It was March 5, 1997 at 5:15 in the morning, after tossing and turning all night I finally woke up not feeling too good. I got out of bed and went up to tell my mom I did not want to go to school. I went into the living room to try and relax. It was very difficult to do as I had the most uncomfortable cramps of my life. Finally, after trying just about everything I knew to try, I went in and told my mom I thought it was time. My mother quickly got out of bed. It was 8:30 in the morning now. "Mom I really don't feel good." I cried to her as she held me in her arms and cried with me. She was always extraordinary at making me feel better, as any good mother is. So we got up and decided to go out to eat, and then maybe we would make it to the zoo to walk around, this sort of thing could take hours. After getting ready we went out back to our car; which had a flat tire. We drove the car up the street to my grandparents house and borrowed their car. After that we went to my boyfriend's house and picked him up. At breakfast I was feeling extremely irritable. Nothing sounded good to eat so I ordered a chocolate malt. I was not comfortable sitting, standing in one place, eating, drinking; nothing was helping me to feel better. So I suggested to my mom that we call the doctor. We finally arrived at the hospital at 11:15 in the morning, and after 14 more hours of excruciating pain, 10 months anticipation and worries, and 15 years of life I could call myself "Mom" for the first time. .
The word "Mom"; it seems like such a simple word. I had a mom my entire life, how hard could it be. All you have to do is love your child and everything else in life will be just fine. Well, as much as that sounds ideal it isn't necessarily the case. Being "Mom" changes everything. Although it took me years to realize the impacts of being a mom at 15 years old had on my life, it took me just moments to make an unconscious decision to be a mother.
