I found out last week that I was pregnant. I'm only 21 and still in school. I'm really excited about a baby but at the same time, I hadn't planned on having a baby for a few more years. I'm due around the 13 of August, 2008 and I'll still be in school. Any advice for an unplanned pregnancy?

Hi hun

Welcome to baby and bump!

Congratulations and wishing you a very healthy & happy pregnancy!

As for advice for an unplanned pregnancy, I don't really have any babe, just go with the flow and spend the time getting used to the idea?! x

Hello!

I am in the same boat. I'm 20 and a college student. I was hoping to have at least a bachelor's before I became pregnant, but my lil bean is coming much sooner. I am due July 7, 2008.

Here are a few things running thru my mind and you may want to ask yourself...

• Do I have health insurance?
  I do not. A nurse at the health department suggested I file for Medicaid ASAP since I do not. (i'm not sure if that's your situation as well)
• Am I having a home birth, hospital birth, or going to a birthing center?
  If you are planning to have a non-hospital birth, is it covered by your insurance?
• What's the game plan post-baby?
  Mine is to get Mirena. It's costly, but so is a baby!

Also, I think you should try to have fun with it. I like to read books about pregnancy and babies (A child is born by Nillson, Your Amazing Newborn) and read birth stories. I have fun thinking of buying cute baby clothes and gdiapers, and I like to imagine who the baby's gonna look like.

Thanks for posting some advice. I do have insurance, but being in college, I don't really have a steady income. I also have no idea how to tell my family or the father. Some of my friends know and they have been really supportive, but I can only hope for everyone else to be just as supportive. At this stage, I think I'm still in denial about the pregnancy because nothing has really changed.

Any idea how to approach the subject of letting everyone know?

The happier you are about it the less worried they'll be. Telling my family I'm having a baby at 18 was ALOT easier when I accepted it myself.

I'm happy to be having a baby, but worried about the timing. If I had gotten pregnant this time next year, I'd be a lot more confident about the whole process. But I'll be 22, single and still in school and that doesn't sound like the best combination for impending motherhood. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time and see how things progress.

hi welcome to baby and bump congrats

If you're happy then you'll manage. Alot of people ALOT younger (I'm talking 12, 13) have babies and they do just fine. I'm sure if you want to do it, no matter when it happens, you'll manage because you have to. Good luck & congrats

I know the feeling. I'll just say I don't intend to tell my folks any time soon. They will be so disappointed. However, I am telling the father soon.

I hope your folks are supportive.

While I haven't been in your situation, I have friends who have. I asked one of them once, "How did you manage when Makalya was born?" Her response was "I honestly don't know how we did it, but we made it work. When you have a baby, you just make it work. You might not know how, but you just find a way and do it."

DH and I started trying, even though it wasn't the ideal time for us. I would love to be a stay-at-home mom, but right now, DH is in grad school and not making any money, so I have to keep working so we can afford the baby and make sure it has health care and other benefits. And we have no *clue* how we're going to afford child care. But despite all this, I am 100% sure that we will make it work, and that the baby will be LOVED more than any baby could be, and that the hardships that we will have will be miniscule compared to the bundle of joy in our arms. And somehow, just hope that's enough.