Choosing adoption.

I met my boyfriend in 9th grade, on the first day of school. He was in 5 out of 7 of my classes, and we eventually got to talking. Within a month, we were close friends. You know how it goes. Eventually, he asked me out and I said yes. We'd been dating for around 6 months when I decided to sleep with him. We used protection, but we both had the "oh, it will never happen to me" attitude. It's amazing how wrong we both were. A few weeks later, I missed my period. It never came, and I was two weeks late. I was a bit nauseous, but not so much where I had to miss school. I remember lying in bed one day, wishing I could feel better and wondering what was making me sick. I don't know what triggered it, but I suddenly thought of the symptoms of pregnancy that every one knows. Missed period. Weight gain. Nausea and vomiting. I remember my face getting hot, and how I started to feel even sicker. After 3 days of thinking about it non-stop, I decided to tell my best friend that I thought I might be pregnant. I probably got about halfway through my story, when she said "You think you're pregnant, don't you." I remember not saying a thing, and we both sat there in silence for at least 5 minutes before she asked me what I was going to do. Friends are amazing. It's so important to pick good ones. Before I knew it, only a small handful of friends stood by me, and somehow the word had gotten around that I was pregnant. Everybody eyed my stomach, like I had suddenly grown about 3,000 sizes overnight. I got snickers and head shakes, while everyone acted totally normal around Sean, who still didn't know. Telling him was my big fear. After that was done, I'd done more than my fair share of crying for a lifetime. Telling my parents probably surpasses telling Sean, though. I told them alone, right after telling Sean. My mother's words still ring in my head. Two simple words, and I was already crying again. "Oh, Lula..." She said. After telling me things I already knew (You're too young to have a baby. You'll never get to go to college now. I can't believe you were so irresponsible.) and making sure I understood the consequences of my actions, she told me she would support me.. Another weight just lifted off my shoulders. When I was 8 weeks pregnant, Sean and I had a discussion about how we would be able to handle having a baby at sixteen. After going through our wages and savings, we realized there wasn't any way for us to raise our baby in a stable home, or even a home at all. Sean would be gone a lot, with work and school. I would have to struggle through school or drop out. We'd both be working or at school more than we see her, leaving our baby with family or friends. We would not have enough money to buy the baby pretty things, or most importantly the basics. Food, diapers. They say love is all someone needs, but when you think about it, is that really true? He suggested abortion, but we both shot that down right away. The only option left was adoption. This is our baby. And we want her to have the very best life humanly possible. It hurt to think that we could never give her that. We could never give her what she needed, much less what she deserved. So we decided to give her up for adoption.
Seeing her up on that screen, marveling at how beautiful she is already, and how her profile looks just like mine. It makes me wonder how it will be to carry her for 9 months, and then leave the hospital empty handed. I love her so much already, and I don't know how I'm going to be able to hand her off and walk away. But I know I have to. It's for her. She deserves a happy life, a stable life, a good life. Things that Sean and I just can't give to her right now.
So I'm going to treasure this time where she belongs to me, and only me. Where she is a part of me and everything I do. Where she is Ava Grace G., and not Ava Grace S. Where she is my daugher, and mine alone. When I don't share her with anyone, and make the choices about her. Where I am her mother, and where she is my life.

Ava Grace
Due December 1, 2009