Thinking Back...

I have starting watching the show 16 and Pregnant. Me and Haley watch it together. The show breaks my heart, and I am glad Haley watches it because you really see what happens when you get pregnant when you are still a child yourself. I have a special place in my heart for teens that get pregnant. I was once a pregnant teen myself. My first CPS case was a pregnant teen. I enjoyed so much helping her and reaching out to her. She is doing so well and has really matured. I chose to write about this tonight because I just closed her case this morning, she is doing so well. My job just touches my heart, I know I have said it many times but I am so glad God put me there.

Let me tell you a story about myself.
Me and Wesley have been together a long time. Since I was 15. He was my first real boyfriend. He drove me to drivers ed. After being together a few years I found out I pregnant. My brother had just passed away in a car accident, my world was turned upside down. I was still a teen myself and now I am pregnant. We had so much growing up to do. But, from the moment I found out I was pregnant I knew I would do anything I had to for my child.
I had so many plans and at first I felt like my life was over. I was very lucky at the fact that Wesley was so supportive and there for me. My family and his family was also very supportive.
But, I can not explain unless you have been there how hard it is to be a teen and pregnant. Me and Wesley really struggled. But, we always got through it. Haley was born and she was perfect. I could had never prepared myself for what it is like to be a mother. I will never forget the first time I held Haley.
I was so at peace at the fact that she was mine. I went on to finish school and then went on to college. Wesley worked two jobs too make ends meet and help me through college. When I was almost done with college, Wesley started the Police School and we graduated together. May 2005.
I think the experience made me who I am today. Haley knows her "whole story". We have a very open relationship with our children. She knows and understands that we were young and that getting pregnant was not what we had signed up for. But, she also knows that we would not have it any different and that it worked out for us. Not everyone has the same outcome as we did.
I will always have a place in my heart for pregnant teens and the push to help them in anyway I can.

Teen pregnany is 100% preventable with the right education and prevention.

•3 in 10 teen girls in the US will get pregnant at least once before age 20!

•Good relationships don't just happen—they require hard work and practice!