It was a Monday. It came as a total shock. I was definitely not expecting to hear the words, "I'm sorry, but you're pregnant." I remember being in denial as I sat in the doctor's office crying, repeating over and over again "No, no, this can't be right."

What was I going to do? How would I tell my mother? But immediately I knew I had to accept the reality: I was going to be a mother. The question of an abortion was totally out, having been brought up in a household who believes that it's just legalised murder.

I was shaking in my chair, eyes red and blinded by my tears. I couldn't even break the news to my baby's father. I dialled his number, and when he answered, I handed the phone to my doctor and she told him. The doctor had to calm him down before she handed the phone back to me.

Once I was on the phone with him, he comforted me with words I will never forget; he told me everything was going to be all right and we were going to get through this. Though at the time I know he didn't believe it even himself, he still managed to stay calm for me.

I told him I had to tell my mother, which he wasn't too happy about because he had just met her the day before. At this point so many thoughts were going through my head. I knew once my child's father had hit the reality of me being pregnant we would soon break-up.

That's what made me cry even more. I wasn't ready to give up my teenage years to being a full-time mom.

What even made it worse was that my doctor was rushing me because she had other clients, and after she had told me, I was in such shock that I stayed in her room for a while. I remember feeling as if she didn't care and I was all alone.

But it was just her job. She asked me if I wanted to talk to the nurse, but at this time I had already made up my mind I had to do this on my own. This was simply accepting reality.

Walking out of the doctor's office was tough. My eyes were red and puffy from crying, though I had tried washing my face multiple times. It felt as if the people in the waiting room were inside my head, like they had known or heard some way, somehow that I was pregnant.

I kept thinking 'Why was this happening to me? What did I do wrong? I questioned over and over, why?'

Some readers might ask, "Did you not understand the risk you were taking? Did you or the father not take precautions? Did your boyfriend not realise he could go to jail for having sex with a girl under 18?"

As for the answers, we were not thinking at all. I was very careless, and to be honest I really didn't think I would get pregnant. After I became pregnant we did think about what we had done and that it was careless and that he could go to jail for having sex under the age of 18. But like I said we weren't thinking at the time and our feelings got the better of us.

My sister had been waiting for me outside in the waiting room. I could not even look her in the eyes, to let her know I was ready. I was zoned out; she was complaining about me taking long, I think, but I wasn't really listening. I didn't have time to argue with her, nor did I have time to talk to anyone apparently.

Why wasn't anyone caring? Why weren't they understanding what I was going through? I just wanted to crawl up in a little ball in my mother's arms. I walked past her and stood at her bike outside; she could tell something was wrong. The best way to deal with it, was not dealing with it, so we headed to my mother's job, because I had some news to spill.

I was so relieved when I saw my mother's face as she came out of her office, but I felt sorry and remorseful. I didn't want to tell her that I, her youngest daughter, had gotten pregnant by the boy she met only yesterday, who she thought was such a gentleman. I spoke when she got close enough.

I didn't know how to start, even though I had rehearsed what I was going to say before I climbed the stairs on entering the building. But it just came when she asked what happened at the doctor's office. It spilled out. My stomach started to get tight and I suddenly started breathing heavily.

"Mama I'm pregnant," I blurted as I walked towards her, and fell into her arms full of tears.

She gasped and said, "Oh my god."

I felt her heart drop. I held tight onto her crying. Then immediately she told me, "It's going to be OK, baby. We're going to get through this."

She rocked me back and forth as I just let out all my tears, and back and forth she rocked me saying, "It's going to be OK, baby." She prayed with me twice, and I stood in silence, sniffling and moaning as she told me she loved me, and "It's all right, baby".

After being in her arms for about 25 minutes she took me to her lunchroom in her job, and I lay on the couch and did some more crying and thinking. A while after that I decided to go to my auntie, so I called her and told her I had something to tell her, and asked if it was OK if I came over. She said yes, so I left my mom's job and walked to her house.

When I got there I went straight to her bedroom, and started crying all over again. She was on her bed but jumped up and came hug me. Then she closed her bedroom door.

I sat on her bed and she kept on asking me, "What happened baby?" but I couldn't talk. My tears were overwhelming me; I couldn't breathe and I just didn't want to talk. So she hugged me and asked questions trying to figure out what was wrong. Then finally I said, "Auntie, I'm pregnant" She was like, 'Oh, it's OK baby, don't cry."

Then she said words I will never forget: "I was pregnant at your age, you know." And I said, "You were?" I was shocked; but her saying that made me feel a lot better. My auntie was so encouraging. Talking to her has always been easy, and she assured me I was going to be OK that I could do it.

I told her, "I know that my child's father is going to break up with me because that's what always happens," and she said, "Yup he probably will, but that's OK because you know what, you don't need him. If he is there for you, then that's great, but if he isn't that's OK too."

My auntie told me everything was going to be fine because this is what our family was built for. We always know how to deal with hard times, and we were a strong family. She assured me that my mother is a very strong woman and I have a very supportive family.

We'd talked for about two hours and then we played games with my cousins. I was texted my baby's father but then he soon stopped texting me. I knew it was only a matter of time till he slowly drifted away from me. But it was expected so I would be fine right? Right?

Later that day, when my mother knocked off, I went to see my baby's father to talk to him in person. We sat off at Astwood Park and talked for about an hour, on a bench. It was real windy and the water was very rough. I was lying on his shoulder crying, and he was telling me it was going to be OK. He was telling me to consider getting an abortion, telling me that having a child is hard, and that he wasn't ready for a child. We both weren't ready, he then corrected, but I told him I didn't believe in abortions.

He still wanted me to go home and think about it. My mind was already made up; I was having a baby. I remember telling him that I knew he was going to leave me because that's what always happens when a girl gets pregnant. He didn't say anything back, so I knew already what the outcome of this pregnancy was going to be.

After the talking was done, there was only room left to cry, so I did just that as he held on to me as we watched the waves crash up on the rocks. After a while my mother dropped him off at his friend's house and she and I headed home.

That evening my mother took my dad on a drive and told him I was pregnant, and then they came home and told my older sister. My sister took it the worst; she bawled. She was so angry with my parents. I was in their room but I could still hear clearly what was being said. She was saying to them, "How could you have let this happen?" repeating this while crying. After hearing my sister cry, it made me cry all over again. Life was slowly unravelling.

My sister went for a drive with her boyfriend to calm down. I was worried about her. I never meant to hurt her, and I didn't think it would hurt her so much. I felt selfish, I was angry with myself how could I have been so careless.

The next day I woke up to a text from my boyfriend asking me if I thought about it and I told him my decision had been made and it wasn't going to change. He was mad, so he just stopped texting me. Then I texted him and I asked him if he still loved me, and his exact words were, and I will never forget these words, "to be honest I don't know."

They hurt so much; they cut me open. I couldn't believe only a day later and he didn't love me any more. What did me being pregnant have anything to do with him loving me? I rest my phone on my bed and started crying and I called my mother in my room and showed her the text.

She hugged me and we talked for a bit and she told me not to text him because right now, he's just shocked and scared. But I knew the truth: it was over, and I was going to be doing this pregnancy alone.

Sure enough by that Friday we got into an argument and he broke up with me and from that day on till I was about 3 months pregnant he ignored my phone calls, text messages, e-mails everything.

Let me go back a bit. This is where it gets complicated; keep up, OK? One of my best friends had asked me if I minded that she dated my boyfriend before I got pregnant and I said no, but I shouldn't have because I wasn't OK with it. And it ate away at me, but then I realised people who can ask to do such a trifling thing to you are not good for you at all.

But even after that I took him back because of my own insecurities, and then I got pregnant. Before the week was out, he had gone back to my best friend. A guy who could go with your best friend does not have respect for you at all. A friend who can go with your ex boyfriend isn't a true friend.

I told her I was pregnant for him, expecting her to turn him down and be there for me, but I guess she made a choice that was best for her. Little did she know, he was just using her to run away from me. But that was another lesson I would soon learn.

My best friend since preschool was going with my child's father, the boy who hurt me so much, who I'd poured my heart out about. Life was definitely changing and changing quickly.

As the months went on, I had to deal with all sorts of criticism and smart remarks from girls, prank calls from girls, girls threatening to harm me and my baby. When I was about three months pregnant, a boy and a girl jumped me in town because they didn't like me and I had gotten into an argument with the boy earlier that day. I won't go into details because this is an ongoing case.

His accomplice, the girl who helped attack me from behind, was having or had had a relationship with my baby's father. After knowing what had happened to me, my baby's father still remained friends with these two people and a couple days after the encounter he had a picture of him kissing the girl on the popular website Facebook as his profile picture.

I felt betrayed all over again. He had shown total disregard to my feelings and total disrespect towards me and my unborn child. The boy I had thought I'd fallen in love with had changed to this dark, mysterious person that I did not know. He had grown to be a stranger.

The months went by and I asked him to come to doctor's visits so he could be involved in his child's development, and he never came to one visit and only came to one ultrasound of a total of four. I would ask to come see him, and there was always an excuse as to why he didn't have time. When I was 5 months pregnant he went away to college, and I had seen him about three or four times before he left.

When my pregnancy started to show I was constantly hurt by the public's remarks, whether I was walking in town, at school or in a store. So many people were against what I was doing and they made me feel as if I was disgusting and it hurt so much, it was so hard. There were times were I just wanted to give up. One Saturday morning a man had said to me "You're pregnant?" and I replied yes and he said, "How old are you?" and I told him I was 15 and then he yelled, "How could you have a baby?"

Then I said, "How can I kill a baby?" and he didn't answer me. He just went quiet and then he kept on saying to himself, "Sad, sad, sad".

But to me what was sad was the fact that I was pregnant and I was at school on a Saturday morning to do GCSE tutorials but his child was there because the child had a Saturday detention. Never was I disrespectful when people would confront me about my pregnancy and say nasty comments about me. I kept my head up high and endured all the hardships.

Leading up to the day I had my child I experienced many different types of problems. I saw my friends change and treat me differently from when I was pregnant; some of my friends have actually stopped speaking to me. I never understood why or how something so beautiful could bring so much stress. But I didn't allow people, friends or my child's father break me.

My son was on his way, and I knew that when he did come some of my troubles would go away and I wouldn't care as much what people have to say. The father of my child began to turn around and be there for me, but it was late in my eyes. I already knew how to fend for myself. Closer to my due date friends start speaking again and people who never used to speak, started speaking. The fraudulent in people was everywhere and I could not run from it. But it would all soon come to an end.

The day my son was born I had been in labour for day and a half, I was experiencing so much pain. My contractions started Monday morning when I was awoken out of my sleep by a sharp pain. They were about four to six minutes apart and lasting for about two minutes.

Come Tuesday the pain was intense, contractions were about three to five minutes apart and lasted for about three or four minutes. My birth plan was to go natural, so I tried to stay home as long as possible. I walked along Horseshoe Bay Beach, got hot baths, rocked on the birthing ball. The most painful hours of my life, I had no sleep. I kept on trying to go sleep, but my contractions were so painful I slept for only a couple minutes at a time. Then finally at 9.30 pm, I asked to go to the hospital. My mother and I arrived at 10. 30 p.m., and I had my beautiful son Tuesday April 6th 2010 at 11.29. In just a total of 12 pushes, what a joyous relief my son had finally come to fill that empty space.

When I held him for the first time, I cried I was so happy. He was screaming but when they gave him to me he stopped and he gave me the funniest look I will never forget. As soon as he was in my arms I knew that everything was going to be OK. For, I was complete and no one was going to ruin my happiness.

Motherhood, it has its pros and cons which is to be expected, but that is with every situation in life. My son makes me tremendously happy. He has brought my family closer, as a light shining into a dark room. He puts my heart in high spirits, till my son was born I never felt true love. It feels great knowing that I have a son and that he loves me, and to him I'm the greatest person in the world. It's a wonder how a situation can just change when someone is born. Sometimes, though, it is overwhelming having a child, having to wake up late nights every two hours to feed him or change his pants. It is a huge adjustment, instantly having a child; there is no more hanging with friends. Right now I'm at Teen Services finishing my high school classes and they allow you to bring your baby up until three months of age.

Then in September I'm going to my old high school. Juggling school now and being a full-time mother — it's tough, but I know I have a son so the need is great. There are nights when I can't get any homework done. When I do have a break from my son, if he is asleep, I'm tired too. I take that opportunity to sleep and rest before he wakes up again. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I remember that I can do this, and I have to do this for my son. But I continue to strive for the better. I need an education so I can support my son financially. Without my parents and the support of my family, I wouldn't have been able to deal with everything I have been through. In the end I would never regret it because it has matured me in so many ways.

I have a better outlook on life as well. I appreciate things more, especially the help of my parents. I am truly blessed. I have a lot of support from my schoolteachers, working with me while I'm at Teen Services and my family. My baby's, father's family has contributed a lot as well, and I am very grateful and thankful for having their support throughout my pregnancy.

In closing I would like to send a message to teens in Bermuda. Being a teen mother is extremely hard. Your life will never be the same. Though it is a wonderful blessing to have child it also is tough being a student. Think about what you're doing in your relationships, because your actions and consequences do not just affect you. Having a child is a lifetime dedication, yet a beautiful creation.