Here is a testimony Valerie gave us on her kids, this was written on her daughter's 15th birthday: She has turned 15 today! I am very proud of who she is turning out to be. She is a typical teenager though, witht he attitude and the wanting more freedom, privacy thing. But she is different than who I was at 15. When I was her age, I was in the hospital having her. It was very rough. I was basically on my own. And I had no idea of how to be a parent. I was struggling on trying to become a grown up and still being in a teenager mindset and body. I was much more independant thatn she is and I am really not proud of that. I had a rough teenagehood. I wasn't in church and I didn't have my parents support or love. My boyfriend wasn't only MY boyfriend, and I wasn't even in school. I really hated my life and the next 10 years after that didn't get any easier for me either. I am just very happy that I get to raise her in a Christian home, she's not sexually active, and she knows that her education is the most important thing in her life right now. Her priorities are the exact opposite of mine when I was her age and I am very thankful to God for that. I was in labor with her for 37 hours (don't mean to scare any of your expecting moms!) It was a scary experience for me. I almost died having her and the pregnancy wasn't much better. I had a lot of stress and like I said, I was alone. I had adults all around me trying to take her away from me or telling me that I wouldn't amount to anything, that I would be a statistic and I would be on welfare for the rest of my life. that she would turn out just like me, and I couldn't be any kind of mother to her. These were Christian people too. I made a promise to my baby and to myself that I would prove all those people wrong and this day I have!!!! She's not pregnant, she's a straight A student and she goes to church twice a week, sings in the chior (when I can get her to go) and has college ambitions! She acts very much like a child still and I am thankful for that to. It just reminds me of all the people in my life when I was her age and how wrong they were. God brought me through all of it whether I was willing to admit it at the time or not. He has blessed me with her and my other kids and I am a GREAT mom if I do say so myself!!!!!! My ds came right around the corner when I was 17. Hey, I didn't say I got any smarter going through it the first time. I was still alone, young, and irrepsonible. I am not saying that all young mothers are that way, I am just saying I was. His story will come in January when he turns 13! Yup 13! My dd's friends all think I am really cool because I am so young, but I let them know that though I may be "cool" I am still a mother and an adult. I don't treat any of them as if they are adults because they aren't. That was something I learned being her age. I was treated like an adult, and I wasn't. Just because I had a baby, I was still 15. In no way did it make me and adult. I still needed guidance and the love of adults and I didn't get it, but you know, I know that God made me go through all that for a reason and I know that even though I thought I wouldn't make it through, I did. ANd I am BLESSED!! BLESSED! BLESSED!