Am I Ready To Be A Parent?

Upon learning of a positive pregnancy test, many first-time parents find themselves asking, “What if I’m not ready?”  But a better question to ask is, “How do I get ready to be a parent?”

Stepping into parenthood is life changing.  It comes with many challenges as well as many rewards.  There are sacrifices that will be made, and many difficult decisions to work through.  Everyone’s circumstances are different, and there isn’t a “magic checklist” that will tell you that you are now ready to raise a child. However, there is grace as you learn and as you transition into this new chapter of your lives.

Finances can often be a primary concern when thinking of raising a child.  However, there are many resources to help parents overcome financial hardships, including the free services offered by pregnancy resource centers.  There are over 2,500 such centers in the United States that provide material assistance to expectant and new parents (Fact Sheet: Pregnancy Centers – Serving Women and Saving Lives (2020 Study) – Charlotte Lozier Institute).  Many of these centers can also connect new parents to other services to assist with employment, housing, food provision, and more.

Perhaps, in your case, you are experiencing a difficult relationship status, making this pregnancy feel overwhelming.  Please know that you do not have to do this alone.  Babies have physical, emotional, and material needs that are so much easier to meet if you have a support system.  If you don’t have a close circle of friends and family to lean on for support (or even if you do, and you simply are looking for more help), contact us to learn how we can walk this journey with you.

Raising a child is truly a learning experience that is ever-changing as your little one grows up.  Align Pregnancy Services offers parenting classes such as boundary setting, healthy discipline, building self-esteem, discovering your child’s personality type, and more.  These classes help you develop your parenting skills and teach you how to make choices for your child that will enable you to reach your parenting goals.  Everyone begins the parenting journey at “square one”.  As one recent client states, “I am going to the classes and getting to know everything that I can with my baby. They will ask if there is anything that you would like to go over, and make sure that they tailor the class to that, so it helps you.”

If your pregnancy was unintended, it is important to know that you have options, and to make an educated decision instead of an emotional one.  If you shared your pregnancy news with others, you have probably already been given lots of conflicting advice.  It’s important that you know the facts, and not just the opinions of others.  Visit our previous blog post, Your Pregnancy Test is Positive:  Now what?, to learn more about what steps you can take after finding out you’re pregnant.

The truth is that nobody is perfect, and no matter how much we try to plan our lives out- we will often have circumstances to face that we didn’t see coming.  We can prepare and educate ourselves, but only God knows exactly what is set before us. You, your significant other, and your baby, all deserve to be loved for the unique individuals that you truly are.  It’s ok to ask for help, especially when facing something new.  If you’d like to learn more about our prenatal or parenting classes, contact us to schedule a free, confidential appointment.

 

Written by: Shannon Martin