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Griffin

Here I am at the third trimester. 7 days away from my 29th birthday, and 3 days away from my due date. This is my third and final child. I have 2 girls and now a boy is on his way. As much as I would love to be done with being pregnant, I am enjoying every last minute I have minus one more child. I know when he arrives and hubby returns to work, I will have my hands full. At the same time, I am so excited to have a newborn around!
My first pregnancy dragged on forever, I ended up with pregnancy induced hypertension. I ate and ate and ate and ate, and didn't drink nearly enough water or get nearly enough exercize...almost 70 lbs and 2 1/2 weeks ovedue, I finally delivered Britani by induction, it was horrible, 13 hours of labor with 1 hour of pushing, she was 7 lbs, 15 oz, 21 inches. She is now 10 and is my right hand helper around the house.
My second daughter was the only "planned" child...much older and wiser I had a rather uneventful pregnancy, gaining only 30 lbs this time around, I delivered her on her due date...what are the odds? Although the pregnancy itself also seemed rather long and drawn out, I was convinced at my Dr apt., the day before her arrival, that my body was clueless to labor and that I might in fact be the only woman alive that would be pregnant forever and nobdy would care...ha ha! Faith Natalie was 7 lbs. 4 oz and came in an amazing 3 hour labor with one push! Perfection! She is now 2, and is mommy's shadow, as well as my lil hand full of sassiness.
Now here I am with the thrid, gaining only 26 lbs so far, I am even wiser than before, and to tell you the truth this lil guy has been the easiest of all pregnancies...it has gone by pretty quickly. Don't get me wrong these last few days seem like forever...but for the most part it has been pretty enjoyable. We were in no way shape or form ready for a thrid child, but now that we are days away from having him, I don't think we have ever been more prepared. My last apt was 2 days ago, I was dilated to 3 and 30% effaced, baby's head is at a -1 station. I have already lost the mucous plug last week, and I have been getting those early Braxton Hicks contractions for about a week now pretty regularly. I literally feel like it could be any day now. I just wonder how fast it will go?!
I have been dilated for 2 weeks now, which has never ever been the case with either one of my other pregnancies, in fact I never had any signs what so ever with my girls! Here I am this time around, feeling that morning sickness come back a lil here and there, contracting, feeling so much pressure on lower back and abdomen! Each pregnancy really has been different for me. We'll see...either way I am like an emotional roller coaster right now, one minute I am relishing the last few days of this final pregnancy, one minute Iam fed up and wiling to do anything to have my body back! Come out William!!!

Gina

Unexpected Happiness

I would like to dedicate my personal story to all the teenage moms out there who are a little scared and happy for their new babies.

So let's set the story:
I'm 17 years old, with my boyfriend of 1 year and 9 months.

This passed christmas, we were in no way planning to have a baby of our own. Both of us were simply trying to enjoy the holiday season while staying on top of studying for the dreaded exams coming up.

Well, the holidays passed along with some pretty severe blizzards ( when you live on the lakeshore in west michigan, they're pretty normal ). We went back to school looking back on all the fun times we had had over the break. Although, something was different about going back to school this year.

I felt as if something was wrong. Something just didnt feel right. I was scared to death that I was pregnant. I had never wanted to be pregnant nor planned on it in high school. I knew that I wasnt the stereo-type girl who becomes pregnant in high school. I was on the Varsity Cheerleading team since my freshman year and taking college prep courses with a GPA of 3.87 and had a long term loving boyfriend. I never partied or drank or had really even had another boyfriend! ( my current boyfriend and i have been on and off since 6th grade )

When I told him that something was not right, he sensed my fear and asked me to sit down and talk. He held my hand as I told him that I did not think I was going to get my period this month.

He looked at me confused, and asked, " well have you been feeling sick or really tired recently? you've seemed fine to me...just a lil anxious or tense."

"No," i replied. We searched the internet for ' rare' early pregnancy symptoms. I continued to fall into the 'negative' category for these.

We waited weeks and weeks, and soon it was February. My last period had been December 14. I was still not experiencing any signs of pregnancy. I felt fine, no morning sickness and I was never tired. If anything, I felt better than normal! We fell into denial, afraid to tell anyone. We decided to look into getting an abortion.

The state law in michigan says that you cannot get an abortion unless 18 or with a parent's consent. Neither of us could talk to our parents about the baby. So while still in denial, we gave up. We told ourselves that this was just a dream and we would wake up soon if we just waited..

It was soon April and then the first sign of pregnancy really hit me. I was sitting in class, when all of a sudden, a felt a little movement in my lower stomach. Our baby had just moved for the first time! I was so excited yet scared because i KNEW that now...we couldnt live in denial any longer. When I told my boyfriend, a smile quickly came to his face, and a tear to his eye. Despite how bad this situation was... we had a baby.

Unable to express our emotions at school with classmates and teachers around, we contained our feelings until after school. We talked for hours that night about our baby and what we wished it could be and how at this point, we longed to have it but knew we couldnt. Both of us cried ourselves to sleep that night.

We knew now that we were running out of time to get an abortion. If we couldnt do it in michigan, we would go some place else. We decided to go to Illinois. We called to schedule appointments behind my parents' backs and tried to figure out how to get there. But trying to schedule that between work,sports, and school plus prom was coming up, and most offices are only open til 4 pm.

Things still were not looking up when my clothes were not fitting and the first few weeks of may arrived. We thought we were lucky to find a place. And we thought our worries were finally over and we could get our lives back on track and not live in hiding from EVERYONE. However a 2 day procedure that costs over $1,000 * with money due up front might i add * and under 1 week to get the money was our last and final sign from God that this baby was meant to be ours. We decided to keep it.

We were scared to death to tell people. Infact, it is now July 27. 2006 and i just recently told my parents on July 10. We kept this hidden for so long...

To my surprise, they did not abandon me or kick me out of the house. Infact, our relationship is closer than ever now and I have found that many people truly do care and support us in this. Many people are actually excited.

We were thrilled to find out that it is a DEFINATE boy..something that my boyfriend could not be more proud of, and that it is one of the healthiest babies as of right now. I know what you're thinking, what a relief after going through 7 and 1/2 months without any prenatal care!

Now the aches and pains are getting to me and I'm 32 weeks pregnant. I cannot wait to see our baby boy and start our lives together. My life now seems complete even when I thought it would be 'over'. But no, i choose not to look at it like that. Every child is a blessing, and this one is truly a gift from God. He has watched over us the whole time giving me the chance to find strengths I never knew I was capable of.

I cant wait for this pregnancy to be over..haha. But i have to say, it has been the most amazing journey of my life.

So to all the teen moms, dont be scared. Everything happens for a reason and i'm sure you'll be amazed at what you can find if you just turn your perspectives. You are not alone.

My thoughts and prayers go out to you - May you find unexpected happiness through your experience as well.

Alexandra

Fibriods and Polyps who knew

Hello my name is Geena and my story is very similiar to Melissa's. I am thirty-eight years of age and in Jaunary of this year they removed a polyp near my cervix I was twenty weeks pregnant at time. I had been bleeding since the begining of my pregnancy in 2005. I had gained all hope to having a normal pregnancy after the polyp removal, but to my dismay fourteen days later my water bag broke. I was air lifted to UNM hospital in Albq. I spent a whole month there before I delivered. All of this due to fibriods and polyps. My story ends tragically because after ten days of given birth to a beautiful little girl that I named Martha Leilah, she passed away from Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC). Now after everything was said and done I am facing yet another surgery the third with in a years period to remove my uterus (hysterectomy).

Geena

Mature first-time mummy-to-be

I'm 36 years old and expecting my first baby in Sep. Given my age, I had to have amniocentesis at week 16 to test for down's syndrome. Thankfully, my baby is perfectly alright. Now 33 weeks, my pregnancy has been quite blessed thus far - no morning sickness, no gestational diabetes, no preeclampsia, no swelling, no constipation ... i did however, had itchy rashes on tummy and face for about 2 weeks when i hit my 28th week. thankfully they went away without a trace. now i'm having bad running nose and cough, started 3 weeks ago. Dr can't give me strong medication for fear of affecting my baby. i can only pray and hope that this too, will go away soon. i can't wait for this pregnancy to end, so as to see and hold my baby in my arms. but i'll surely miss his movements in my tummy.

Constanze

First time pregnancy

This is the first time I fell pregnant, I never thought I will enjoy my pregnancy because my boyfriend is not cooperative and he is right now preparing to marry his girlfriend, he abondonded me and his unborn baby. Right now I know that I am going to be a single mom and it hurts because I never conceived this baby alone you know, but I'm looking forward for this big challenge thanks to my aunt, her husband and her children (cousins and their wives). Right now I'm so happy and excited especially when my baby kicks and plays inside me that's when I know that my baby is healthy and happy. I'm enjoying every moment of my pregnancy.

Thelma Molebatsi