Kirsty Gillan

“Hi I’m Kirsty and when I was 17 I fell pregnant with my daughter Jessica.

To be honest the timing was definitely not ideal, I had just started a new job and was in college studying to become a Nurse so becoming pregnant was the last thing on my mind.
The day I found out I was pregnant was due to my mum making me go to the doctors as I had been having dizzy spells and generally not at myself but as a 17 year old I didn’t think anything of it. When the doctor gave me the news you would’ve needed a forklift to get my jaw off the floor but after a minute or two it began to sink in.
The main thing for me after that was to let Mark my partner of 2 and a half years know so I called him almost immediately after I got out of the doctors and he assured me he would be there for me and the baby no matter what, now the hardest part was to tell my family, my mum nearly had a heart attack and my dad gave me the silent treatment for a good while, everyone else just had to accept it really as this baby was going to be here in the next 9 months whether they liked it or not.

A few days after finding out I was pregnant I started to become really ill to the point my parents rushed me out to A&E, the doctors thought I was having an ectopic pregnancy so I was rushed to theatre where they discovered the baby was ok and I was 17weeks pregnant a whole 11weeks more than what we originally got told so yeah that was a massive surprise only 23weeks to prepare, yikes! However, that night I took a turn for the worst whilst recovering in hospital, my mum and dad were called for as it wasn’t looking good. A nurse on duty fought to get any help she could for me and managed to get me into theatre again for the surgeons to have a good look, a few hours later the diagnosis was in I had septicaemia (my blood had been poisoned) and my lungs had collapsed. I was able to leave hospital after a week and a half however because of this I got many more check-ups than normal and got a scan nearly every time I was out just to make sure everything was going smoothly, as my belly was growing at the same time my scars were healing. Mark and I went to classes so we knew what to expect during labour which really helped us grow as a couple! The best part had to be shopping, c’mon girls best activity!! The pram we chose was the silver cross sleepover pram it was ideal had everything I was looking for..!

Labour came on the 26th September 2008, my mum had come in my room to waken me but I was already awake and had said my back was really sore and that I had been awake a good few hours so thought I was in the early stages of labour, so my mum right away called Mark . When Mark arrived I had already spoke to the midwife and she advised me that I was in labour and to wait at home until my waters broke. So I was in and out of baths and dancing around trying to ease the pain then at bang on 12 o’clock I was lying on the bed with Mark and the next thing I know something popped and water started pouring over my bed, my waters had broken, so off we went to the hospital where I was in labour for 4 hours 45minutes with no pain relief and my gorgeous wee girl was born but I didn’t get to see her right away as she had to be revived worst feeling ever not knowing what was going on but what I do know is that whenever she was placed on me for skin to skin contact both Mark and I were in tears, happiest moment of my life, everything was definitely worth it.

Jessica is now 3 years old and there have definitely been ups and downs, you feel like the first few months are the hardest but really they are the easiest. There are some nights when she wouldn’t sleep at all and the times she has been unwell never easy you feel like a paranoid mum sometimes but you just want to know what is wrong. Jessica’s first steps were just before her 1st birthday but she still refused to crawl so she was walking it was time to start potty training and proudly she has

now been out of nappies from she was around 18months and out of her pram from around the sametime. She is now in nursery and loving it being able to enjoy playing with children her own age and starting her education, Mark and I are working and have our own flat so are still trying to spoil our wee girl.

In the future I am hoping we are still financially stable and Jessica is very successful throughout school and the rest of her life. Hopefully my experience hasn’t put you off as it certainly hasn’t put me off and in the next few years I am hoping to have another child as honestly it’s the best miracle I cant imagine my life now without Jessica and there isn’t anything wrong with being a teen mum . People may say “she’s not ready to have a child “but in the end who is ready to be a mum?”