[Lelola]

Well, here's some advice... Don't do it.

If you want a child, you need to be 100% self-sufficient. A child is more work than a puppy or cat. You can't just give a child away when the relationship goes bad or you need to focus on yourself. The first steps is being self-sufficient and this means everything.

Can you afford your own rent? If you aren't paying for it right now, start paying for it. Pay your parents 1/2 of the mortgage. Include 1/2 of the electricity and 1/2 of the water. Pay for your cellphone and for any food that you choose to eat. Any clothes? Pay for them too. Pay for transportation and if you want to learn to drive or drive already, then pay for car insurance. Do this for a year. Maybe do it as an experiment to see if you can do it and set it up in a separate fund. I'm willing to bet that you cannot afford to pay for all of that.

Then after four months, start adding up the cost of raising a child. Start factoring in baby wipes, diapers, and baby formula. Assume that the baby needs to be on formula due to health reasons. Start looking into child care and see how much that would cost. Any time you want to go out with the boyfriend, add in 10 bucks an hour for a baby sitter (minimum of 5 dollars). Look for the cost of daycare for when you are in school and when you are working. And whatever amount you think you will need? You should probably double it.

Also, during this assume that your boyfriend and you have gotten into a major fight and have broken up so you are doing this by yourself. Just assume as most high school relationships do not last. Unfortunately, even if you two do not break up assume that something horrible happens and he is injured and no longer allowed to work or even worse he dies. How will you pay for everything then? Will you depend on your parents and leach off of them or will you have a skill set that could support raising a child while maintaining a lifestyle you would like to provide for them?

Also, just because you think you may be able to get a good job with vet tech, wait till you have the job in hand. If your area is saturated with graduates from your school, you may find out that you may be able to only find part-time work or work in a different field.

It's also nice that you're good with kids, but start factoring in being responsible for them 24/7. The odds of you actually being responsible for them 24/7 at 8 is slim. Even babysitting is different.