Welcome Tara!!
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Hi Tara & Charmaine
welcome to BB & i hope you enjoy it herei am always up for an advice you wanna share about your experiences! im just over 10wks pregnant with my first bub...im a uni student studying nursing
So this is all new to me & any help will be appreciated...feel free to add me to msn
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Welcome Tara!!
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grrrrrrr why do people look down at u when u say ur pregnant and they find out ur only 20??? its really irritating me. Its like so wat we are a younger couple and been together since i was 16. When they find out we have been together since i was 16 they look down at me too....but they dont know my situation. Why are people so quick to judge? is 20 really that young?? ive been TTC for 2 years and now i feel like i have this hanging over me coz of what other ppl think. sorry i just had to vent.
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Hey
Hey
Hi Tara & Charmaine
welcome to BB & i hope you enjoy it here
So this is all new to me & any help will be appreciated...feel free to add me to msn
Im studying nursing too at CQU, 2nd year. What uni are you at? My msn is tmkelly13@hotmail.com
see ya
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Holly, it's tough I know. But it keeps happening. Apparently the worst is when the get to school age and you have ALL the other parents "ganging up" IYKWIM.
Some people forget that at times there are actually are highschool sweethearts that you know, last. My grandparents were together when she was 14 or 15 and have now been married more than 40 years. My 40 year old stepdad just left my mum because he couldn't hack it. So, sometimes it IS the older people who just can't "deal".
And wait for it, when you cop slack from people who should be holding a certain degree of professionalism - like the MCHN nurses I see. I think I'm going to stop going. Thy talk to you in a very condescending tone as if you're young means that you don't know jack about anything. I got so sick of it I cut her off and used to just speak over the top of her. It can be very frustrating.
None of the mothers in my mothers group speak to me, well one does, and the only reason is because she has triplets and she tends to ask about the twins a lot.
Holly just tell people that age with regards to parenting is a very subjective thought, and due to this anyone that doesn't know you had no right to judge. If you can say that, and believe that, what people say will begin to bother you less and less as time goes by.
The other thing is, they have nothing to prove that we make bad parents. 50 years ago, young parents was the in things to do. I don't know why they have their noses out of joint because honestly, isn't it only our parents that should be pining for the loss of "a better life we could have had"?
My Mum didnt care that I was pregnant, she had an accidental pregnancy too, but she said that because I was always so ambitious she had seen "more" for me (ie, the high flying career I always wanted), apart from that reason she didn't care. So really, is that the only thing, that people think we should be working?
Because honestly I was useless at Uni because I wasnt enjoying my course, I was useless in the workforce because I couldn't find a job to stick at, and I had the overwheling desire to be a mother (cluck cluckity cluck since I was what, eight years old), so why not be here?
And anyone stupid enough to think we do it for the "baby bonus" or the pension is ridiculous. Hmmm you try and raise a child on $4000, ooh and the measly amount that's barely enough for rent & food. D1ckwads.
Sorry, long ramble.
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Thanx Ash, that made me feel better. I find even when i take my niece (aged 5) to and from school i get the weirdest looks from the other mothers. Its like they are all sitting around going "whos that", "omg does she have a kid that goes here", "ive been told shes only 16"...iykwim
I dont see why its so bad being a young mum. I mean, i feel great when i think ill only be 38 when my baby is 18. Because i also lost my dad just before christmas, i have always wondered if only he was a little younger when hhe had me (he was 38) then i wouldnt have to lose my dad at the age of 19.
I think ive been lucky with doctors so far. I have explained to them that i dont know much about this whole pregnancy thing and they seem to be explaining things without making me feel too dumb. But more than likley i will come across one during the pregnancy.
As far as my family goes, my mum knows i was TTC for 2 years so she is over the moon about bub. Shes being the clucky nanna hehehee...
I find my sisters giving me stupid advice, i mean i like advice but telling me how they will help if i cant get the baby latched on etc...im like give me a break im only 13 weeks. So in a way that makes me feel dumb also. But i do have one sister in paticular that has decided to ignore me. Since i told her i was pregnant which was around 2.5 months ago, i havent heard from her. I used to hear from her every 2 days or so. She has 4 kids, and mum said she is probley jelous coz her baby wont be the centre of attention. Im like...wow do ppl really think like that. anyway im rambling.
Oh and this baby bonus...i tell ppl i pregnant and thats pretty much the first thing that comes out of their mouth ' oh atleast u will get 4/5000"....wtf!!! like i care. i dont want money for having a baby and i can say that, that money wont go very far. grrrr!!! but then u have woman that are llike 30-40 and everything is right for them coz they are older, but there is so many woman out there aged 30-40 that just do it for money etc. It makes me angry, why do we get singled oout? What is the publics acceptable age to have a baby???
like u ash, i have allllways wanted to be a mum. Im finishing my hairdressing course next week just to shut ppl up. But i know what u mean about ppl thinking "why isnt she working"..thinking we have pretty much runied our lives...well im sorry to say to all them stupid people out there that think that...having a baby is FAR from life ruining!!!!!!!!
i better stop or i wont shutup
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Having a baby is "never" acceptable, lol!
It wouldn't matter if you were twelve or if you were fifty, some part of society is ALWAYS going to judge. And I don't think we're singled out, I know at times we probably feel like we are, probably because media and society have given everyone the general perspective that young people shouldn't have children... But I don't think it's just us.
I think the mother's that have babies at thirty probably get told they're only having children because the "clock is ticking", or because they're married and it's obligatory. And mothers that have babies at forty probably get told they're too old for children, and it's not fair on their children as they won't have their parents for a long time, etc. A LOT of the things that get said about ALL different age groups... it's just it, having babies is just "never" acceptable.
I do think that younger couples are often isolated because there is "no acceptable reason" for them to be having babies at that age. I feel as though we get looked down upon because we haven't tried to have a career - I guess people expect we should be contributing to society. And I suppose with so much attention to improve the rate of students finsihing high school these days it is expected that they will continue their studies and 'do something' with their life. What i don't understand is why having children first is such a demise to this plan? I still fully intend on having a fulfilling career, but I wanted my children young so i could enjoy life with them. So I have the energy and vigour to be their soccer coach, to run around with them at the park. You know, I can still go out and get drunk with my kids when they turn eighteen if I want to. I LOVE the close bond I have with my mum from being so close in age, It's like there really isnt much of a generation gap, and I really want to have that sort of relationship with my children. Why should I be judged for that?
At least older couples that get pregnant "late" may have needed to take measures with assisted conception, may not have foudn the right partner or been married, etc. But there definitely is always a reason for anyone of any age to get picked on about their pregnancies and/or decision to have children.
Speaking of married, that's another thing, in this day and age, why is marriage still so important to bringing a child into this world. Don't 50% of marriages fail anyway? Sorry, we have an amazing commitment to one another, being married is not going to change our abilities to raise a child. All it is, is a signature on a piece of paper, a name (husband/wife) and a shiny thing on your finger. Really, what does that say about commitment? Nothing, sorry, i can go to a registrar and get married if I want to, but I don't see the necessity. It is not going to increase the chances of our relationship holding together. We can take vows as a couple without having taken them with marriage. Spending gross amounts of money on a wedding does not ensure you will last. It's a risk you have taken to say, yup, we're sure this is worth it, but commitment is shown in so many other ways.
My personal 'right now' view of commitment is staying with your accidentally pregnant girlfriend you have only been dating for three months.
Gotta love the liners from people when you go and say, Oh, I'm pregnant and they're like, "Is that congratulations then??". Of course it it. If it wasn't congratulations do you think I would be telling you, as if I'd run around willy nilly telling people that I'm pregnant if I'm having doubts about keeping the baby?
Or the inevitable, "so why did you keep it?". That one makes me fume.
I still think that yes, sometimes there are ages that people get pregnant that seems 'unacceptable'. But truly, there are so many cultures in the world that still have arranged marriages and kids popping out kids when they're only eleven years old, that people should be well aware that this is what our bodies are made to do.
Yes Australia does not have that culture, and yes, our life expectancy is a lot longer than some of those other cultures, so we needn't have children so young so as to ensure our ability to, BUT we are also a nation that believes in Freedom of Speech are we not? Is this not an issues that counts under freedom of speech. Freedom to make our own decisions, freedom to live our own lives. I think so.
And just as an add note:
We are also a nation (well maybe only VIC) that legalises sex from the age of 10 years old, with the provision of less than two calendar years difference in age, and from the age of 16 freely. So, yes having babies is a lifestyle choice, but is having sex also?
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yeah i see what ur saying Ash.
With the marriage thing..that ****s me!! people are always asking me now im pregnant if Matt and I are going to get married before the baby is born. When i say "no", there goes that judging again! It annoys me when people just want to get married just coz they are having a baby. I believe having a baby is the best way for 2 people to be joined. I dont plan on getting married for a while yet or ever! As i have always said, why get married when theres a chance of divorce. To me marriage complicates things coz u feel like u wud have an "obligation" to be a good wife/husband etc. I also dont see the need for marriage. People have this expectations of this "perfect life" and hay, wake up..its not going to happen. But then again, what is everyones opinion of a perfect life. I love my life but i dont see it as being perfect. I actually had a lady come into the salon and she was told that i was pregnant and when i seen her she looked down at my hand for a ring. I was like WTF!!! it annoyed me like u wouldnt believe.
As for my career, i still plan of having one. I want to own my own salon and im still taking steps to make that happen. Just coz u have a baby, ur life doesnt just stop. Im planning on going to Tazzy next year and i got asked, oh are u still going now u will have a baby?? grrrr! ofcourse im stilll going. Just coz im a mum doesnt mean im incapable of going on a damn holiday!
Does anyone find that when young people have babies, everyone thinks it was their parents fault. Like "oh that child wasnt brought up propley" ..?? i have come across so many people like that and now when i see them people i know thats what they are saying about me. Its not my parents fault. I had a great upbringing. They did nothing wrong as this is what i WANTED!!!
im outa here to get sum lunch talk soon xoxoxoxoxo
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Holly i replied to this before but it got wiped because of an error.
I think people look down on the way we are parented a lot of the time. Althought i have a young mum myself so that may increase the prevalence. I was brought up knowing that it was ok to be a young mum, that we did just as good and job etc, etc. Maybe because of the way I have been educated like that people look at my mum and see her as a bad influence.
I don't know, quite honestly, i don't care and I'm so sick of it too.
Next time someone asks me how old I am I swear I'll tell them I'm 25.
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Tara - Im at La Trobe Bendigosweet looks like were both in 2nd year..i so cant wait until this year Holly - is over hehe have you done your first semester placement yet (ours was for ACUTE)? i finished mine last week as i did mine mon & tues for 7wks..i think it worked out better that way as what we learned that week in the skills area we put into practice at the hospital! my placement was in a hospice & so many people hated the thought of going there but i absolutely loved it...its a totally different style of nursing & i think its amazing what they do to make peoples last days or weeks alive memorable & comfortable
No matter what you do or where you go there will always be people who judge you for being a young mum! i know that because since i have found out i have been judged by so many people & told that im ruining my life but now i just see this as a new beginning...i am still going to finish my nursing degree as i love it so much & i will still be a family person, im so happy now & have come to terms with being pregnant that i dont care what other people think!
Its funny though because before this all happened i had planned to be a mum at about 25 after i had my career on track & ready but now i am greatful that its happened as i know uni & everything will always be there
well that was nearly exactly the first few words that she said once i told her but i dont care, i do idolise my mother for so many things & if i turn out like her i will be happy
As long as your happy Holly thats all that matters
Sorry about the long post & i hope it makes sense :P
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Hello
Welcome tara!
Hollye.... sorry for the comments you getbut we all get them at some point!
Not much happening here.
hope all is well.
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Hi ladies, sorry I've been MIA - I've been so busy! started working shift work and it's kinda killing me
Hope all is well
Hey
For any one thats interested i just uploaded a few more pics of my baby girl that DP took today!!
Hope your all well
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Hello
meg, I'll check out your gorgeous girl now
Not much happening here.
Happy Anzac Day!
Take care
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Hi Girls
Welcome Tara!
Hollye - I am what is considered to be 'acceptable' because we were married before conception. most of the judgement is to do with traditional beliefs, and that divorce is harder to do that just breaking up iykwim. the idea is that divorce makes people think about it before splitting up. but most people now realise that relationships take work, even the couples that have been married for 50+ years argue, but they work on it. we have a rule, never go to sleep until the argument is sorted out. I also have said to people in the shops that yes i am young, but i was just ready young. different people are ready for different things at different times and what suits one doesn't suit another. I also look older. most people have to pick up their jaws from the floor when i tell them how old i am. i look at least 25. the photo on ymnm2b is not flattering.
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Hope everyone had a good ANZAC day
Meg - i will have to check out your new pics
Hope everyone has a good day
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its quiet in here...
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Sure is quiet in here today..
well a little bit of an update here
hope everyone else is doing well
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