WWBD?

When you're a sexually active single woman, incidents of unexplained morning nausea tend to be a little nerve-making.  Even if you're absolutely sure you've taken appropriate contraceptive measures, there's still a voice going on in the back of your head saying, "Oh no, what if ... ?"  A period is never so welcome as right then.

Most women like me have had the pregnancy scare at one point or another.  And it makes you wonder - what would you do?  You start going through the options, trying to picture what you'd do, what you'd tell people, how they'd react, how your inner and outer life would change.  It's challenging enough being pregnant when you've planned it; thinking about what to do when you haven't planned it scares the crap out of you.

I definitely think about aspects of this differently now than I would have 10 or 15 years ago.  Some things haven't changed:  I don't support abortion, so that option isn't ever seriously on the table; not to say that it hasn't briefly flashed through my mind at the times in question, and been mentioned by past partners.  Other things have shifted:  whether or not I'd give a baby up for adoption, how I picture changing my living situation to adapt.  When I was younger, I probably would considered adoption more easily, and when I thought about what would change, one of the first steps was probably going back to my family home to sort things out.

At my current stage of life, I ask other questions and consider other options.  Given that I'm paradoxically eager to know that I can still reproduce while terrified of becoming pregnant at the wrong time: could I give a baby up, especially given the fear in the back of my mind that maybe I'd be giving up my only chance?  If I'm in a relationship: is there even the possibility of considering this person a life partner?  If I don't marry that person, will I ever date again?  Logistics:  would I be able to keep my job, and is it enough to support a child?  Do I have to move, and where to?  What kind of support network do I have?  And finally: how ashamed will I be around my family, friends and colleagues?  How on earth do you raise another person??

Of course, all of this can be avoided by not having sex until you're ready to deal with all the consequences!  Trust me, if I ever do have kids, they are so getting the very frank "don't do what your mother did in her wayward (not so) youth" conversation.  If they're going to make choices with life-altering consequences, they'd darn well better think about what they're getting into.

(For those of you playing the home guessing game:  no buns a-bakin' in the oven at this time.  I was, however, nauseated this morning and afternoon, and watching "Juno" with my roommate in the evening.)