I seen a of talk about the social, economic and emotional effects of having children young. But, I haven't really seen much discussion on the basic, physical effects of teenage pregnancy.

I have 3 daughters, and I'm 22 years old. I had my oldest when I was 17, my second when I was 19, and my youngest when I was 20. Yes, 1 year apart.

This was a direct result of health problems. During my first pregnancy, I developed preeclampsia, a disease that disproportionately affects teenage mothers. Preeclampsia can damage all of your body's systems, lead to rather unpleasant things such as severe and rapid weight gain, kidney damage, and possibly death. I hemorrhaged after her birth (and have/will with each subsequent birth) which was completely ignored because, as a teen mother, I was "over reacting".

As a result of the health problems experienced during my first pregnancy, after my second, I my gall bladder failed. Unfortunately, due to the fact that all my charts were branded "TEENAGE MOTHER" across the top, it was assumed that I was over reacting when I reported burning, stabbing abdominal pain. This continued on for 6 weeks, with a duct blocked with a large gall stone.

Through those 6 weeks, I slept less than an hour per night. I was diagnosed with PP abdominal upset, acid reflux, IBS and a plethora of other relatively minor ailments. During that time, the pain went from bearable, to incapacitating. I would have boughts of crushing chest pain, I was unable to eat (which meant unable to nurse) and unable to sleep. I couldn't hold my daughter often, because the slightest touch on my abdomen was excruciating.

At the end of 6 weeks, my liver was almost completely shut down. The last thing I remember before being medicated in the hospital was crawling from the cough (the only comfortable place to try to sleep), past my 6 week old infant, into my bedroom and waking my husband, begging him to take me to the ER. I couldn't breath, and my vision was blurred from the pain. Luckily, we lived with my parents, and they kept the girls.

At the hospital, I learned that my liver was in the final stages of shutting down. A few more hours, and I would have been dead. After an emergency surgery, and subsequent gall bladder removal 2 weeks later, I was told I wouldn't be able to conceive for at least 6 months, and probably a year. Due to all the drugs, my OB said b/c was useless.

5 months later, I was pregnant again. My youngest two are 15 months apart.

I can't eat certain foods because of my liver. It's permanently damaged. Anything high in fat/grease leads to either obscene pain or terrible stomach problems.

My teeth are terrible, despite my obsessive compulsive care of them. Pregnancy leaches calcium from your body, which weakens your teeth. My teeth chip at the slightest thing. The chips then quickly develop decay.

So, let's recap : My liver is shot, my gallbladder is gone, my teeth are bad, my metabolism is shot (which means no luck losing the baby weight after 2 years), my back is permanently sore where I received an epidural, and my back is damaged from carrying a pregnancy. Each of my pregnancies has threatened my life, and because of the problems from the first at 17, any pregnancies in the future will as well.

These are ALL very common results of teen age pregnancy. Teenagers experience an incidence of these ailments that is disproportionate to women even in their early 20s.

It's very easy as a teenager to say "I'll be different" when you're presented with educational, economic and social statistics. Those are all at least somewhat within your control. However, the way your body reacts to pregnancy at a young age is NOT. You cannot control it, in the slightest. Imagine my difficulty caring for an infant while wondering why the searing pain in my abdomen won't cease, despite copious amounts of drugs. Or toting a one year old on my 7 month pregnancy hip, despite the fact I "couldn't conceive".

Just...think about it.