“How can I ever tell my mother?” Our 17 year old client said, tears spilling down her cheeks. She was quiet and shy, and you could hardly hear her voice. She seems to have made herself as small as possible. Her mother did not even know about her three-year relationship with her much-older boyfriend and, if she did, would never approve, according to our client. She was raised in the church and knows that premarital sex is not what God wants for her. All of these concerns seem to have pressed her down into a tiny, fragile, hurting girl.
For three months, she continued to visit the Homestead Center for various medical needs, ultrasound and counseling. Each time she met with us we continued to guide her toward telling her mother, getting insurance, finding a doctor and involving the baby’s father in the process. She listened. We stayed alongside her as she walked toward responsibility, building right relationships with her family and boyfriend.
When I first met this client, I was touched by her quiet gentleness and her childlike trust. Today, we would do her second ultrasound. She had seen the tiny shape and heartbeat of her baby on a previous ultrasound, but she was only seven weeks along then. Today, she would be fourteen weeks.
When I first put the probe on her abdomen she was a little startled to see how big the baby was now. She kept smiling and shaking her head. The baby’s head, face, arms and legs were clearly visible, and the baby was very active, kicking and turning. As I carefully measured, the baby turned and put its tiny hand against the probe. We both gasped. The baby did it a second time; neither time I had been able to capture the image. Then, a third time: the little hand pressed clearly against the wall of the uterus, and I took the image. Each tiny, perfectly-formed finger was clearly visible. It was a holy moment.
From showing the image of her baby’s hand to the counseling, medical care, encouragement, material assistance, childbirth and parenting classes-we walk alongside of our precious clients and their children.
Our client finally told her mother. Her mother responded by moving them to a bigger home for everyone to welcome the new life into their family.
