it right then and there. Make them prove they can be trusted again.
   
• SEX LIFE CHANGES: After you have your baby you may feel different about yourself and how you look. You may lose all the weight you gained, or you may not lose hardly any at all. You most likely will have stretch marks, they may stay or they may go away!
  

• THE WAY YOU FEEL: You might seem tired after you get home, so when your baby takes a nap you go ahead and take one too. To feel good about being a mother is great. You might feel ugly, out wanted by people and the baby. I love having a responsibility. I have fun with my friends, too. So make sure you have some time to yourself. You, too, need your space and quiet time.

• SLEEP: Well you are home and of course you are tired. You may or may not have a baby that sleeps all night. Some sleep only 1,2, 4,or 6 hours a night. When you are tired you get moody, cranky, and mood swings.

Child Care

Child care is also a very difficult issue to deal with when you're a teen parent. If you're in school, you need a babysitter while you're at school. Then you need a babysitter for the job you need to pay a babysitter for school. After having a baby you can't just go with your friends, you now have a baby to think about. While you're pregnant, your friends are really excited. After the baby, they don't want to wait for you to get the baby ready. So you need to find a sitter to go places. There's things most all teenagers want to do like attend a prom, class trips, and graduation. You need to find a babysitter for everything. Babysitters these days aren't very cheap. At the least $3 a hour, but an average day care is around $4 a hour. That's a lot of responsibility... school, school activities, a job, and still have lots of time for your baby.

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