I had a kid when I was 17. I hadn't dated the guy for very long and he was only the second person I'd ever had sex with. I had started birth control but I must've been pregnant already when I started it but not pregnant enough for it to show on the clinic pregnancy test, or I was one of the lucky few it failed on. So all my symptoms were blamed on the birth control and I didn't know I was pregnant until I was over 5 months along. I really had no choice but tell my mom and go through with the pregnancy.
I was going to do the adoption route, but the father told me not to and that he would take the baby, full custody. So went through with it, had the kid, and he kind of visited for about 4 months before disappearing for a few years.
I am really fortunate in that I had a lot of support. They weren't exactly thrilled about their teenage daughter being pregnant but my parents never turned their backs on me. They both helped me as much as they possibly could. I lived with my dad, so no rent. My family was always buying clothes and bottles and all kinds of baby stuff. At the time I felt like they treated me like I couldn't handle anything myself but looking back-I was so damn lucky to have had all that help. I worked full-time as a server and would not have been able to provide much more than formula and diapers, much less a crib. And family members always wanted to baby-sit. Maybe they actually didn't trust me with a baby being still a minor myself, but eh. It did help.
I was also dating a guy that turned out to be a total shit and refused to get a job himself, but he would watch my son while I was at work at least. His mom was always begging me to let her babysit too.
There were definitely bad times, but mostly financially. I've had periods of wondering if I did the right thing by not putting him up for adoption and giving him a better life but I never regretted it just so I could have my youth and free time. I regret that his father is such a POS, but if I start that rant I'll go on for a while.
Anyway. Now I'm 31 and have a 14 year old and in a month we're going on vacation to Disneyland. I'm house-shopping, have a stable job, and life is pretty good. I learned my lesson and I didn't have any more kids. All in all I think we did alright.