What everyone who's done it says is true: you just don't think it could happen to you. And of course, I was no different. I was nineteen and in the midst of a fabulous road trip with my best friend from coast to coast when my son was conceived. We planned a stop in Boston to see our current beaus before heading back down I95 to the Garden State Parkway. She stayed in the city, I stayed 20 minutes outside of it in a town called Malden. We were there for two nights, I had sex twice-WITH a condom, both times. But five weeks later, I found out I was going to be a mommy.

It's totally normal to freak out and not know what to do. I'd always been a strong Pro-Choice advocate and was certain that I would have an abortion if I got pregnant while I was still in school. But now, I'm more certain that you really can't say what you'd do in that situation until you actually are in it. And your decision may even surprise you. Once I knew that there was a life growing in my abdomen, I couldn't bring myself to get an abortion. Everyone, myself included, was slightly more than shocked.

Keeping your head held high when you don't fit in the desks at school isn't easy. But you get through it. I just kept telling myself, "It's only gonna get harder. Don't let this tear you to pieces or you'll go crazy." I think it worked.

I had my son on April 6th. That was the day that I found out what love really means.

I look at where I was before I became a mother. I was living at home, wasting my time, skipping class, and waiting tables at a corporate pizza joint for some cash. I hardly worked at all when I was pregnant, (I had terrible morning sickness that lasted all day and night), and I dealt with everything alone. My son's father decided that he'd rather be doing other things and I was sure that I wouldn't be able to date again until I was much older, unless I dated older guys. I started out the journey with my little boy sharing my bedroom with him at my mother's house.

Less than a year later, I'm out of her house and living on my own with my boyfriend. I own my own business and do some side-work in real estate. My son doesn't want for anything. In fact, he's fat and happy and loved and has PLENTY of toys. It might sound funny, but a lot of times, I think I wouldn't even be moved out yet if I didn't have him.

As young as I was when I had a baby, I found that doing "real grown-up things" will turn you into a "real grown-up" real fast. The first time I held him, I knew

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