Before I get with this week's post, let me say something real quick about comments. Any post on my blog that's more than five days old has comment moderation enabled. So if you stumbled upon this post two weeks after it was published, THAT is why your comment is waiting moderation. I approve pretty much any and all comments - regardless of how old the post is.
Let's get this show on the road now shall we?
America meet Briana. She lives in Orlando with her mom and older sister, Brittany (hold on for an interesting little tidbit about Britt Britt here in a minute). Bri is a good student. So good in fact that she graduated high school a year early and is looking forward to college. She broke up with her boyfriend, Devon, a month ago. But she still loves him and wants to work things out because . . . she's pregnant!
Her older sister found out she was pregnant around the same time as Bri revealed she was knocked up (by the way - she WROTE HER MOM A LETTER to tell her she was pregnant. OMG. Teenage girls! Do NOT do this to your Mamas. DO NOT. EVER). Brittany's boyfriend wasn't supportive of the pregnancy so she decided to abort. Bri kept her baby and questions whether or not she made the right decision.
We get the MTV-staged piece about how she got pregnant (seventh grade Biology, ya'll). Apparently they only used protection "once or twice" because it was awkward and weird to talk about. Note: this is PROBABLY a sign you should not be having sex with someone. Just sayin'. The lack of protection is somehow his fault because he should've just, like, put one on or something, ya know? (Teenage girls! Do not ever, ever, ever, ever, ever depend on the guy to take care of pregnancy protection. HE is not the one who will get pregnant)!
Bri and her mom decide to put the baby bed together. Somehow this ends up with Bri having a bloody toe and MTV decides to show a fairly gnarly close up. For - in my mind - what seems like an extended amount of time. WHY, MTV? WHY? Bloody feet gross me out more than anything else in the world and I'm tempted to turn the channel. The bloody toe (*harf*) evolves into a discussion about all the disgusting things babies do. Sister Britt is in the room at this point and the conversation turns to her abortion and how she can't ever take it back. There are tears, on her part, as she explains it's hard to watch Briana go through pregnancy. She knows it'll be hard seeing Bri with the baby as well. There's a lot of tension between the sisters. Part of me feels sorry for Brittany and I wish we knew a little more about her story. Did she feel forced into abortion? Did she feel it was her only alternative? On the other hand, she needs to just stop taking it out on Bri that Bri decided to keep her baby.
It's been a month since Briana has spoken to ex-boyfriend Devon. She expects him to be involved in the baby's life, wants him to go to doctor's appointments, and - this is where it would be funny if it wasn't so dadgum sad - wants him to do everything she has to do (get up with the baby in the middle of the night, feed the baby, etc). I want to hug this girl and slap her at the same time. Honey, if he's not around while you're pregnant and he doesn't care enough to go to sonogram appointments, he's not going to give two shits after the baby is born either.
Briana has picked out a name for the baby! She decides to name her Nova which makes me think of Novalee Nation (and her daughter Americus) on the movie Where the Heart Is. It's decidedly better than one of the choices she threw out - Bliss - which, thankfully, Moms told her sounded like a stripper name.
Let's talk about old Devon for a minute here, mmkay? I know his type. Old Boy didn't just obtain a diploma from Douchebag University. He graduated magna cum laude. He's also what you might call a little bit of a control freak. (Expert analysis there, ya'll). When he finds out Bri has picked a name for their baby, OF COURSE he wants to meet up with her then. Duh. Control freak, remember? He may not take care of the baby. Or even care that he has a child. But, dammit, he's going to have some sort of say in what that kid's name is.
Briana tells him that she feels the last name is more important than the first name (right on, sister) and he needs to really show her that the baby deserves his last name. She tells him she wants him to be there for the baby and to have a job to help take care of Nova. At this point in the episode my husband wandered into the living room, watched for a few minutes and then muttered something about "two young dummies." Got THAT right. Devon, he of the DBU degree, provides us with the little gem that he's "stressed" because he's being forced to get a job. Asshole, please. We all know the only job you're going to get is chasing tail.
We see more tension between the sisters when Briana wants to view a DVD of her sonogram. Brittany get mad about this - or possibly about beans, I didn't really follow - and ends up storming out of the house. Bri tells one of her friends that the tension is bumming her out and she's worried about her sister being depressed after the baby is born. She goes on to blabber something about how, since she's so young, she can't enjoy her pregnancy the way a 35-year-old woman can. Ya'll. If I ever find myself pregnant at 35 -- an age that's not that far off but, by that time, my youngest baby will be five, I WILL JUMP OFF A CLIFF. I'm just sayin'.
At 39 weeks, Bri goes to a haunted house to hang out with friends. Haha, joke, joke about the possibillity of getting so scared her water breaks. Guess what? Her stomach starts hurting so bad they have to leave. The pain gets worse during the night - LABOR!
She calls D to let him know and, pick your jaws up off the floor, he shows up to go to the hospital with them. Right? I can't believe it either.
Seven hours into labor, Bri starts pushing. Can we talk about this for a minute? I've been in labor twice -- both times for 12 hours before I ended up with a c-section. Even at 12 hours of active labor I was still about halfway to being dialated enough to push. Seven hours seems perfect! Maybe there really is something to be said about birthin' them babies when you're younger?
Nova Star is born and she is an adorable, squishy baby. I have a weakness for babies with lots of hair and, I won't lie to ya'll, my ovaries skipped a beat. My baby turns two tomorrow and I would give anything - anything - to hold her, or either of her brothers, as a newborn just one more time.
*Sniffle* Can someone pass me a tissue? Come over here and cradle me?
I digress.
Devon was present and accounted for during the birth of his daughter. But then something came up that was important than bonding with that precious bundle of joy. Something like, you know, playing basketball with his friends. Priorities.
Since Devon skipped out, Bri makes perhaps the smartest decision possible: she doesn't put his name on the birth certificate* and gives the baby her last name. Devon is, apparently, pissed when he finds out. He yells at her mom and sister then storms out of the hospital. Unfortunately, MTV was not there to record this for all posterity and I guess D declined to do a reenactment for the sake of the show. Stupid Devon.
* I don't know if it's the same in Florida but, in Arkansas (where my oldest son was born), if a child was born to a couple who wasn't married, the woman couldn't just put his name on the birth certificate. The father has to provide a notarized acknowlegement of paternity. In other words -- since D wasn't there when the birth certificate was filled out, it was his own damn fault!
A week after the baby is born, Briana decides to "treat" herself to a haircut. Considering she now looks like a middle-aged elementary school librarian, I'm not sure if was a "treat" so much as a "punishment." :/ 17 is too young for "mom hair."
When little Nova is three weeks old, Devon decides he'll grace his daughter and babymama with his presence. He comes over, friend in tow, and Briana tries to talk him through learning to feed the baby. He receives a text message and becomes more engrossed with his phone than Baby. Big Sister Brittany calls him out on it and ends up leaving the room because she's so pissed at his behavior. Can't blame her.
Briana's mom comes in the room and tries to have a conversation. She explains to Bri and D that they have to make it work for the baby's sake. Devon . . . is on his phone! Texting or Facebooking or Tweeting -- basically just being a disrespectful asshole. Show of hands -- who's surprised?
He leaves and Bri is in tears. Her mom tells her, "sometimes some daddies aren't willing to want to make it work." Heartbreaking. True.
Briana feels like she can't enjoy being a mother because of the sitution with Devon. I feel for her - I do. But another part of me can't help but wonder what she REALLY expected as a pregnant 17-year-old. Come on, Bri. I KNOW you had to have watched episodes of 16&Pregnant before. We ALL know what happens 99% of the time and it's not a happily ever after for the little family.
D tells Briana he wants to discuss things but not at her house or around her mom. She agrees to meet him for dinner and . . . he never shows.
I would gladly kick his ass myself. KICK IT. MYSELF.
The "next day" she's taking to Brittany about how much she misses her social life and blah, blah, we hear this on every episode of 16&Pregnant. Then she drops the bombshell that if she could go back and have an abortion she would.
Say it with me now: WHAT.THE.WHAT.WHAT.
Briana! Honey! You do realize that your baby could see this someday don't you? What a horrible, awful, ugly thing to say.
She goes on to say she doesn't regret her baby but that she feels like Brittany made the right choice by aborting.
I would love to feel sorry for her -- and I guess I do -- but you know what? Heffa, please. You're a mom. You made the decision to have sex. You made the decision to keep the baby. I'm sorry your man isn't there for you. Honey, I've been there. I've lived it. It sucks and it's hard. But you know what? There's so much more to being a mother than just co-parenting with someone else. You can't let the sperm donor's involvement, or lack there of, be reflected on how YOU feel for your baby. That's just eleventy billion sorts of wrong. It's not fair that he doesn't help you out. HE sucks at life. But your baby doesn't deserve a mother who says she made the wrong decision in NOT HAVING AN ABORTION. I'm petty sure my head is going to explode! And I consider myself to be politically pro-choice!
In her voice over at the end of the episode she tells us that Devon doesn't deserve Nova (word) and that she doesn't want anything to do with him. She realizes it's never going to work out with him (gee, what was your first clue?). She's focused on her education and is grateful to her mom for everything she's done for her. She wants the best for her own daughter and knows more than a high school diploma is the only way she can really provide that best for Nova.
I'm curious as to what'll be up with Briana on the Dr. Drew special -- think we'll see Devon? She definitely doesn't seem to be in love with him but I can also kinda see this girl to let him be one who yo-yo's in and out of her (and Nova's) life. We'll see . . .
