May is Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month and May 5th is the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. As part of the day's activities, you can log on to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy Web site and take their National Day Quiz.

Why an entire month focused on unplanned pregnancy? Because despite the recent decline in teen pregnancy in the United States, it is still a hard-hitting problem faced by young women every day. More than 800,000 teen girls get pregnant each year in the U.S., and 34 percent of young women get pregnant at least once before their 20th birthday.

Before she got pregnant, 18-year-old Ashley Jones, who lives in Hickory, North Carolina, was a typical high-school girl with the usual adolescent problems. She got by with the help of her friends and family. At age 15, she faced one of the biggest teen decisions - whether or not to have sex - and decided to lose her virginity to Henry, who was "popular and good looking." One night, while her parents were asleep, she sneaked him in through her bedroom window. Even though she was "scared," she had sex with him.

Ashley had been educated about sex, including unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and contraception. In school, she'd learned that "abstinence is the only safe way." She had also talked to her mother about "everything concerning sex." Her mom, says Ashley, was "very open to my questions and very understanding when I had them."

But when Ashley lost her virginity, she didn't use any protection. She was just focused on the new experience and the feelings that came with it. After sex with Henry, she was elated, and she felt comfortable enough to talk to other guys.

"After I lost my virginity, I thought I was the junk. I went and told my friends, and I was so happy. … But not only did I lose my virginity, I also got pregnant."

Since Ashley had never been pregnant, she didn't notice any of the signs. A few months later, her mom actually picked up on Ashley's excessive sleeping and breast swelling and asked her if she was pregnant. Ashley denied it, but her mom wanted to be sure. So she made a doctor's appointment for her daughter to get tested. When they got there, Ashley pretended to sleep in the car, so she wouldn't have to take the test. "But my mom said, 'Ashley, you're not slick. Come on and get this test.' "

When the doctor told them the test was positive, Ashley's mom dropped the book she was reading. Ashley was stunned. "I was more scared than anything. I was thinking about what my mom would think of me or what she would do to me," she remembers. Before they drove home, Ashley and her mother went to see Ashley's grandmother to share the news.

She decided to do what her mother and grandmother wanted-she'd carry the pregnancy to term. Ashley's mother told Ashley's father about the pregnancy. He stopped talking to his daughter, "calling me all the names in the book," says Ashley. It took time for the two to speak again. "It was hard to forgive him, but I look at it like this: No matter what happened, I am his daughter, no matter what goes on," she says.

Ashley also went through drama with Henry, the soon-to-be father, mainly because he was incarcerated and had gotten another girl pregnant, too. She doubted he would support her - emotionally or financially. So, she set out to go it alone, leaning on her mother for help while she continued with her high-school studies.

"Most of the time, I was just thinking about my baby being okay," she says. "Being pregnant while attending school was okay, except having to use the bathroom every 10 to 20 minutes. I also couldn't fit behind my desk." Doctor's appointments kept her out of school often and she had high blood pressure.

Finally, in March of 2002, Ashley went into labor for more than 24 hours and was finally brought into surgery to give birth via a caesarian section.

"I heard a nurse tell my mom, 'If you feel like you're going to pass out, sit on the floor,' " remembers Ashley. "Then the next minute, I felt tugging in my stomach, and I heard a nurse say, 'The baby is really up there.' And then I heard a baby, and they said it was a girl." Ashley named her daughter Mykaisha Renee Jones.

Today Mykaisha is experiencing "the terrible two's," and Ashley is back in school working toward her high school diploma. Henry, who is in and out of jail, stops in sometimes to see his daughter. When he comes around, Mykaisha wants him, not her mother, unless she's hungry.

"He's in and out of her life," says Ashley. "She knows him, but I feel like she doesn't know him enough. If I call him and tell him Mykaisha needs something, he might do it."

One of the biggest problems Ashley runs into is juggling being a committed mother and a high-school student.

"I really can't do some of the things I want to do," she says. "My daughter has doctor's appointments, and I have to miss all these days of school when she gets sick. I just have to realize that I have a child now, and her needs come first. But I keep going because I want to graduate."

Ashley fears not accomplishing as much as she wants to in life. She says pregnancy and single motherhood made her realize that "if you're going to lie down and have sex, there is a possibility of you having a baby."

She wants other young people to learn from her story. "Even if it's your first time, be responsible," she says. In other words, use protection. "And don't think that having a baby is easy," she adds, "because it is going to be hard."

For more on the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, click here.

Want to avoid unplanned pregnancy, click here for the 411 on birth control and Emergency Contraception.

Eric Johnson, 17, of Trenton, NJ, is an editor for SEX, ETC., the national newsletter and Web site written by teens, for teens, on sexual health issues, published by the Network for Family Life Education at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

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