My Past, Present and Future

November 25, 2006 is the day that I found out that I was pregnant. I was 16 years old in grade 11 at Auburn Drive High School, I had good marks, I had a loving and caring family, I had a group of friends, I was very happy with my life and I had a boyfriend. Me and this boyfriend of mine were together for 4 years when I found out that I was pregnant and to be completely honest I had just lost my virginity a month before. Some may ask “why didn’t you use protection?” a lot of times I don’t know what to say to that of course it’s the proper thing to do, however, I didn’t think that I would get pregnant.
I knew the moment I found out that I was pregnant that I wanted to keep this baby, there was no doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t be able to handle the whole teenage mom thing. But come to find out there is a difference between fantasy and reality. I thought that I was going to have a family, my own very family, me being the mother and my boyfriend being the father and our beautiful baby. I didn’t acknowledge the amount of responsibilities, the amount of changes, the amount of restrictions and the amount of hard times that I was about to endure.

I immediately started looking for work right after Christmas; I ended up working 3 part time babysitting jobs along with a part time job as a telemarketer. I no longer had time to hang out with my friends or enjoy the things that I did before I became pregnant. My daily routine turned into this: Wake up at 5:45am and walk a block to get to one of my babysitting jobs for 6:15am I would watch a 6 month old baby and a 2 year old toddler until 8:30am. I would then walk back to my house and get ready for school by 9:15am I would attend classes and be done at 3:35pm. After school I would go home drop off my school bag and run to the bus to be at the telemarketing job by 4:30pm. I would get off work at 10pm and my mom would pick me up from work and drive us home. Any spare time that I had would go towards babysitting including weekends.

June 29, 2007 I completed my grade 11 year of high school after having just about everyone in the school touching my enormous pregnant belly. July 2, 2007 I was put into my own apartment, my parents having 2 younger children of their own figured it was best for me and my baby to have our own place. I continued to work at the telemarketing job and saving up money for my soon to be born baby. July 21, 2007 I turned 17 years old there wasn’t much of a party considering I was as big as a hippo and all I could do was waddle around. The next day I was sitting on my couch in the living room watching “The Price is Right” when I started having contractions. Of course I didn’t know that they were contractions until an hour later I started clueing in. I went and grabbed a pen, paper and a phone; I started writing down every time I had a contraction. July 23, 2007 at 3:35am my beautiful baby boy was born, I was the happiest person alive, holding my son in my arms for the first time was a feeling that words couldn’t describe.

The first 3 weeks of my sons’ life was chaotic, it didn’t matter how many books I read or how much money I had saved, there was just no end to the crying, feeding, washing, dirty diapers etc. I honestly forgot what the term “sleep” was. I had to return back to work when my son was only 3 weeks old to be able to afford the apartment that me and my son were living in. However, I started a new job that was closer to home, I became a janitor. I was working night shifts because it was the only time that I could have someone to watch my son, so I worked from 5pm to 12am every night.
My boyfriend that was now also my sons’ biological father had turned out to be the exact opposite of what I was hoping for.

In the middle of December 2007 I was kicked out of the apartment which me and my son were living in, reason being unable to afford the lease. My sons’ first Christmas was spent with strangers that I had just met and agreed to let me and my son share the holiday for we had nowhere else to go. After that we moved in with my sons’ biological father and his family, which only lasted 2 weeks for I couldn’t risk the safety of both me and my son because of the abuse that was occurring. We were then going to house to house and living on the streets for a week until we moved into a shelter called “The Adsum Center”; we stayed there for a month.

February 4, 2008 me and my son moved into Supportive Housing for Young Mothers. I was relieved to finally have an apartment for me and my son to live in but I wasn’t too happy about all of the rules and programs that I had to attend. I was rebelling against staff and the rules because I thought they were always telling me what to and not to do. At the end of March 2008 I had a horrifying experience; my son had gotten to the age where he could crawl around on the floor. He ended up choking and gagging and almost lost his life due to swallowing a large piece of clear plastic that was on the floor. Just by luck I lifted him in the air and he power puked the plastic out, I honestly had no idea what was wrong with him at the time. That was the reality check that made me realize what was really going on.
SHYM was there by my side trying to help me become a stronger mother the whole time but I took it for granted and rebelled against them instead. The next day after my horrible reality check I went to the staff and explained what had happened the day before with my son and I shared with them how I felt useless and not prepared, I simply requested a first aid and CPR program to help me. The next week they had the exact program I had asked for; I participated and learned everything I needed to know for baby first aid and CPR.

Trust between me and the staff started developing quickly after, the apartment that me and my son were living in became a home, SHYM staff and tenants became family and I became happy.
May 10, 2008 the grand opening for SHYM was held I was asked to prepare a speech for the special event, I agreed to do so for it was my big chance to share my appreciation of SHYM and everyone involved. The event was a huge success and people started acknowledging my story, I was asked to share my story by plenty of interviewers.

August 2008 my son got into daycare and I was able to return to high school to complete my grade 12 year. My son ended up getting sick quite a few times which made me miss a lot of school and I ended up not getting a couple of my credits because of it. However, I stayed for the second semester to regain the couple credits that was needed for my high school diploma. During which my son had to get surgery on his adenoids and placing of tubes in both of his ears. There were plenty of times throughout the year that I could’ve easily given up and dropped out, but I stayed.
June 26, 2009 I graduated from high school with my diploma and got accepted into NSCC for September 2009 for nursing.

I am now 19 years old with a 2 year old son; I have finished my high school and have gotten accepted into NSCC for nursing. I’m proud to be a teenage mom and proud of how far I’ve come and very proud to be a SHYM mom.

Supportive Housing for Young Mothers has given me a second chance on life. They’ve helped me become a better mother, a better student, a better tenant but more importantly a better person. They’ve helped me to open my eyes to see the whole picture rather than just a piece. They’ve helped me to be able to believe in myself. They’ve helped me to make the right choices in life.

Thank you SHYM for EVERYTHING that you have done for me and my son!