i have been with my boyfriend for about 2 years now. we know that we want to be together forever, but we are both in school right now. i am a freshman in my second semester, and he is a sophomore in his.

both of us have a few years of school left, and we are waiting until we are done to start our lives together. currently we are doing long distance, and it’s been extremely hard. i stopped taking my birth control about 7 months ago because i was forgetful and it wasn’t effective for me.

i wanted to switch to the shot, but my mom told me i would have to do it on my own, which can get expensive. we had been using pill + condoms as a method for birth control, but then just condoms. a few weeks ago we forgot a condom, and he just said he would pull out. i haven’t had my period since i went off the pill, because i went on the pill to control my irregularity and once off of it my cycle was irregular again. i started to feel like maybe i was going to finally have my period about 2 weeks ago, but something just wasn’t right. i took 2 pregnancy tests and there it was: that little pink plus sign. i was in shock. i didn’t know what to do. i called my boyfriend and told him that we needed to go in and do this. there was never a doubt in either of our minds, but it was still scary. i felt really alone in the whole situation, even though my boyfriend was right there. however, now that it’s over, i am so relieved and grateful that i had the option to continue pursuing my dreams. i know that i want children some day, but now is not the time. i have to think about creating a future for myself and being able to provide a good life for my future children. they deserve it, and right now i couldn’t give that to a child. i can barely take care of myself, and i have a lot of growing up to do. a child doesn’t deserve to have a mother who is still learning how to be a grown up while also learning how to raise a human being. i am so grateful that my life can now go on the way i intended, and that i will be able to continue following my dreams. i am going to be getting an iud inserted next week to ensure that i will be protected until i am ready to bring children into this world.