I did things backward most of my life. And honestly? I’m not sure anyone could have convinced me to do it differently. Not my parents, not my teachers, and not even future me if she time-traveled back to seventeen-year-old me, sat me down, and laid out my entire life like a roadmap. I would have smiled, nodded—and ignored every single warning.

I couldn’t wait to be a mother.

It was the one thing I was sure about. The one thing I felt in my bones. And now, with five incredible sons, I wouldn’t change a thing. I wouldn’t risk erasing them by rewriting my past. Even the difficult parts—the choices, the struggles, the growing pains—shaped me into the person I am today. I’ve made peace with that.

But let’s not gloss over the shocking part.

I started my senior year of high school as a married woman.

A year before, I was just another teenager worried about prom and final exams. The next, I was fielding conversations with my teachers about my reproductive health. While my classmates were debating college applications, my biggest concern was whether I could get pregnant.

Turns out, I didn’t have to wonder for long.

Three months into my marriage, I was holding a positive pregnancy test. My heart pounded—not with fear, but with a deep, overwhelming joy. This was it. The moment I had been waiting for.

From that day forward, everything changed. My choices weren’t just mine anymore. I was making decisions for both of us. I was still a teenager, but I had crossed a threshold most of my peers wouldn’t step over for another decade.

My friends abandoned me over spring break (they didn’t think that I would be any “fun” pregnant). And, adults whispered and gossiped as I walked across the stage for graduation.

I graduated high school seven months pregnant. I was so proud…and, naive. The gossip didn’t even affect me. I was going to be a momma; and, that is all that mattered to me.

And while I may have done things backward, maybe—just maybe—it was exactly the path I was meant to take.

I don’t know who I would be today if I had taken an age appropriate path. I am not entirely sure that I would be better off. I didn’t have a healthy marriage; but, what if I did? Maybe–just maybe–everything would have turned out just right.