BIRTH STORY
When I first found out I was pregnant I was 16 years old. Enrique (my husband) and I had been dating for a year and a half. We planned to get married later on but not any time soon. I wasn't taking care of myself and was inconsistent with my birth control pills. I was in my friends house and thought it would be fun to take a pregnancy test. When I saw the plus sign I almost fainted. I didn't know what to do so I called my mother and told her that I was pregnant and thought she would be mad. She reached into her wallet and gave me 500 dollars and said she wanted me to get an abortion. I didn't want to. I felt that God had given me this baby when I was so low in life because he wanted me to learn something from it. I then told Enrique and he said the same thing, he wanted me to have an abortion. He said he wasnt ready to have a baby. Even if I didn't have support, I wanted my baby and I was going to keep it.My mother did not talk to me for 5 months and wanted nothing to do with me. I went to my appointments alone and I got a job working part time. when I was 7 months pregnant Enrique finally came along and realized his baby was coming soon. We moved in together. I have yet to forgive my husband and mother for the way they made me feel all those months and I know they were wrong. I started getting ready for the baby and was so excited, I took pregnancy yoga classes and read a lot of books. I had a really good pregnancy; I ate healthy food and took my vitamins. I found out I was having a girl. My husband and I were living together and started getting ready for the baby. My mother-in-law was really nice to me and would buy my baby lots of clothes and shoes. She and my husband got my daughter everything she needed. I was very thankful.
The day I met my daughter was the most amazing day of my life. It was January 2, 2012 and I went to one of my final checkups before my due date which was 3 days later, and also my husband’s birthday. My doctor said my blood pressure was really high and I got scared because I had had a perfect pregnancy and didn't know what was going to happen. I was sent to the hospital to get induced. I already had my bag in the car so we were ready to go. When I got to the hospital I wasn’t in any pain and I was actually happy because finally I could meet my baby girl. When i got induced the nurses said that if the medicine did not work I would have to get a c-section and I didn't want that. I was worried but I started to get dilated and soon my water broke and I was ready to push. My midwife was really nice and talked to me through the delivery. I was scared because I felt the need to push and my doctor told me to stop, she then told me my baby was turning purple so to push really hard and I did. I pushed so hard I can still remember the pain I felt.
My husband was right by my side and I could tell he was nervous. At 2:37 pm on January 3rd, 2012 Alyah Michelle Huerta was born. My doctor laid her on my chest and I cried with happiness. She was so beautiful. I told her I would always protect her and be with her and that I loved her very much. My doctor told me to push again and I was like, “why?” my baby was already here. It was because the placenta was still in me. I felt so dumb for a moment. After they cleaned her up her father got to hold her and I could see that he wanted to cry. That moment was so perfect. I lost a lot of blood when I gave birth and got really sick but got better quickly. Two days later we got to take her home and it has been an great adventure. Thankfully, I had a lot of help, thanks to my mother-in-law. She has given me a lot of good advice and is always there when I need help. I’m very lucky.
I realized that I was given this beautiful baby as a gift and that my responsibility is to love and nurture her. I am a teen mom but I am very proud of my little one. Motherhood is tough, especially when you're young but I have made the best of it. Alyah has become everything to me. She is such a smart and gorgeous little girl and her father and I love her so much.
Words cannot explain how excited I was to hold my baby in my arms. I tell my daughter about her birth all the time. I am so blessed and thank God that he loves me so much and send me this wonderful baby. My dream is to make Alyah proud of me, I want her to know that she can reach for the stars and achieve anything she wants in life. Writing about this makes me cry because I am so happy. I know that my place is here with my baby and I am so blessed for that I never thought a person could love someone else so much but I know this love I feel for my daughter, she feels for me too.