• Ask those in your support network whether they will be willing to lend a hand from time to time with babysitting or child care. Talk to a wide range of trusted friends and relatives, or people you know from churches or other social organizations. You may be surprised to find out who can relate to your story, and who exactly wants to help.
• Consider where you and the baby will live (in your own home? in public housing? in student family housing? with a friend or relative?), and make the necessary arrangements.
• If you work, talk to your boss to find out how much leave you can take from work and how they will handle your absence. Learn about the Family and Medical Leave Act, but recognize that it does not apply to all situations.
• Contact your hospital or local community centers to find out about any available parenting classes.
• If you are in school, consider how you are going to continue your education while a new mother, and make plans to achieve that.
• If you plan to pursue adoption, visit your local legal aid society to find if an attorney will represent you and only you in the adoption process.
• Do some research on your local adoption agencies to find out if they are reputable and ethical.
• Talk to a wide range of birthmothers and adopted people. Make sure you get as many points of view as possible. If you find you are hearing the same opinions over and over, you aren’t talking to enough people.
• Think about your birth control options for the future, to ensure you do not undergo another unplanned pregnancy. (You don’t want to have to go through this again.)
• Keep a journal for your baby so he or she will know the history behind this trying time. Also be sure to take plenty of pictures of yourself while pregnant.

As I said, this is not a complete list of things you'll need to consider during your pregnancy. Every situation is different, and yours will likely have some unique factors to think about. But if you approach your decisions in a methodical way, it may help you regain a certain sense of control--a feeling that is in short supply during an unplanned pregnancy.