advice... please

Hey girl - good luck!

My advice is - accept all the help you can get, ask for all the help you need - it is a HUGE adjustment you will be making. But realise that you will be the mom now, and in the end the decisions about how your baby is handled must feel right to you and nobody else. There are a lot of opinions about feeding, sleeping, everything - and none of them is right for every baby. So trust yourself, and know that you ARE ging to make mistakes and have regrets and that is also normal and okay.

love to you and your little girl

Welcome! There are many wonderful, wise mamas here that will be happy to help you with any questions you have...

I'm due in June as well, with our second child...there is a due date club for each month under "I'm pregnant", come on over and join us!

I think the single best piece of advice I got when I was pregnant with our first baby was to listen to my heart, and my baby, and let them lead the way. There are so many things people will tell you are "supposed" or "NOT supposed" to happen, but every baby, every person is so different that what works for one little one may not work for another. So, just listen to your babe and do what is right for the two of YOU.

I'd suggest lurking around the following boards to get your feet wet...
-June pregnancy due date club (DDC)
-Life with a babe
-Breastfeeding
-Family bed and nighttime parenting (I'm betting you'll get a lot of 'advice' about your baby's sleep habits)

I'm glad you have support from your family, that will be a big help for you. I will also chime in with a previous poster about being sure that you stand your ground on the things that are important to you - 16 or 60, YOU are the mama, and if you gently but firmly let people know that from the get go, they may be less likely to come in and try to 'take over', albeit with the best intentions, since you are rather young. Accepting help is absolutely important, but you can still be the mama. I literally changed 2 diapers and had never watched a baby before when I had my son at 30, so I had NO experience - but figured it all out real quick...so, just because you don't have any hands on experience with a baby doesn't mean you can't learn quickly and love every minute of it.

Welcome again, and I wish you a healthy and happy remainder of your pregnancy! We're here to help!!

and congratulations. Just wanted to chime in that even at 30 years old and having my third child, I was still nervous. Motherhood is a hands-on learning experience for sure!

from a nother young mama, I am glad your family is supportive

First see what you can learn from your own mama, and check out the Vaccination Forum and The Birth and Beyond Forum!

: and !

Congratulations on your upcoming little one mama! All the PPs have excellent advice! Also, you may want to check out www.girlmom.com. Good stuff for young mamas especially.

Good luck and happy birthing! I hope you enjoy it here. MDC is a great place with lots of wise and sagey mamas, and some papas too, and tons of great info!

Just remember that the only stupid question is the one that goes unasked. It is great that you have the support from your family, but now you also have the support from thousands of Momma and Poppas around the globe when ever you need it!

I was 19 when i was pregnant with my son, and i wish that i had mothering.com around me then! You, then, are fortunate in that respect!

Best of luck and love to you and your sweet lil angel!

Hi and

My advice is to get to know these boards really well and share the information with your mom and the rest of the family.

I wish you the very best.

Please come and check out the Vaccine Forum. It is very important that you know what exactly is in the vaccine and what the ingredients can do to your baby.

They will immediately ask you whether you want your baby vaccinated with Hepatitis B vaccine. Yet the disease is most common in drug abusers and prostitutes. Why would a newborn need that? Come and ask questions and find out what the mommies over that know.

Ask questions on every board. Learn as much as you can. You have plenty of time still.
Anytime something seems not quite right before and even after the baby is born, post it in the appropriate forum. At least you can get a lot of different opinions and perspectives.

The best to you and your unborn baby.

Welcome to the boards.

Good luck--it's a wonderfully scary journey. Trust your instincts and always check both (all) sides to every single bit of advice you'll get for the next several years.

Congratulations!!!
Having a baby as a teen(I did) makes people not treat you the 'same' way...
But screw them you are a mama and it will be the greatest experience in your life, it will forever change you in the best ways! You will know more about yourself, life, your parents, love and the world than most people ten years older (or more) when you become a mama.

The greatest mom I ever met was a 20 year old crunchy happy breastfeeding homeschooling mom of 3! And the greatest mom of all time Mary, Jesus' mom was a young teenage mom and she did a great job.
n'est pas?

Do a lot of reading, there's many great resources on here for you at any time!
Do your research then follow your instincts and your heart.

From experience breastfeed for a long time, as a teen mom people will tell you you need your own time bottle feed. But you also need that connection to your child. I still managed to get out with friends after dd went to bed and breastfed. And from having kids at 19 vs now at 32, it was easier then for many reasons (my friends didnt' all have kids, jobs) my parents also liked or rather like now the fact they didnt' have to wait until I was 40 and they were 70 to become grandparents.

Once you have your posts up to the required number the trading post and giving is a great resource for stuff.

its so exciting to have a new baby!
dh keeps telling me he wants #4.

oh and statistics are for mathematicians...
I still managed to go to university, get great paying jobs, land a great dh and now I am a stay at home mama and life is normal and boring. Some things about being a young mom make you choosier about your life picking the right partners (if you aren't keeping the one you got) as you can date a jerk when you are single but you won't let a jerk into your perfect babies life

Welcome to MDC!