Thursday, May 7, 2009

Michelle's story

Michelle Hall, a blogger for Examiner.com, told briefly of her two pregnancies when she was a teen:
Absolutely becoming a teen mother was the most difficult, stressful thing I have ever been through. I nearly died and my daughter as well. Here’s a little glimpse into my teen pregnancy: due to my age my pregnancy was complicated, I had a petite frame and upon finding a problem was put on bed rest and serious restriction. Out of fear, they chose to deliver her via cesarean section a month early. She was stuck between my ribs and my pelvic bone and they struggled to get her out, once they did her breathing was not strong and they wisked her away, I did not even get to hold her. As I went into recovery, the medications wore off and the hospital somehow ran out (stormy day, supplies didn’t come in) and I began bleeding to death, and screaming from feeling the pain of the c-section and delivery just hours prior. As they resolved that issue the staff wheeled my little tiny baby girl in (in an incubator) and informed me she would be flown by helicopter to children’s hospital to be better cared for, but I would have to remain in the hospital for the next three days. Not exactly an after-school special on teen pregnancy is it?

She talks about how it is important for parents to start talking to their kids about sex early in life and to keep talking about as they grow, going into more detail as they are ready for it. To be ready for these multiple talks, you need to have accurate information yourself, you have to be available to talk to, and you have to be aware of what is going on in their entire life.

Michelle also wrote a blog entry about how teen pregnancy is not an issue only for girls...there's a boy involved, too! In that entry, she says "If your family believes in abstinence, make sure your son is on the same page and talk to him seriously about the repercussions of even a onetime choice to have sex. Talk to them about STD’s, HIV and AIDS, they need to truly understand that one time can change their life-long plans. ... Make sure your son knows that he can come to you for anything, any question, and any time. Don’t be the judge and the jury, be the one they trust. You don’t have to agree, but you do need to protect and love them unconditionally."

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