On the last blog post we spoke about the problems of being older and pregnant, however, being young and pregnant has it own set of worries. Like Dympna when I found out I was pregnant, a couple of days after my 21st birthday, I was in completely denial. At first I thought I misused the pregnancy test so I took it three more times only to get the same result. After I took the tests I spoke to my boyfriend about what we should do and we both decided that we were not economically ready to raise a child. On that day I found out how expensive it was to raise a child, with the average cost being $233,610. When I saw that number I knew that financially I was not ready to have a child, but then I read more about raising a child and found out that many people feel unprepared to have a child regardless of their income.

Reading about other parents struggles made me feel better about my own, but then I realized that those parents were all older than me. Then, the anxiety of telling my parents began to set in and for a while I debated on even telling them right away. That anxiety only increased when I remembered that I had to tell my boyfriend’s parents as well. I begged my boyfriend to wait until I started showing more, however, he insisted that we told our parents as soon as possible. Many young adults feel nervous about breaking the news to their parents because of the uncertainty of how their parents would react. I was sure that my father would be very disappointed in me, but when that day finally came it was my father who turned out to actually be the happiest about the news of his first grandson.

The hardest part of being young and pregnant is trying to figure out how to balance raising a child, going to school, having a job, and maintaining a relationship. During my pregnancy I was certain that I would still be able to take five classes, work twenty plus hours a week, and go on dates with my boyfriend when the baby came. Now that the baby is finally here all those things I was certain about have changed and nowadays I’m trying to figure out how to shower before 2 A.M. However, the birth of my baby also brought more love into my life than I ever expected. Some days I’m even happy to have a baby at this age because I can not imagine waiting any longer to hold my son in my arms.

By: Narissa

October 18, 2018

 

In 1960 60 percent of women having their first child worked while pregnant, this number has now increased to 72.3 percent within the last decade. So when I decided to continue working after I found out I was pregnant, I thought it would be no big deal. Many women in my job had stayed working throughout their pregnancy with one lady even staying up until her water broke! For the first three months I did not tell anyone about my pregnancy but then one day my belly just expanded and there was no denying it.  My managers, supervisors and fellow associates all congratulated me which made me believe that everything would be just fine. Before I confirmed my pregnancy, I read an article that popped up on my snap-chat news-feed about women being fired or demoted while pregnant. After the excitement that my pregnancy news was met with, however, I thought nothing would happen to me. Then, three months later when I was about six months pregnant I got called into the office by my head manger and supervisor. My manager started off by saying that she worked while pregnant and during one of her pregnancies she had to have her boss escort her out because she did not want to leave even after her water broke. Even though I am many years younger than my manager, I know the serious risks of waiting until after your water breaks, and have been warned by my prenatal doctor about not seeking medical attention after my water breaks. That reckless story was followed by the hurtful comment “you’re pregnant not disabled.”

When I heard those words all the stories I read about pregnancy discrimination in the workplace started to come back to me. In 1978 Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act which made discrimination based on pregnancy and childbirth related medical conditions illegal, however, since then there has been countless number of lawsuits dealing with the treatment of pregnant women in the workforce. What surprises me the most about the cases I’ve read about and my own experience is the discrimination sometimes comes from fellow mothers! While pregnancy is a beautiful experience it comes with struggles that only other mothers know about and I thought that these mothers would be more understanding towards their pregnant workers because of the shared experience. After all the stories I read and talking with two members of this blog who also had a rough time at their jobs while pregnant, I believe more legal actions need to be taken in regards to pregnancy discrimination.

                         

 

By: Roberta, Nalini, Narissa, Mukarrama, and Dympna

September 20, 2018

As of 2016, there were 3,945,875 births with a birth rate of 12.2 per 1,000 population and a fertility rate: 62.0 births per 1,000 women aged 15-44. Each birth comes with a new experience and I as an expecting mother had a few theories on what my life during and after pregnancy would be like. Like many women I was a full believer in the concept of “eating for two.” This belief changed after I exceeded my normal weight range gain of 25 pounds at just 6 months pregnant. After exceeding my weight gain my doctor told me of all the complications that can come with the myth of eating for two such as gestational diabetes, backaches, high blood pressure, and needing a cesarean birth because of a large baby. Since then I’ve tried to replace my donuts with apples, however, it has been a very difficult task.

Likewise,when I was pregnant with my first child I too was a firm believer in eating for two. Because I was very petite I was put under a lot of pressure to put on a certain amount of weight. No one ever sat down and talked to me about how to gain the weight I needed in a healthy way. Fast forward to 15 years and 70 pounds later, I’m still trying to lose the baby weight. Narissa has one thing going for her that I don’t and that’s age. At 21 she will no doubt bounce back to her pre-pregnancy weight like a rubber ball, I on the other hand will not bounce back because at 42 and mom to a 15-year-old, a 6-year-old and a 5 month old I feel like my rubber ball so to speak went way over the wall a long time ago and is not coming back.I think now it’s time for me to get creative and maybe hop on the spin class express and try to get my rubber ball back . Until then to all the newly expectant mom out there don’t be afraid to listen to your own bodies and don’t feel bad about putting yourself first. Your growing bundle of joy is getting everything he or she needs from you regardless of how many people you are eating for. You need to look after yourselves and the baby will take care of the rest.

P.S. Don’t forget those prenatal vitamins, they are very important to your baby’s health.

“Birth is not only about making babies. Birth is about making mothers… strong competent, capable mothers who trust themselves and know their inner strength.”- Unknown writer.

Welcome to our blog! In this blog we take you along our road through motherhood. Two of us are mothers, one is about to become a mother and the others are trying to get as much knowledge in as possible about what their life can be like from pregnancy to motherhood.