Fifteen Weeks

I'm tiny but I'm growing fast.

https://www.babycenter.com/
pregnancy/week-by-week/
15-weeks-pregnant

I've  interrupted Mama's cycle 

two times, maybe three.

She's showing, has a little bump that

makes her jeans too small

but all she thinks about is how

she cannot do this.

"Do what?" I'd like to ask her

if I could. "I'm here. It's done,

a separate life within you,

with a body of my own. A different

blood type, different brain, perhaps

a different gender with a 

DNA that's all my own."

Mama thinks that she can't do it,

but she's wrong. Maybe not

the long game, but I'm shareable.

There is no shame in that.

If she lets me grow a few months

more, it could be great. 

I could be great. Or neither.

Since I'm here, though, since

she didn't end our shared adventure 

weeks ago before I'd feel the pain,

before I had a face or sucked my thumb,

I hope she won't. I dare you: 

Show my picture to a child

and ask her what I am.

I didn't ask for this or plan my birth,

and Mama didn't either.

But I'm alive now.

I have worth.

(c) Ellen Gillette, 2022

Note: I didn't write this for the sake of controversy but there's been a lot of talk about Florida's law change to prevent abortions later than 15 weeks. That doesn't seem like a drastic timeline to me, with ample time for a legal abortion prior to that, but it got me thinking about actual fetal development at that point. If you have an unwanted pregnancy, I encourage you to seek a local Crisis Pregnancy center for a free ultrasound and overview of all your options before making this life-altering decision. Life sometimes take us on difficult roads. You don't have to walk yours alone, regardless of your ultimate decision. It may feel like that right now, but there is help available.